Reese Witherspoon had to quit this film because her Scottish accent was so bad

We can’t believe it

Golden Globes
(Image credit: Rex)

We can’t believe it

Whilst promoting her upcoming animated film, Sing, with her co-star and friend, Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon let out a secret by accident, and it’s all anyone can talk about.

In a recent interview on ITV’s Lorraine, the host, Ross King, brought up the topic of difficult accents with both Reese and Matthew sharing personal anecdotes on the subject.

‘Accents aren’t my thing’ announced the 40-year-old actress, going on to explain how she had previously quit a well-known film because her Scottish accent was terrible.

‘Scottish is really…I was supposed to do…Oh no I don’t really want to talk about it’ she began. ‘I tried to do a Scottish accent once… It was bad, I had to quit the movie.’

‘Really? Over the accent?’, asked Matthew McConaughey laughing, to which Reese replied: ‘It’s not my finest moment. I don’t want to talk about it any more. That just came out and I really wish it hadn’t.’

Although she didn’t go into detail, it has since been revealed that the film that she walked away from was actually Pixar’s 2012 release, Brave, where she had originally been cast as the voice of Merida, the Scottish Disney princess.

Despite being replaced by Trainspotting and Harry Potter star, Kelly McDonald, there seems to be no bad blood, with Brave’s director Mark Andrews supporting Reese’s decision entirely.

‘We did have Reese Witherspoon when we started the project and she was on for quite some time getting her Scottish accent down’ he said about the casting. ‘It was sounding great but as we were continuing with the movie she had other movies lining up, so unfortunately we were unable to continue with her and had to get a replacement.’

Reese Witherspoon and Matthew McConaughey’s new animated film, Sing, is set to come out later this month, also starring Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johanssen, John C.Reilly, Jennifer Saunders and Nick Kroll.

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.