Is Kiara Barnes British? Parents and Family Inspires Her Roles
If you have watched the American television soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, you must be familiar with actress Kiara Barnes.
The talented actress — who was born to her American parents in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States — had been portraying the role of Zoe Buckingham in the long-running soap since 2018 before she quit the show earlier this year.
"It's been a pleasure having Kiara in the role of Zoe Buckingham on The Bold and the Beautiful. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors," the head writer and executive producer, Bradley Bell, said about the actress' exit.
However, during her appearance in the soap opera, she impressed the audience with her portrayal of a troubled model, introduced as a rather unhinged British character.
Kiara Barnes with her The Bold and the Beautiful family. (Photo: Instagram)
She initially stalked her ex-boyfriend, Xander Avant [played by Adain Bradley], and had a British accent.
But as the show progressed and she became more of a mainstream character, she lost her accent while playing a prominent part.
Fans Think Kiara Barnes Is British
As stated earlier, Barnes was born in the United States to American parents, making her American by birth.
In addition, her family reportedly are of African and Irish origin, while she belongs to the Christian faith.
But since she had a British accent while playing her breakthrough role, many fans thought that she belonged to English roots — and was British by birth.
And that is not true. The truth is — Barnes gave auditions for the soap when the production put out a casting call for an English actress to play a new role of Zoe.
According to Soaps In Depth, the actress didn't want to let a little thing like the country of her birth get in the way to bag a role in a successful soap.
"I gave them my British accent and they were really into it," she told the tabloid of her B&B audition. "They said, 'Wow! We really felt that voice,' which is great because I knew then that I had a convincing accent."
Similarly, she also impressed her co-star Bradley, along with the showrunners, who reportedly was stunned to hear her real voice a week after working with her.
Kiara Barnes' Parents and Grandmother Helped Her with British Accent
In another interview with News24 in September 2020, when she was asked the secret behind her convincing British accent, Barnes stated her grandmother was Irish, and she helped her with her accent.
"I don't know if it was just because I loved acting from a very young age and have always played around with accents. My grandmother's Irish as well," she stated.
Besides, the actress also spoke with TV Insider and credited her parents and grandparents for inspiring her role of Ruby Akuda in the television series Fantasy Island.
She said that her "loving, compassionate" character felt a lot like her parents; hence, she took inspiration from them to play Ruby. "And so I definitely pull from my Nana, and my mother, even women on set," she added.
Besides The Bold and the Beautiful and Fantasy Island, Barnes' acting credits include 2020's television movie The Wrong Wedding Planner and 2020's TV series Stuck with You.