Star tells of reactions to her accent
MAXINE PEAKE has said she faced discrimination in the TV industry over her accent.
The Silk star, 42, who grew up in Bolton, Greater Manchester, said she was perceived to be uneducated.
“Now, people are like, ‘Oh, she’s a proper actress’, but I wish I had taped the way they challenged your intellect,” she said.
“They’d say, ‘She’s been educated, she’s been to university: can you lose the accent?’ Or, ‘Have you read the script?’ and I’d go, ‘ Yes’, and they’d say (whispering), ‘ You do know she’s not from the North?’
“I can read, we’ve got schools up north, we’ve got electricity.”
She also said people stereotyped women from the north of England as “Good-time girls”.