Joe Alwyn discusses his Irish accent in Conversations with Friends

Actor plays Nick in the BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s book

Joe Alwyn has detailed how he came up with his Irish accent in the forthcoming series Conversation with Friends.

The actor stars in the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s first novel, playing Nick, a married man who becomes romantically involved with university student Frances (Alison Oliver).

For the role, Alwyn – who was born in Kent then raised in London – had to try and perfect a Dublin accent in order to play the character.

In a new interview, he explained his methods for getting to grips with the specifics of the accent, which included listening to the voices of Irish actors.

“I listened to people like Andrew Scott and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and that kind of middle-class south Dublin accent,” he told GQ Hype.

“[Nick’s] is quite anglicised, there was the idea that he would have been to drama school in London and he has a British wife and so maybe some of those sounds have been softened as well.”

Nick’s photographer wife, Melissa, is played by Jemima Kirke. She also befriends Frances and her best friend and ex-partner Bobbi (Sasha Lane).

Conversations with Friends (Hulu)

Elsewhere in the interview, Alwyn admitted that he hadn’t given much thought to how Conversations with Friends will be received by audiences.

Instead, he simply hopes people think they’ve done the book justice. He added: “I know it sounds slightly lame, but my only thought about it is that I hope people really like it.”

The series launches on Sunday 15 May on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer, and on Hulu in the US.