Peter Andre takes on new accent in The Sunshine Murders after movie backlash

Peter Andre rekindles with acting, his first passion, in The Sunshine Murders, where he portrays Greek pathologist Dr George Constantinos - he even adopted a new accent to nail the role.

For Peter Andre, the decision was instant. “I thought the story was brilliant,” he says, “I’m married to a doctor, you couldn’t ask for anything better to make sure you get the correct terminology.”

Originally hired for a single episode, his role expanded dramatically after auditioning. “Initially, it was just for one episode,” he says, “I had to do my audition in my normal Australian accent and when I did the tape, I thought, ‘why don’t I just put on an accent?’ I hadn’t heard back immediately so I thought they didn’t like it.”

Peter eventually received news from series creator Emily Corcoran herself. “I got a message from Emily and her mum, who I adore,” Peter says, “They both said, ‘we’re so impressed with the Greek accent that we want to put you in the whole series.’”

This comes months after Peter faced backlash for his latest film, Jafaican, in which he portrays a Jamaican gangster. The comedy was deemed controversial by viewers, prompting Peter to set the record straight.

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In The Sunshine Murders, Emily Corcoran isn’t just the show’s creator - she also stars in it as Shirley, a no-nonsense New Zealand farmer who bursts into the life of Greek detective Helen Moustakas, claiming to be her half-sister.

“She's based on women that I grew up with in New Zealand,” Emily says. “I always admired New Zealand women's practicality. They're not really bothered by a lot of things. European women are.”

Helen is sceptical of Shirley’s sudden arrival, but when an archaeologist turns up dead, Shirley proves surprisingly valuable. “She’s not hiding secrets,” says Emily.

“But Shirley does have a quiet determination and starts to uncover a lot of exciting twists.” Dr George quickly becomes central to Helen’s questions about her family as he’s determined to help them untangle the truths about the crime - and perhaps even their own connection.

For Peter, playing George was personal. He based the character’s dialect on his father Savvas. “I'm Cypriot. When you're speaking in Greek in a show that's based in Athens, your Greek has to be spot on. I had to adopt a different dialect,” he says.

“All I did really was think of my dad, because that is exactly how my dad talks. He is an older version of George. Except he's less geeky than the character.”

Emily, too, has ties to Greece. At 17, she left school to travel across Europe, later studying drama alongside Dora Chrysikou - the actress now portraying Helen Moustakas.

“She was my best friend at drama school and we’ve remained friends,” Emily says, “The inception of this happened at a drama school reunion in 2023, because she’s become quite famous in Greece. We love each other terribly but can’t see each other that much.”

The Sunshine Murders has the warmth of a family gathering, something Peter especially values as his own oldest children, Princess and Junior, grow more comfortable in the spotlight.

“Junior would be more for something like. Junior is a phenomenal little actor,” says Peter, “He would be great because he’s Greek but I love that they’re doing their thing.”

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