Lily Collins worked with a "dialect coach" to prepare for her role in 'Tolkien'.
Lily Collins
The 30-year-old actress - who lives in Los Angeles - plays Edith Bratt in the much-anticipated biographical drama about English writer-and-academic J. R. R. Tolkien, famous for penning 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings'.
Lily - whose father is English musician Phil Collins, whilst her mother is his ex-wife, American Jill Tavelman - had to work on losing her Californian accent for her upcoming role because she wanted her voice to be "absolutely spot-on" and felt an "extra level of pressure" to get the voice of Tolkien's lover and later wife correct.
In an interview with The Observer newspaper, Lily - who was born in England - said: "She [my character] was very creative and very passionate and driven, and he was intellectually stimulated by her. At that time women of her status and in her position weren't really afforded the opportunity to seek higher. But she encouraged him to continue on his path. It's very selfless, and, at times, heartbreaking.
"I did worry that people were going to be like, 'Well, she is actually British, her accent should really be better. There's an extra level of pressure. I worked with a dialect coach as I needed it to be absolutely spot-on."
Lily accepts that many people think she has only made it as an actress because of her Genesis star dad Phil, she insists her success has come from her own hard work because she wanted to "carve" her own "path" because it would make the end result "so much more worth it".
She added: "I'm so proud of my family, but I have also worked really hard to carve my own path and to not have that define me.
"I did get told that I could have other ways in but I never wanted to give anyone the opportunity to say, 'Well, she only got X or Y because of that.' I knew it would take longer to do it on my own, but it would be so much more worth it."
Lily also stars in the film alongside Nicholas Hoult - who plays Tolkien - Colm Meaney, Derek Jacobi and Anthony Boyle.
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