Entertainment

Cork actress Fiona Shaw wins big at BAFTAs; Told she couldn't play part with Irish accent

Cork actress Fiona Shaw wins big at BAFTAs; Told she couldn't play part with Irish accent

Cork actress Fiona Shaw has won a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in BBC thriller Killing Eve.

In her acceptance speech, the Cobh native said playing the character Carolyn in Killing Eve "has been probably the greatest pleasure of my life".

She shared how the director told her she couldn't play the role with an Irish accent.

"People have begun to suspect I am a spy, and I just want to thank the director Harry Bradbeer for that because he said 'No, no, you can't play this part with an Irish accent'."

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The actress thanked her agent, co-stars and wife Sonali Deraniyagala, who she said "inspires many more than me".

She also commended writer and developer of the series, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, for her "glass-shattering genius and wayward imagination".

Speaking to BAFTA, she said:

"I am utterly stunned and I just didn't have any words [on stage] because I thought my goodness, because the pleasure of being in Killing Eve has been astonishing, and everywhere I go people stop me and say 'Killing Eve! Killing Eve!' So it's had a huge effect in New York and in London. It's lovely. It's lovely to be here.

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"[Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer] were completely normal actresses until Killing Eve and we meet now every morning when we're getting done up for the show and we just gas the same we always do.

"Jodie is a delightful person, Sandra's charming, we just all get on very, very well."

Shaw teased that fans of the show are in for a "very interesting time" as the show heads towards it's final episodes of Season 2.

Killing Eve was renewed for its third season less than just 24 hours after its season two debut in the US.

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