The Australian portrays an Irish ranger in the new famine era drama
James Frecheville, the Australian actor starring in the new Irish famine drama Black 47, spoke to the difficulty of learning Irish and an Irish accent for the film.
Speaking with RTE, Frecheville said, “As an Australian, there was a lot of pressure to do it right.”
Read More: First Irish famine movie "Black 47" wins sterling reviews on Irish release
“I’m not so good at learning languages,” Frecheville admitted, “so to pick up a language that not a great number of people speak was pretty tough.”
“I really put everything on the line for it,” he said.
Thankfully, the Australian actor said he felt he had enough time to learn Irish for the role. “There wasn’t a rush to try and cram it in. I had ample time to do all my homework.”
Still, the process was tough. “It’s hard to say where the challenge was because it was all challenging.”
In Black 47, Frecheville plays Irish ranger Feeney. He stars alongside Stephen Rea, Barry Keoghan, and Hugo Weaving in the period piece about Ireland’s famine era.
The Aussie actor isn’t a complete stranger to Ireland; he spent some time in Ireland in 2015 and "fell in love with Dublin.” He hopes to spend more time in Ireland in the future.
“Apparently I passed a few tests,” said Frecheville optimistically of portraying an Irishman. “But still have to see what the public thinks,” he added.
Watch the trailer for Black 47 here:
What do you make of Frecheville’s attempt at an Irish accent? Share in the comments!
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