Why 'Julia' Star Sarah Lancashire Didn't Know Who Julia Child Was

Julia Child is a renowned culinary name for a reason; her career is one of the most-lauded of all time in the culinary world. Child showed fans every part of her cooking process, mistakes and all, on camera, giving struggling home chefs hope by showing that even the greats mess up from time to time. But when she nailed it, she really nailed it.

Child won dozens of awards and recognitions throughout her career, per the Julia Child Foundation. She changed the course of culinary arts, bringing them in front of an audience in a way no one had before. Thanks to her comforting on-camera presence and her delectable recipes, Child changed how American viewers saw cooking

With all of the accolades and acclaim Child received during her storied career in mind, how is it possible that someone who starred in a movie about the chef knew nothing about her?

Julia Child wasn't as popular in the UK

While Julia Child's culinary prowess was widespread in the United States, the United Kingdom was a different story. So Sarah Lancashire, who stars in the upcoming HBO Max series "Julia," originally didn't know much about the chef she was portraying.

"The benefit of the film was for me was, it was the first time that I ever heard of Julia Child, because she did not have a presence in the U.K.," Lancashire told The Wrap of 2009's "Julie & Julia," which starred Meryl Streep as the iconic chef. "And so the marketing around the film is the first time that I became aware of her."

Lancashire added that because Child wasn't as well-known in the U.K., it allowed her to make her portrayal of the chef her own. "It didn't really play any part in my preparation or participation in this piece at all," the actor said to The Wrap of "Julie & Julia."

The actor was temporarily tempted by watching old videos of Julia online and training with a vocal coach to get her inflections just right, but she stopped that shortly after starting, explaining that less preparation worked better for her. "I worked with a vocal coach for a very short period of time, but I pulled away from that and started to work on a parallel that would create her essence," Lancashire told The Wrap.