James Norton in House Of GuinnessHouse Of Guinness star James Norton has admitted he felt the pressure to perfect his Irish accent for his scene-stealing performance in the new Netflix period drama.
James plays brewery foreman Sean Rafferty in Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight’s hit new show, which premiered last week, quickly garnering rave reviews and shooting to the top of Netflix’s most-watched list, where it’s remained ever since.
And while the British actors among the cast’s Irish accents have been largely well-received, the former Happy Valley star revealed during a Q&A (as reported by The Mirror): “As an English person on this set, it was terrifying, as it’s mostly an Irish cast. Emily [Fairn] obviously had an amazing accent and Louis [Partridge]. The three of us were in the minority of non-Irish people.”
He continued: “The Irish are a proud lot, they have a very strong identity, and you know those actors who have fucked it up and they were crucified.”
“So you are aware of the stakes, so we worked hard and we had a brilliant dialect coach who was there in my ear, reading out these very strange poems and bits of text.”
James Norton on the set of House Of Guinness with Louis Partridge and Anthony BoyleJames also praised his Irish co-stars for “kindly bringing me back when I was going awry”.
Last week, James made similar comments during an interview with talk show host Graham Norton. “I was terrified of getting it wrong and worked really hard on it,” he recalled. “I didn’t want to be held to account.”
He added: “My problem was getting out of the accent because I loved the character so much.”
James has had an especially busy 2025, appearing in Playing Nice for ITV and King & Conqueror for the BBC.
Up next, he’s set to play a new character in the third season of the Game Of Thrones spin-off House Of The Dragon.
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