Fans are delighted that Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal will be reprising their roles as Marianne and Connell from Normal People for a very special Comic Relief RTE special on Friday evening. However, plenty of people were surprised to discover that Daisy Edgar-Jones, who received critical acclaim for her role in the show, is actually from London. So how did she nail her Irish accent so perfectly?
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The actress, who has previously starred in Cold Feet, War of the Worlds and Gentleman Jack, revealed that her mum is actually Irish, which made getting the accent right a little easier. Speaking at a BAFTA Q&A, she explained: "The accent was really important to me as well. I am lucky that my mum is from the north of Ireland so that helped. It is kind of like singing and I have been over to Ireland loads of time as a child so I had an understanding of the 'r' sound and the specifics of the accent and sensibilities."
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Daisy has been praised for her amazing accent
She added that the show's director, Lenny Abrahamson, also suggested that she listen to the novelist Sally Rooney. "I think it was the best advice because she’s from Mayo, so she’s from a very similar place," Daisy said. "But she does have this incredibly intelligent, clear way of speaking that I thought was very good for Marianne. I also had a brilliant accent coach too whose name was Paul as well - a different Paul. But I listened to our Paul as well quite a lot because living in Ireland is helpful to get tuned in... I always had an idea of the sound but I would probably say Sally was my muse."
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