Star says no to accent jokes

LORD of the Rings actor Billy Boyd has revealed he refuses all roles with jokes in the script about characters not being able to understand the Scottish accent.

The 54-year-old, who played Peregrin ‘Pippin’ Took in the films, is from Glasgow. He said the gag is his ‘pet hate’ but it ‘always’ appears in scripts he is sent.

Speaking in the My Time Capsule podcast, Boyd, who now lives in the United States, said: ‘I hate people saying they can’t understand what I’m saying.

‘As a Scottish actor, every script I get that’s got a Scottish character in it, there’s always the gag somebody can’t understand them. Always. Anything I do now, if that gag’s in it, I say I won’t do it.’

He described the routine as ‘overdone and not realistic’. He added: It’s just like, stop being stereotypical, you know? Just because someone has a different accent.’