Put accent on North, says actress
FORMER Coronation Street star Georgia May Foote has hit out at southern actors who play northern characters – saying the accent is too tricky for them.
The actress, who played Katy Armstrong in the soap, spoke out as Netflix faced a barrage of criticism for the dodgy Mancunian accents in its lockdown thriller White Lines.
One reviewer described Laurence Fox’s accent as a mixture of“Manchester Yorkshire-West Country” while his co-star Laura Haddock, a Londoner, has also been blasted for the way she talks in the show.
Georgia, 29, who was born in Bury, Greater Manchester, said: “Why are northern actors not asked to play northern parts? The accent is really difficult if you’re not from here.
“A neutral accent is something northerners have always had to do to get work.
“Now our accent is more popular, why are we not getting the jobs when it is required?”
Worst
Then, in what her fans took as a dig at White Lines, she tweeted: “Trying to watch what should be a good series but completely put off with an accent.
“I see and hear this so much.” White Lines follows Laura’s character Zoe, who leaves Manchester for Ibiza to discover what happened to her brother, whose body is discovered 20 years after he went missing.
She reconnects with his former friend Marcus, a DJ and drug dealer, played by Londoner Daniel Mays.
Angela Griffin, who also stars, was born in Leeds, while Laurence is from Yorkshire but went to Harrow School.
Viewers as well as reviewers have lashed out at the accents with Jennie Sunflower saying of Laura, 34: “She is doing the worst Manc accent I’ve ever heard.Why didn’t they just cast someone from Manchester?”
Another viewer wrote on social media: “Quite possibly the worst thing I’ve seen for yonks.
“Cliched, ridiculous nonsense with some of the most laughable accents and acting going.”