Queer Eye star Tan France has admitted there was one thing about his latest guest starring role that he would never do in real life – or even in his “wildest dreams”.
The presenter and fashion guru will make an appearance in the hilarious new Hulu and Disney+ series Deli Boys, which follows Pakistani American brothers Mir (played by Asif Ali) and Raj Dar (Saagar Shaikh) embark on a life of crime.
When Mir and Raj uncover their successful father’s secret criminal enterprise, they are suddenly thrown into a world of drugs and gangsters, guided by their formidable aunt, Lucky (Poorna Jagannathan).
France will make an appearance later in the season as Zubair, a cockney crime boss who flies over from the UK to collect a debt.
Speaking exclusively to Express Online, the Queer Eye legend spilled about his rare forway into acting having mainly appeared as himself in his various TV guest spots.
Tan France makes hysterical admission about his first acting role (Image: HULU)
“It was not my choice to do it, I didn’t volunteer the accent!” he admitted.
“It was just the role, it was the character’s accent. And so I said, ‘Yeah, I think I can do that. I’ve never even tried to do a cockney accent before’.”
Revealing his secret behind Zubair’s pitch-perfect cadence, he went on: “I did watch a lot of . That was my soap, so I could always do a good Babs, behind the counter at the Vic.
“So, I think because I’ve made fun of that accent for so long, it came so much naturally to me.”
However, there was one aspect about his Deli Boys character that he wasn’t quite so thrilled with.
Raj and Mir uncover their father’s criminal enterprise (Image: HULU)
“I’m about to say something that’s probably going to be mean, but I don’t mean it to be mean,” he began.
“It was a suit I wouldn’t wear in my real life because it’s so a straight dude’s suit. All my suits are a lot more fab in real life. But, the character, I wanted him to be straight, so the wardrobe stylist pulled a bunch of options and I was like, ‘I would never wear that in my wildest dreams’.”
First-look snaps from the series have revealed France looking dashing as ever in a sharp, blue three-piece suit, which he concedes was “a lovely suit for a straight man”.
“I would never wear that,” he added. “It’s just too corporate, too simple, so I was like, ‘That’s the one’.
The Queer Eye icon portrays a sharply-dressed cockney gangster (Image: HULU)
“But, it really helped me get into character, because, when I looked in the mirror I’d think, ‘God, I would never, ever dream of wearing this outfit, but this guy who I’m playing would’.
“So it really helped me, every morning when I put that suit on, to get into the role of Zubair.”
The new series is shaping up to be the most inventive new crime drama of the year, so make sure you don’t miss Tan France and the rest of the stellar cast when they burst onto screens this week.
Deli Boys will be released Thursday, 6th March on Disney+ and Hulu.