Tiscali Celebrity

Bell stays true to british roots

Actor JAMIE BELL was determined to use his own British accent in new movie JUMPER - to prove action heroes come from all over the globe.

The Billy Elliot star - who flew to nine different countries to film the sci-fi adventure - insisted on being himself for the part and persuaded director Doug Liman to allow him to use his native Northern English lilt.

He says, "I said to the director, 'Why do all the comic book characters have to be American?' because it's very rare you see one from somewhere else. So I asked if I could do it in my own accent and they said, 'Well, if they can understand you, that would be good.'

"I don't think we've ever had a character from Billingham, Teeside. It's great because it allows me to put more of myself in the role."

And the 21-year-old's performance as a teleporting teenager from the U.K. even impressed author Steven Gould, who wrote the 1992 novel the film is based on: "The guy who wrote the original Jumper books has gone back and written another all about my character with a back-story that he comes from a town in the north east of England. So there." (PAW/WNTRE/MJ)