Yellowstone fans were left shocked by Kelly Reilly’s real-life accent, with many admitting they had “no idea” she was British.
The actress, 47, has played Beth Dutton, Kevin Costner’s on-screen daughter, in the Paramount Network western since it premiered in 2018, and during that time she has worked tirelessly with a dialect coach to perfect her Montana accent .
On Thursday, Kelly appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show, where she wowed the host, 49, and the audience with her natural voice.
I never would have guessed you had an accent! Drew exclaimed.
“Well, that’s thanks to my dialect teacher because she’s amazing, Jessica Drake,” Kelly responded.
“We were really going for a Montana accent, but she (Beth) is educated. She’s from a very, very wealthy ranching family. I wasn’t going to say, ‘Hello, ma’am.'”
“It wasn’t that for me.”
“But I certainly wanted to get that Montana dialect right,” Kelly continued. ‘So, I worked with Jessica.
Kelly Reilly has surprised Yellowstone fans with her British accent
The actress plays Beth, Kevin Costner’s on-screen daughter, in the Paramount Network drama.
‘I had worked with her on Flight and True Detective and all those other American accents she had done.
‘But for Beth, it was more about the voice, because she smokes a bit. Drink a lot of bourbon.
“He’s got a scratch,” Drew observed.
“Like a guttural sound.”
“I listened to Kevin a lot because he really deepened his voice for John Dutton, so I just stole it. I just copied it,” Kelly added.
Like Drew, viewers at home were completely taken aback by Kelly’s normal accent.
Responding to a clip from the show that had been posted on TikTok’s official page, one said: “My brain is fighting her voice/accent… it just doesn’t register that she doesn’t speak naturally like Beth.”
Another wrote: “I didn’t know she was English.”
Drew Barrymore was stunned by Kelly’s accent and ‘never would have guessed’ she was British
Kelly was born and raised in Chessington, London. Photographed in November
Echoing a similar sentiment, someone else reacted: ‘This whole time I thought she was American. Wow, what can’t she do? I love Beth.”
‘MY BRAIN DOESN’T COMPUTE!’ exclaimed a fourth.
A fifth added: “I would never know she was British.”
Kelly has captivated audiences playing the only daughter of Kevin Costner’s character, Beth.
Born and raised in Chessington, London, Kelly attended Tolworth Girls’ School in Kingston, where she studied drama for GCSEs under the watchful eye of her mother, a hospital receptionist, and her father, a police officer.
Before discovering her talent for acting, she loved working with horses and thought she would have a future in horseback riding.
The actress first hit TV screens in 1995, beginning her career in BBC children’s drama series The Biz alongside former EastEnders star Paul Nicholls.
Viewers at home were completely taken aback by Kelly’s normal accent.
He also landed a role in 1995’s Prime Suspect 4: Inner Circle after getting his foot in the door by writing to the drama series’ producers.
In addition to his television roles, Kelly managed to make a name for himself in the world of theater, working with Terry Johnson in four productions: Elton John’s Glasses (1997), The London Cuckolds (1998), The Graduate (2000) and Piano/Fuerte ( 2006).
At age 26, Kelly received a Laurence Olivier Theater Award nomination in 2004, making her the youngest actress to receive such an honor after starring in After Miss Julie, a Michael Grandage production at the Donmar Warehouse in London’s West End. in 2003.
She then played the role of Caroline Bingley in 2005’s Pride and Prejudice alongside Keira Knightley.
Her first starring role came in the 2008 horror film Eden Lake, starring alongside Hollywood heavyweight Michael Fassbender as a young couple terrorized by a group of murderous teenagers during a weekend away, earning her a nomination for Best Actress at the British Independent Film Awards.
The following year, Kelly continued to keep her star profile alive with a role in the British primetime series Above Suspicion, playing a rookie detective determined to prove herself in a male-dominated police department.
Hollywood soon attracted Kelly, who starred in 2009’s Sherlock Holmes and the 2011 sequel, A Game of Shadows, playing Mary Watson.