Full Monty Sheffield: How cast including Robert Carlyle tried to master Sheffield accent for new Disney+ series

Now the stars of the Full Monty have told The Star the secrets of how they tried to master Sheffield’s distinctive accent, ahead of the Disney+ show’s launch tomorrow.

Scottish star Robert Carlyle admits he avoided hardcore Sheffield phrases playing Gaz – but took advice from an old Yorkshire drama school pal.

He said: “It was a case of getting the accent back - something that I'd tried to sound roughly similar to how I sounded 25 years ago. It's one of those things that you try and get in the ballpark.

“I've a good friend I contacted from drama school, Andy, who's from Bradford, a Yorkshireman, so he helped and put some lines down on tape for me. I watched the film, managed to get the tone of it back quite quickly, but the minutiae of it, Andy helped with.

“Mark Addy used 'me sen' quite a lot. I stayed away from anything like that. That's absolutely accurate, but if I start doing that once, then it really makes the rest of it sound inadequate, so I tend to stay away from the true, Sheffield phrases.”

Sheffielder Wim Snape, from Ecclesall, playing Gaz’s on-screen son, Nathan, said having not lived in Sheffield for some time, he was concerned his accent may have slipped.

He said: “A lot of my family still live in Sheffield, so I did have quite a few conversations, with a cousin of mine especially, who's got quite a broad Sheffield accent. But it's quite difficult. Nathan in the film doesn't have a very strong Sheffield accent, so it was a decision to go down the middle, not too broad.”

London-based actress Talitha Wing, playing Gaz’s daughter Destiny, said it was a case of listening, and watching the film many times. She said: “When you're on set and you're filming up here, and you're around other people doing the accent. For me, hearing it a lot, is the easiest way to get into it. I have some family up here (Sheffield), so I've used them quite a lot. I've tried to get into it from being surrounded by it.”

Yorkshireman Mark Addy, who has returned as Dave, revealed the decision was made for the original film not to do too broad a Sheffield accent, fearing it is tricky for American ears.

Fellow Yorkshireman Steve Huison, who plays Lomper, said his parents used to bring him to Sheffield as a child to visit friends in flats near the city centre.

He said: “We used to go and visit them on a Saturday night and stay over, and I never understood a word they said!”

He added: “But I loved the sound of their voices, the clipped-ness and the music of it, I suppose. I'm from Leeds, 40 miles away. I was trying to capture that and spend a bit of time going through my scripts, patching it up with local sounds. Hopefully I've managed it.”

“Then again, we were filming up on the top at pigeon lofts, and a chap came and started talking to us about pigeons and I struggled to tune in. I thought 'I'm nowhere near as broad as he is!”

Steve also took help from Sheffielder Paul Clayton, playing his on-screen husband Dennis in the series. He said: “If I got stuck I'd just ask Paul 'how would you pronounce that?’”

Lesley Sharp, from Manchester, playing Dave’s wife Jean, admitted: “I've done my best, but I think probably my Sheffield accent would be consigned to 'generic Yorkshire attempt'.”

> The Full Monty premieres in the UK on Disney+ on 14 June.