English actor Charlie Hunnam needed help with his English accent for King Arthur
Actor Charlie Hunnam has revealed something that “is so embarrassing to say as an Englishman” when discussing his role in the 2017 film King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword.
Hunnam told Vanity Fair, “I’d been working in America for so long that when I got King Arthur, I had to hire a dialect coach to help me sound English again, which was sort of an absurd situation to find myself in.”
The actor performed the role of King Arthur in Guy Ritchie’s epic fantasy drama inspired by Arthurian legends. The cast also included Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Jude Law, Eric Bana and Annabelle Wallis.
The Newcastle-born actor had previously performed in an American accent for the tv series Sons of Anarchy and did so for seven seasons over six years.
Hunnam revealed that because of this role, he now has “a strange accent myself.” The actor described it as “half English, half American, and everybody, my entire life, has thought I was Australian.”
He also shared: “I have a lot of family in Melbourne – I came to Melbourne the first time when I was two years old and spent six weeks there, so I’ve been coming to Australia all my life.”
Hunnam can now utilise this mix-up with his accent, as he plays an Aussie in the Apple+ show Shantaram, which was released last month. He plays a bank robber on the run from the law who flees to India.
When discussing how he eased himself into a completely new accent, the actor revealed: “I had a wonderful dialect coach and a lot of Australian friends who helped me, but honestly I think I probably got about 75 per cent of the way there.”
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