'Merlin' star reveals accent confusion

Merlin star Colin Morgan has revealed that fans of the show are often confused by his accent.

The 23-year-old, who is originally from Northern Ireland, told SFX magazine that people assume he is English because his titular role on the BBC One series requires him to disguise his Irish accent.

He said: "One of my mates told me that a work colleague was saying, 'Is that your friend who does Merlin? His accent's really changed'. Well, yeah, it's called acting!

"Often when you meet people, they're like, 'Oh you're not... What are you?' Whenever I do go home, my accent becomes a lot stronger. When my brother was over here some people thought we were speaking a different language."

Morgan also said that producers of the show almost allowed the character to share his Irish accent.

"I was using my own accent for all the auditions and at the last stage they were like, 'Well, we want to try you with an English accent'.

"And I think it was a good decision in the end, because I think it's quite a bold decision already to do a show about a young Merlin, and a young Arthur, so making Merlin from Northern Ireland as well was probably pushing the boat out a bit far."

Merlin continues Saturday at 6.40pm on BBC One.