Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Emily Blunt says she ‘shrugs off’ mockery of her Irish accent in Wild Mountain Thyme

‘This is really a love letter to Ireland,’ she said

Ellie Harrison
Thursday 15 April 2021 04:33 EDT
Comments
Wild Mountain Thyme trailer starring Emily Blunt

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Emily Blunt has addressed the mockery of her Irish accent in the forthcoming film Wild Mountain Thyme.

Last November, the first trailer for the Irish romance starring Jamie Dornan and Blunt was ridiculed on Twitter for the accents of its lead stars.

In the film, described as a “moving and wildly romantic tale”, English actor Blunt plays a headstrong farmer called Rosemary Muldoon, who has her heart set on marrying her neighbour Anthony Reilly (played by Dornan, who is actually Northern Irish).

“Even we think this is a bit much,” tweeted the National Leprechaun Museum.

Speaking to Sky News, Blunt said of the criticism: “I think it was sort of to be expected in some ways… ultimately, when you’re doing an accent, you just do your best. Luckily, this film is not really about accents, it’s about something much bigger than that. So, I think we all took it fairly lightly. I just want people to go and see it now and be transported to the fact that this is really a love letter to Ireland.”

She added: “We loved doing it, we loved being in Ireland, we loved the Irish people. So, I think the p***-taking from Irish people about people who aren’t from Ireland playing Irish, I sort of shoulder shrug about it really.”

Dornan insisted he and his co-star were “doing the accents that we planned to do”, adding: “So, we’re trying to find accents that everyone in the world will understand and that’s what we feel we did. We’re not going to lose any sleep over some people having a bit of fun with it.”

Wild Mountain Thyme is released via all major UK digital platforms on 30 April.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in