Nailing the perfect English accent is a fine art — and while Saturday Night Live’s talented impressionist Chloe Fineman is better at it than most, there’s one big British star whose voice she struggles to pull off: Harry Styles.
Unfortunately, the “As It Was” singer himself has been subjected to Fineman’s attempt at his distinctive tones and wasn’t impressed, as she revealed on the red carpet at the SNL 50th anniversary special at 30 Rock, New York on Sunday, February 16.
“My Harry Styles is really bad,” she told Chicken Shop Date’s Amelia Dimoldenberg — also a Brit. “I did it and he was at the table and was so devastated by how bad it was.”
Fineman then gave Dilmoldenberg a quick demo of her impersonation, saying, “Anyway, I’m Harry Styles, anyway,” before admitting she does “have a bit of an obsession” with British accents.
In Fineman’s defense, Styles’s accent is hard to pin down, and that’s probably because the singer, 31, has lived in several different areas. He was born in the Midlands, before moving close to Manchester, in the north of England, for his school years, and then down to London when he joined One Direction at just 16 years old. Since finding fame, he has also spent a lot of time in the U.S. too — not to mention with some American love interests. He probably can’t keep track of his own accent either!
Still, Fineman is most comfortable when she’s impersonating homegrown stars, like Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Coolidge and Reese Witherspoon. She also famously does an impressive rendition of Nicole Kidman, once going viral for her perfect parody of the actress’s distinctive Australian twang.
While Fineman hasn’t appeared as Styles on TV, she did once showcase another version of her British accent on a different show, when she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Fallon. While Fineman played Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge, ironically Fallon was Harry Styles! We wonder if the singer was “devastated” by that one too?
The SNL 50th anniversary special was a hugely star-studded affair, with a long list of A-listers all showing up to honor the legendary sketch show. Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds put on a united front amid their It Ends With Us drama, while Kim Kardashian and her ex Pete Davidson were also in the same room together for the event.
Sabrina Carpenter, Miley Cyrus, Sandra Oh, Jenna Ortega and Zooey Deschanel also wowed on the red carpet at the extravaganza, along with a long list of alumni from the show.
