Killing Eve star Jodie Comer has revealed fellow Liverpudlian Stephen Graham convinced her not to lose her Scouse accent.
The actress is among the stars appearing in the new productions of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues, taking a role originally played by Julie Walters.
Comer – best known for playing a Russian assassin in Killing Eve – uses her own accent for the Talking Heads role and revealed the advice The Irishman star Graham, who is also from Liverpool, gave her.
She told the Radio Times: “Do you know what, it’s funny because when I was much younger, when I was with another agency and really young, I don’t know where I got it from, but I thought ‘I have to lose my accent’.
“And I remember working with Stephen Graham and he was great. He was like, ‘Don’t you dare lose your accent!’ And I didn’t. Maybe it’s just this idea of being working class from the North West, you don’t hear those voices all the time on television.”
In Talking Heads, Comer, 27, plays Lesley, an actress who believes she has found the biggest opportunity of her life.
Her accent subtly changes through the monologue, a deliberate ploy from Comer who does not want viewers to believe it was a mistake.
She said: “When you first see her (Lesley), it’s like she’s presenting this idea of herself. I love this idea of the way we all have a phone voice.
“It’s like Scouse, only it’s all a little bit better pronounced, but it’s still where she’s from. And then the more she relaxes and is more honest with the audience, you see who she truly is.”
Read the full interview in the Radio Times magazine, out now.