As mouthy Rovers Return barmaid Raquel, Sarah Lancashire talked the talk on home turf. But her latest project took the Oldham-born former Corrie star further away from her roots and into one of her trickiest assignments to date – mastering a Welsh accent.
In The Accident, a small, working-class Welsh town is left devastated by a catastrophic explosion.
Bafta winner Sarah stars as a mother searching for answers. And she spent months honing her accent before filming even began.
“I started about November of last year, so I’d done months and months of preparation by the time we got to the read-through,” said the actress, acclaimed for her powerful performances as stoic Sergeant Catherine Cawood in Happy Valley.
“I took recordings of Welsh voices and just listened to those, doing my own research. I didn’t work with a voice coach at all. That was it, really – just recording and listening to people.
“You just find a place, a comfortable place.”
Rather than slip back into her natural Lancastrian tones, she retained the accent during breaks and while at home.
“There is no downtime in a filming day anyway,” admits Sarah. “It’s just easier to stay using that accent. You find your level with the character and you just stay there.”
Writer Jack Thorne’s previous work, Channel 4’s Kiri, which also cast Lancashire, sets the bar high for the upcoming four-part drama.
However, Sarah was reluctant to compare the two projects.
“I find it too difficult because I can’t objectively look at a piece when I’m so subjectively involved it,” she added.
“It’s hard for me to stand back and analyse these things.
“I just feel very, very grateful and very blessed that this piece came my way.
“I’m aware of how wonderful it is when a piece comes like this. They’re rare beasts.
“I love Jack’s voice. I love what he’s trying to say.
“He’s a fearless writer and in this he deliberately questions.
“That is what’s so interesting about it.
“He’s not afraid to explore difficult places, particularly in this where the public and the private and the political all collide, and then he’ll focus on it even more, put more pressure on it by putting a media spotlight on it too.
“But throughout all this, interestingly it’s almost a love story that’s playing out within this torn, tattered landscape.”
The Accident, 9pm, Thursday, Channel 4
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