Netflix series the Queen’s Gambit has achieved overwhelming success across the world with more than 62 million views.
But fans of the hit show were shocked to hear a slightly Scottish twang in the accent of leading lady Anya Taylor-Joy during an interview on Friday night.
When speaking to the BBC’s Graham Norton, the 24-year-old pronounced several words with a familiar inflection which pricked the ears of several fans in Scotland.
And it turns out that the star, who plays red-headed chess prodigy Beth Harmon in the show, does actually have Scottish roots.
Born in Miami, she is the daughter of Scottish-Argentinian former world powerboat champion Dennis Alan Taylor.
In his other career as an investment banker in Buenos Aires, Dennis was awarded an MBE for “services to British trade with Argentina” some 18 years after the end of the Falklands War.
Her mum is Jennifer-Marina, 59, a Spanish-English psychologist who Anya says is “always laughing and dancing and very passionate about the world”, the Mirror reports.
It is not currently known whereabouts in Scotland Taylor-Joy’s heritage comes from - but fans were shocked to hear her blended accent featured the familiar twang.
Taking to Twitter, one wrote: “Watching Anya-Taylor Joy (Queen’s Gambit) on Graham Norton, she only started speaking English at 8 but that accent certainly has a Scottish twang to it.
“I love it.”
Another said: “Anya Taylor-Joy’s accent is pure performance art. Iconic. Scottish? RP English? American? Why not all three?! At once?!”
Sharing a GIF of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, another fan tweeted: “Just heard Anya Taylor-Joy talk in her own accent for the first time!”
And a fourth tweeted: “F**** me up that Anya Taylor Joy has a Scottish accent.”
In a further nod to Scotland, the model also revealed that she learnt to speak English by reading the Harry Potter series - penned by author JK Rowling.
She said the characters were her ‘first friends’ after moving to the UK from Argentina when she was just six-years-old and initially refused to learn the language.
She told Graham Norton: “I learnt to speak English reading the Harry Potter books so, as lame as it sounds, those characters really were my first friends.
“I’m still a big fan of the Harry Potter franchise, and I love the movies.
“I only learnt English when I was eight because I was convinced that if I didn’t speak the language, my parents would have to take me home but that failed miserably.”
