Actor Robert Pattinson ditches British accent to win parts

It was once considered something to aspire to, recognised all over the world and used by actors from William Shakespeare to Sir Laurence Olivier.

But the British accent has fallen out of favour with one of the UK’s leading young stars, who has disclosed he covers his real voice up to win the edgy parts he really wants.

Robert Pattinson, who was born in London and rose to fame as a teen heartthrob in the Twilight series, has told how he disguised his British voice in favour of a Denver accent while on the audition circuit, in order to hide where he was from.

Saying he had created a character even to attend auditions, he admitted he dreamt of a day when he was “street cast”, in a process by which he would be picked out by talent spotters for his authenticity without them knowing who he was.

In making his latest film, he added, he had come close to that dream thanks to the judicious use of pockmarks, created by a make-up artist, which meant he went unrecognised for an entire year despite filming regularly on the streets and subway of New York.

Pattinson began his mainstream film career as the handsome Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, before taking on leading man status in vampire franchise Twilight.

Since then, he has made a determined effort to distance himself from the notion of the romantic lead, this time taking on a role as a tattooed, goatee-sporting bank robber fighting to save his arrested brother.

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, where he stars in gritty drama Good Time, Pattinson disclosed he had contacted directors Josh and Benny Safdie after being struck by a poster for their previous film Heaven Knows What.

"A lot of their casting seems like street casting, and I just always want to look like I’ve been street cast," he said. "And I thought, maybe if I’m in that movie it’ll look like I’m street cast. Try and trick everybody."

Josh Safdie, one of the films directors, chipped in to tell Pattinson: "You were telling me that story about how you’d go to auditions with your Denver accent, because you just did not want anyone to know that you were British-born. No offence to the British."

"I would do an impression. I would have another character to go an audition to play a different character," Pattinson explained.

The actor described the film’s New York shoot as "guerrilla-style," celebrating the success of small physical changes which meant no-one recognised him.

"I was so nervous about people finding out about the shoot and paparazzi being there, just destroying the whole illusion of it," he said. "It was interesting. Even with the makeup and the look and everything. We experimented with looks and we did these pockmarks on my skin, and no one recognised me.

"We shot an entire movie on the streets of New York, and not even a single person took a cell phone picture. It was crazy.

"On the subway, my face is right in front of someone’s face, and there’s a camera, and still no-one said anything."

Pattinson's elaborate efforts paid off, according to Telegraph reviewer Tim Robey, who gave the film four stars and said the role could win the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award.

"Pattinson has admirably tried, again and again, to prove he has something more to offer than an edgy pulchritude, but his chosen projects (Cosmopolis and The Rover, say) have been barren soil, till now," he said.