Olivia Colman accidentally insults Jack Whitehall’s acting skills on The Graham Norton Show

Olivia Colman accidentally insulted Jack Whitehall’s acting skills on The Graham Norton Show on Friday night (10 December), much to the delight of the studio audience.

The pair appeared on the show, alongside Cynthia Erivo, with Whitehall discussing his new role in the family comedy Clifford the Big Red Dog.

After showing a clip from the film, Norton told Whitehall: “This is a breakthrough role for you Jack, because you have an American accent.”

“Yes, I was doing an American accent,” said Whitehall, to which Colman replied brutally: “What, in that clip?”

“Yes!” said Whitehall, “Olivia!” He then put his head in his hands, and shouted: “I feel the Oscars buzz fizzling away!”

Whitehall then went on to joke that instead of going for one kind of American accent he aimed to impersonate someone from all 52 states in each scene of the film.

In the movie, Whitehall plays Uncle Casey, a lovable buffoon and cousin to a little girl whose dog grows unbelievably large.

Read The Independent’s recent interview with him here.