Dame Eileen Atkins: why must actors have regional accents?
Ironically, Dame Eileen is now typecast as “posh” and hankers after working class roles. In Upstairs Downstairs, which returns to our screens this Christmas, she plays the aristocratic Lady Holland.
“I wanted like crazy to be the cook – ‘downstairs’ is always more interesting. You’re liked more,” she told the Radio Times. “Ask anyone who they remember in Upstairs Downstairs and it’s Hudson, Mrs Bridges or Rose. I’m fed up with being cast posh. That’s the general impression of me, probably as I have D.A.M.E. in front of my name.”
She added: “It’s hilarious when people show off about lineage – their ancestors were probably murderers, or got land by sucking up to the king or lying on their backs.”
Dame Eileen created the original Upstairs Downstairs series in the 1970s with Jean Marsh, a fellow actress, but did not appear in it. Her career hit new heights with Cranford, with her performance as Miss Deborah Jenkyns winning a Bafta and an Emmy award.
“I’ve never seen a quarter of a million in the bank until the last 18 months, but there is nothing safe to do with it. You see, money becomes your main interest when you get old. Isn’t that awful? But what would I live on if I stopped working?” she said.
:: The Christmas Radio Times is in the shops now and covers listings for 18-31 December
source : www.telegraph.co.uk
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Submited at Thursday, December 9th, 2010 at 10:00 am on Celebrity by steve
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