British actress had to move to US to land Vanity Fair role

IT IS the dream role for any young actress: Becky Sharp, the unscrupulous and irresistible heroine of Vanity Fair.

But Olivia Cooke, star of a new television adaptation of Thackeray’s great English novel, believes she would not have landed the part had she not moved to the US to escape the “snobbery” over her northern accent.

Rejected by Rada, the 24-year-old from Oldham, Greater Manchester, went to the US, acquired an American agent and went on to win leads in Hollywood, including Ready Player One, the Steven Spielberg blockbuster.

Vanity Fair, which starts on ITV next month, is her first lead role in a British drama. Speaking at the series launch, she said: “I do wonder if I hadn’t gone to America… would I have been one of the leads in an ITV drama and not just ‘maid number three’?”

In that respect, Cooke said she and Becky Sharp shared a similar sense of ambition.

The seven-part adaptation promises a “modern” take on the 19th-century novel.

It features pop music, including Madonna’s Material Girl. Sambo, the servant, has been renamed Sam and the racist attitudes of his employers, Mr and Mrs Sedley, are emphasised.

The drama has a contemporary resonance in today’s selfie-obsessed, Instagram culture, according to screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes. She said the novel reflected a generation that valued “the constant showing off about your life rather than living it”.