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Prior to going to college, I had a pretty strong accent, and that was one of the things I had to work on a lot. I went to North Carolina School of the Arts; my speech teacher... that was one of the things we really had to work on over the years, and thankfully I think it finally worked.

I had a thick accent, and people didn't understand me, and I was ashamed, and I fumbled. I radiated an uncertain energy; sometimes baristas sensed this and wouldn't try to talk to me, and then an insecure voice in my head would cry, 'He's racist!'

I learned to change my accent; in England, your accent identifies you very strongly with a class, and I did not want to be held back.

My accent remained terrible. It was very hard for me to initiate any conversation with someone I didn't know.

They made me use an accent, which I wasn't thrilled about because a lot of us, obviously, don't have them.

Funny enough, every role that I have had, I try to tone down my accent or speak with better diction.

Sometimes I'll go into a shop and speak in a different accent to see if I can pull it off. But then somebody will be like, 'Where did you say you were from again...?' And then I panic, and my accent dissolves, and I pretend like I wasn't doing it in the first place.

My mother is American. I first went to school in America, and we came back when I was about six to rural Norfolk. In primary school, I was teased immediately and mercilessly. I probably dropped that accent within about 10 days.

I think when you have to train an accent, it just takes you absolutely into another spectrum of the character.

I did accents and funny voices for the family when I was growing up.