It’s been almost two decades since Sienna Miller was involved in anything as remotely scandalous as an affair. Thankfully, the only thing remotely scandalous about her life right now is the title of her upcoming Netflix series, Anatomy of a Scandal, which premieres on April 15. It’s a far cry from Miller’s twenties, when she was relentlessly pursued by paparazzi on both sides of the Atlantic, who would catcall, ambush, and even spit on her in hopes of capturing an outraged reaction.
“It feels like somebody else’s existence,” Miller told Elle in a recent interview, speaking of the time when she, and her then-boyfriend and later fiancé Jude Law were relentlessly hounded by UK paps and tabloids in the insanely invasive celebrity tabloid culture of the aughts.
It’s hard not to see parallels between the actor’s public life of then and the role she is playing today. In 2005, less than a year after their engagement, Law issued a very public apology for an affair he conducted with the nanny of his children with his former spouse, Sadie Frost. The story was like chum to the tabloid sharks. That frenzy, and to some extent those circumstances, closely mirror the storyline of this season of Anatomy of a Scandal.
Miller plays Sophie Whitehouse, the wife of Member of Parliament, James Whitehouse, who must confront his own extra-marital affair when he is accused of rape. The couple’s life, much like that of Miller and Law becomes painfully and even overwhelmingly public.
“It was familiar terrain because I’ve experienced some of the things that she experienced. And the feelings were familiar. [But] her way of dealing with what’s thrown at her is the absolute antithesis of what my way is. And so, in a kind of twisted, tourism sense, I just wanted to see how it would feel to react differently. I know that sounds weird because you’d think it would be deeply unpleasant to sit in that space.”
Miller confessed that she drew upon the shared experience in order to fully realize Sophie’s character, and recounts a scene where “I had a mic on my chest and there’s a heartbeat that comes in. It was my actual heartbeat being picked up by the monitor, getting faster and faster.” She stated that she was able to use the feeling to carry the scene forward. “It made me think, remember and put myself back in that position. I really must need help, if this is what I enjoy doing!” Miller said, laughing.
“There is something cathartic, I suppose, about spending time in an ugly space that’s familiar. And maybe reclaiming it? I don’t know what the psychology of it is. But there is something where maybe you can substitute a memory with something else.”