Camilla Luddington was born in England, but she does such a good job at hiding her accent on Grey’s Anatomy that some fans would never notice. Luddington, 39, stars on the hit ABC medical drama as Dr. Josephine “Jo” Wilson. Her character debuted back in Season 9, and she has been an integral part of the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital staff ever since.
During a stop on Live With Kelly and Ryan in May 2022, Luddington admitted that she still makes mistakes when acting with an American accent. “It’s been 10 years, so hopefully I’m a little bit better, and in real life, my accent is slowly becoming more American,” Luddington told Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. “I screw up all the time. Thank god for ADR.”
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When Luddington returns to England though, her American accent disappears. Her father joked that her American accent made her sound like a Kardashian, which she disagreed with. Luddington also revealed that “anything” is the hardest word for her to say in an American accent. The word is “kryptonite” for her and Scottish actor Kevin McKidd, who plays Dr. Owen Hunt.
Luddington’s real British accent has been a source of fascination for fans for years. She even hid the accent when sharing behind-the-scenes videos from the Grey’s Anatomy set. In a 2017 Snapchat video (saved for posterity on YouTube), Luddington said she did this because it isn’t easy for her to swap between accents.
“I cannot do what Kevin McKidd does and he spends the day flipping back and forth between accents,” Luddington told fans at the time, via Us Weekly. “If I did that, then Jo Wilson would sound probably very British, so even when I am not shooting in character, I keep this accent because it’s easier for me to maintain sounding American all day.”
Outside of her work on Grey’s Anatomy, Luddington played Kate Middleton in the 2011 TV movie William & Kate: The Movie. She also starred in 10 episodes of Californication and six episodes of True Blood. She also voiced Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider video game series.
Grey’s Anatomy resumes its 19th season on Feb. 23 on ABC at 9 p.m. ET, following a new episode of Station 19. The Feb. 23 will serve as Ellen Pompeo’s last episode as a series regular, although she will also return for the finale. Showrunner Krista Vernoff is also leaving both shows at the end of this season.
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