On his very first day on the set of *Harry Potter*, Domhnall Gleeson embarked on quite the accent-altering adventure. The Irish actor, who portrayed Bill Weasley, Ron Weasley's elder brother, in the two-part grand finale of the film series—*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*—was tasked with delivering his lines with an English accent. However, the star of Peacock's new *The Office* spinoff, *The Paper*, took an unexpected detour—straight to the other side of the world, or more precisely, Down Under.
"I slipped into an Australian accent and just couldn't break out of it," Domhnall recounted on the September 3 episode of NBC's *Late Night With Seth Meyers*. "The director called 'Cut!' and there was this awkwardly long pause. Then he approached me and said, 'So, you've gone Australian.'"
The 42-year-old actor continued, "He asked, 'Is there anything you can do to fix it?' And I just went full Australian on *Late Night*, saying, 'Not really, mate. I reckon this is what we're stuck with.'"
The *Star Wars* veteran described the incident as "shocking," adding, "It was definitely one of the worst days of my career."
In the end, Domhnall did manage to master the English accent for his role as Bill. And his knack for switching accents proved to be a valuable asset when he landed the part of Ned Sampson, an Ohio newspaper editor, in *The Paper*.
"Things started to look up a bit after that," he reflected on his *Harry Potter* experience. "So, I'm hoping my American accent in this show is up to par."
*The Paper* adopts the same mockumentary style as *The Office* and even features a familiar face from the original series: Oscar Nuñez reprises his role as accountant Oscar Martinez. Yet, despite these similarities, there are plenty of differences between the two comedies.
"Obviously, everyone's going to ask about the comparisons since we're in the same universe, but we tackle very different issues on our show," Alex Edelman, who plays another accountant at the newspaper, told E! News' Francesca Amiker exclusively. "We face distinct creative challenges, the set is entirely different, and the characters are unique—with one notable exception."
