Entertainment News
- 13 August 2012, 17:56
Laura Fraser lied about language skills to Breaking Bad bosses
Scottish actress Laura Fraser was left tongue-tied on the set of U.S. TV hit Breaking Bad after she lied to producers about speaking German.
The show's newcomer was so desperate to land the role of black-marketeer Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, she told TV bosses she was fluent in the language despite only getting to grips with the basics in high school.
She tells Rolling Stone.com, "They asked me in for the audition and I did a tape. Then I got an email, 'Do you speak German?' I was like, 'Absolutely, I speak some German.' I've done it in school, like I learned, 'Ich heisse Laura (My name is Laura).' Basic German.
"But then I thought, 'Oh no, what's coming?' It was corporate-speak German and it was a nightmare - it took me days to learn a little paragraph.
"Now I bore my family with it - it's my party trick."
Andreas Schwibach
11:13am on 1/9/2012
Yes, that's the only thing, that makes the first episodes of Season 5 of Breaking Bad horrible. With her, I don't really care as she's supposed to be an American working with a German company. What's worse is the supposedly German characters who sound like Americans having spent two weeks in the German speaking part of Switzerland. I really like the show, but that's a constant in American TV shows. This is also true for Giancarlo Esposito's performance as Gustavo Fring. I was very surprised, when I first heard him speak Spanish in the series. He does not sound Colombian. From his complexion and his features, I thought he was Brazilian. But the accent didn't fit there either. Having read up on his bio, it makes a lot of sense now. Apart from that his performance has been spectacular. But who am I to argue, even Audrey Hepburn's cockney accent was horrible and I wouldn't pass for an American even if I tried.