Fans confused as Australian actress Melissa George debuts strange accent in cringe video with Tom Cruise: 'Are you in character?'

 Melissa George left fans confused on Thursday when she appeared in a video while speaking with a French accent.

The former Home and Away star, 50, who was born and raised in Perth, moved to France in 2011 after starting a relationship with entrepreneur Jean-David Blanc.

However, it would seem the Parisian culture has rubbed off on the Down Under actress, as she shared a clip to Instagram which saw her sporting an accent.

In the short clip, Melissa was smiling as she filmed herself talking with Tom Cruise while on the set of Mission Impossible. 

She asked the A-list actor to say hello to her eldest children, Raphael and Solal, who she shares with her ex-partner Jean-David. 

However, as Melissa said, 'Hello darlings,' and, 'Ciao babies, miss you,' she could be heard sporting a very thick French accent..

The former Home and Away star, who was born and raised in Perth, moved to France in 2011 after starting a relationship with entrepreneur Jean-David Blanc

Hi darlings,' she began the clip, with Tom, 64, then saying, 'Hello Raphael and Solal. Did I say that correctly?'

'Yes you said it correctly,' she said, giggling with the Hollywood star. 

Fans of the star took to the comments to point out that she no longer had the relaxed and distinctive sound of Australia in her tone.

'You're an Aussie. What's up with the accent?' one person wrote.

'Why the funny accent? Are you in character?' another added.

However, one fan defended Melissa, saying she has been living in France for so long that her accent has likely naturally adapted to her environment. 

Melissa George, 50, left fans confused on Thursday when she appeared in a video while speaking with a French accent

She's been in France for years. That's what happens when you live in a different country,' they said.

Melissa previously found herself in hot water after she slammed Australia in an infamous interview on Channel Seven's The Morning Show in 2012. 

At the time, she became frustrated when hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies focused too much on her role as Angel in Home and Away.

'I love this city [Sydney] so much. And I want to come home a lot but the stress that this has created in me is not worthy of my health,' she said after her Morning Show appearance, according to the Herald Sun.

'I think it will be the last time I visit and work here for a while, to be honest, because I just get too upset coming home.'

'I don't need credibility from my country anymore, I just need them all to be quiet. If they have nothing intelligent to say, please don't speak to me anymore.'

Fans of the star took to the comments to point out that she no longer had the relaxed and distinctive sound of Australia in her tone

She then uttered a statement that would go on to haunt her for the next decade.

'I'd rather be having a croissant and a little espresso in Paris or walking my French bulldog in New York City.'

Melissa was later forced to issue a grovelling apology to fans, saying she was 'really proud of her Australian roots'.  

It comes after Melissa secretly welcomed her fourth child with a mystery partner.  

The former soap star took to Instagram in July, revealing the surprise news in a joint post with former Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Kirstie Clements.

The baby's name is not yet known, nor is the identity of the father.

She welcomed a third child in 2024, a son named Lyor, whose father is also unknown to the public.

Melissa shares her sons, Raphael, 12, and Solal, 11, with her ex-partner Jean-David, a French entrepreneur.

Due to custody arrangements, her children cannot leave France without their father’s consent, so Melissa remains based in Paris. 

Notoriously private Melissa hasn't revealed if she is in a relationship or who the father of her two youngest sons is.

She was previously married to Chilean furniture designer and film director Claudio Dabed from 2000 to 2011.