Jessica Barden, 30, was born into a working-class family in North Yorkshire before gaining popularity in shows such as The End Of The F*****g World. The star has now claimed posh actors should not play characters from less privileged backgrounds, dubbing it “working class tourism”.
It comes after Emma Corrin stated that she would love to feature in a “gritty” independent film with an “outrageous accent” and “red hair” after playing Princess Diana in The Crown.
Speaking to The Sunday Times Culture magazine, she said: “I hate words like gritty or feisty.
“Gritty means working class and feisty means you have an opinion.
“Emma Corrin finished playing Diana [in The Crown] and said they wanted to do a ‘gritty’ independent film in Scotland with an ‘outrageous accent’ and red hair.”
“I die inside when I read them.”
“I was, like, why are you allowed to talk like this? How is working-class tourism still OK for posh actors,” she added.
Barden was born in Northallerton to her father, a prison officer, and mother, an accountant.
Her beginnings are polar opposite to that of fellow actor Emma, 27, who was privately educated at Woldingham School and went to Cambridge and grew up in the Royal Tunbridge Wells household with a businessman and speech therapist for parents.
Emma previously opened up about plans for their career after ‘The Crown’ in an interview with the Guardian newspaper – declaring they didn’t want to be “pigeon-holed” in “posh English” roles after playing Princess Diana.
They said: “The industry loves to pigeonhole. The sooner I can move away from doing posh English, the better, even though that’s what I am … I want to do a gritty, independent film, maybe in Scotland or something. I’ll have an outrageous accent, and flowing red hair.”
