It’s always a delight when Americans discover their favorite actor is actually British. I’ve seen it happen with not one, but two Spider-Men. Although people seem to be confused about where a certain scene-stealer is actually from. Florence Pugh quickly proved that Yelena is far from being just Natasha’s little sister, and part of that has to do with her accent choice. For some reason, fans still seem to think she’s from the States. (Perhaps this is a subconscious choice behind her full Victorian fashion choices for promoting East of Eden?) However, Pugh would love for you to know that she’s not American.
The actor was visiting The Graham Norton Show to promote the new series, which just hit the streaming schedule, when the topic turned to the frustration she has over everyone’s confusion over her accent. Even Tom Cruise chimed in, with the trio saying:
- Florence Pugh: They think that I fully don’t, like they think I’m American. Whenever I speak in interviews, they’re like, ‘Oh, stop doing the British accent!’ I’m like, ‘No, it’s me!’
- Tom Cruise: That’s a really good British accent.
- Graham Norton: It is good, isn’t it?
Pugh does more than a “good British accent” as we’ve gotten a variety of performances from the actor, including an American-coded accent for Dune. Reportedly, she chose an Old American influence for the way Princess Irulan talks to embody how human speech would evolve. This is one of the reasons why Pugh is known for her “method” choices when it comes to changing up a character’s accent to give them a little more spice.
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We know she did this when she was first cast in the MCU, revealing she made a change with Yelena by switching her from English to Russian. Pugh states that when first reading the script, Yelena “sounded so boring,” and it’s safe to say she made the right choice. Surprisingly, when Norton asked about her first role the Dune actor took us all the way back to the nativity. In her words:
Yes, my very first acting role was to be pregnant Mary in the nativity play. And I was like, ‘This isn’t interesting enough.’ I was six years old. And I went into the first rehearsal and I was like, ‘She’s going to be from Grimsby. And she’s going to have a Northern accent.’ Well, my grandparents are from Grimsby, so I just obviously copied them.
I never thought I’d have the same wish as Cruise, but I wholeheartedly agree that, “I’d like to see a video of that.” If Pugh’s impression of her younger self is any indication, then I can only imagine how hard six-year-old her went with that performance. Although her most recent (as of this month) performance won’t help with the accent confusion. The actor has chosen a more deliberate mid-Atlantic leaning accent for her take on Cathy Ames, which helps capture the mood and time period of the John Steinbeck adaptation. You can hear her with a Netflix subscription.
However, things will only get more confusing for fans when “Dunesday” approaches. Not only does Pugh have two films in theaters on December 18, she has two different accents in them, which will create a fun linguistic whiplash that I’m “hear” for.