BBC This City Is Ours star delves into challenges of adopting Scouse accent as London-born actress: ‘Did a lot of work!’
BBC This City Is Ours star Hannah Onslow has revealed her approach to the new crime series including the trails of perfecting an authentic Scouse accent.
The 26-year-old actress leads as Diana Williams, the lover of Liverpool drug kingpin Michael Kavanagh played by James Nelson-Joyce.
This City Is Ours tells the story of Michael as he is torn between the world of organised crime, with his friend Ronnie Phelan played by movie legend Sean Bean, and his promising new life with Diana.
The situation is further complicated when their criminal enterprise comes under attack and Ronnie’s son Jamie (Jack McMullen) starts to believe he should be running things.
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“The show heavily explores a really brutal world, it also has enormous heart,” Onslow explained while reflecting on the programme.
She warned viewers to “expect the unexpected” and added that the story is something she had “never seen on television before”.
Even with the high-stakes drama of the show, the most daunting factor for the Londoner actress was mastering Diana’s Liverpudlian accent.
To that end, she “did a lot of work” with vocal coach Helen Ashton to nail the “specificities” of the accent.
To aid her research, Onslow filled her phone with videos to draw from and recordings of her progress to immerse herself in the accent.
However, immersion proved no challenge as she found herself surrounded by Scousers who could help with her pronunciation.
“Scousers will always tell you the truth,” she added, suggesting she may have suffered some ribbing for her attempts.
The actress also celebrated: “It also helped just being in Liverpool and soaking it all up. It’s an amazing city.”
Bean, 65, teased a potential second series before the first has even debuted this Sunday.
“I want it to have a long future – everyone involved in it deserves success,” he praised.
His hope may be based in his own love for the show, which he called “one of the most enjoyable series I have been involved with”.
“It was a joy to work on and be a part of.
“I walked away from the set really upset. I remember feeling this genuine sense of loss,” he explained, recalling finishing filming the show.
“I’m convinced it will become a classic piece of drama,” Bean declared.