"I love my accent, I thought it was useful in Gone In 60 Seconds because the standard villain is upper class or Cockney. My Northern accent would be an odd clash opposite Nic Cage"
About this Quote
His read of the "standard villain" is a neat bit of cultural critique. British cinema and Hollywood imports have long coded evil as either aristocratic (the polished, languid upper-class antagonist) or Cockney (the flashy, streetwise bruiser). Both accents come preloaded with stereotypes Americans recognize quickly, which is exactly why they get used. Eccleston’s Northern voice complicates that shorthand. It signals a different Britain - industrial, working-to-lower-middle, less theatrically "British" to an American ear - and that friction keeps the character from collapsing into a familiar pantomime.
The line about being "an odd clash opposite Nic Cage" is doing two things at once. It’s a wink at Cage’s maximal, eccentric star persona, and it’s an argument for contrast as chemistry. Eccleston isn’t trying to match the movie’s volume; he’s trying to cut through it. The subtext: distinctiveness is a form of power, especially when the default template is already overdetermined.
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Eccleston, Christopher. (2026, January 17). I love my accent, I thought it was useful in Gone In 60 Seconds because the standard villain is upper class or Cockney. My Northern accent would be an odd clash opposite Nic Cage. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-love-my-accent-i-thought-it-was-useful-in-gone-66877/
Chicago Style
Eccleston, Christopher. "I love my accent, I thought it was useful in Gone In 60 Seconds because the standard villain is upper class or Cockney. My Northern accent would be an odd clash opposite Nic Cage." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-love-my-accent-i-thought-it-was-useful-in-gone-66877/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I love my accent, I thought it was useful in Gone In 60 Seconds because the standard villain is upper class or Cockney. My Northern accent would be an odd clash opposite Nic Cage." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-love-my-accent-i-thought-it-was-useful-in-gone-66877/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.



