London-born actor Charlie Cox has admitted it was a daunting prospect to attempt an Irish accent on a set full of people from Ireland.
The British star had to convince audiences he is a natural Dubliner for his role as Michael Kinsella in the new crime drama Kin.
There have been plenty of talented actors that have felt the pressure of putting on a convincing Irish accent for a role in the past, including Hollywood legends such as Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and Gerard Butler.
Viewers are usually not shy about voicing their disapproval online when they feel an Irish accent is not up to scratch.
So, it is understandable that Englishman Cox felt the heat as he stepped on to the set of Kin alongside established Irish stars such as Ciaran Hinds and Aidan Gillen.
The nervous star joked: “So if the accent isn’t good, it will stick out like a sore thumb.
“The other actors were very kind about it, but they were probably trying to be encouraging. I probably won’t read reviews because I don’t tend to do that, but hopefully it’s good enough. We’ll see.”
The drama tells the story of a fictional Dublin family that gets involved in the drugs business. Although the family at the centre of the story is fictional, the series follows the very real feud between Dublin criminals the Kinahan Cartel and the Hutch Gang.
Aside from the accent pressures, Cox was delighted to work with a couple of Ireland’s finest actors in Hinds and Gillen.
He said: “I’ve watched them since I was a teenager. They’re two of the best in the business, so that was very exciting for me.”