Australian actress Margot Robbie’s real accent has managed to annoy fans on the Barbie press tour, who would rather she spoke in the American accent she uses in the film.

Yes, really.

Disgruntled fans on the internet may have reached new heights of petty with this latest complaint, which saw the 33-year-old Oscar nominee slammed for speaking with her normal voice while undertaking press activities as herself (i.e. not Barbie).

In the new Greta Gerwig-directed movie, Robbie – who comes from Dalby in Queensland, Australia – plays ‘Stereotypical Barbie’ opposite Canadian Ryan Gosling as ‘Beach Ken’.

They appear among a whole host of other Barbies and Kens played by the likes of Issa Rae, Simu Lui, Sharon Rooney, Emma Mackey and Kingsley Ben-Adir.

However, it appears some picky people would rather not be reminded of the film’s star and producer’s ability to, you know, act.
‘I don’t like that on the press tour she’s using her Aussie accent as if to let others know she’s a good actress or something because her American English sounds fine,’ one person wrote on social media.

‘Is she here on a working visa? She lives and works in Hollywood – and that’s where she gets her massive income from. Drop the accent,’ they complained.

Baffled fans reacted to the comment, with one explaining: ‘I think she knows Margot is Australian, it’s a ”you’re in our country, you have to talk like us” kind of thing.’

‘“Drop the accent”… umm she did, she dropped the American one, she’s going back to her default Australian accent,’ responded another confused person.

‘Honestly wonder whether this person understands how mentally exhausting it is to put on an accent that isn’t your native one,’ pointed out someone else.

Others couldn’t understand why it was Robbie specifically getting the flak for this too.
‘Weird to pick on her when guys like the Hemsworths and Bale have been using their native accents on press tours for years.’

Chris, Luke and Liam Hemsworth all hail from Australia too, while Christian Bale was born in Wales.

In fairness, Robbie’s American accent is so convincing that co-star Gosling even had a real-life Ken moment when he forgot she was Australian.

In a recent promotional video on Instagram, in which Robbie and Gosling, 42, appear side-by-side, Ken seemed to possess the actor for a moment or two.

‘Don’t make me look bad in front of the Americans,’ the Canadian actor said, pointing to Margot, who is – er – Australian.

‘I’m not American!’ replied Margot – and the pair crumbled into fits of laughter.