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American Accent


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What about Damian Lewis? I thought his American accent was superb in Band of Brothers...

 

This seems to be an interesting phenomenon over here -- Brits taking on American roles with American accents. I would think there's enough out of work American actors over here that they wouldn't have to go across the pond to fill these roles. ;)

 

Does this ever occur in Britain? You know, having an American actor play a British role with a British accent.

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This seems to be an interesting phenomenon over here -- Brits taking on American roles with American accents. I would think there's enough out of work American actors over here that they wouldn't have to go across the pond to fill these roles. ;)

 

Does this ever occur in Britain? You know, having an American actor play a British role with a British accent.

It's something I never quite understand, if they need an actor to play someone from a certain area wouldn't it be easier just to get an actor from that area? In the case of Hugh Lawrie though, I think it's because he pulls off the character so well, you should see his audition on You Tube, I don't think anybody else could play House.

 

As for Americans playing British roles, I don't think it is anywhere near as common as Brits in America, but one recent example is Robert Downey Jr playing Sherlock Holmes, I thought has accent was pretty good. Johnny Depp has had a few British roles, I think he pulls it off quite well. I can't think of many more off the top of my head.

 

The less said about Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins the better, terrible!

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Dick Van Dyke :rofl:

 

Yeah, Robert Downey Jr. is a good one. And don't forget he also played Charlie Chaplin in a biopic of Chaplin several years ago. I guess he could've done whatever accent he wanted for Chaplin though, as no one knows what he sounded like because he was in silent films. I know, horrible joke but it had to be done.

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Yeah, Robert Downey Jr. is a good one. And don't forget he also played Charlie Chaplin in a biopic of Chaplin several years ago. I guess he could've done whatever accent he wanted for Chaplin though, as no one knows what he sounded like because he was in silent films. I know, horrible joke but it had to be done.

Yeah, there are a few more I can think of, such as Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson in The Other Boleyn Girl, Renee Zellweger in Miss Potter, but these are all film roles.

 

There are quite a few British actors on American TV, Hugh Lawrie (House), Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers), Anna Friel (Pushing Daisy's), Joseph Fiennes & Sonya Walger (Flashforward) to name but a few.

 

But when I try to think of American actors on British TV I am really scratching my head. Scraping the barrel there is John Barrowman (though born in Scotland) raised in America, but in most of his roles he plays an American and keeps his own accent. There probably are a few lesser known actors, but I am really struggling to come up with anymore.

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I'm not British but when New Zealanders try to copy it I think we change our words like "carn't" to "cAn't" if you get what I mean? :P To me, your "internet" sounds more like "innernet", "interview"="innerview" xD and really... drawn out. I adore the American mens accent ^_^

I like the american accent. Wouldn't like it as my accent though. It sounds to laid back, not that they are laid back. It sounds like a lazy accent like they drag their words out like Kim said. Then again to you americans we sound posh and up tight. You could say we like to pronounce our words. But it isn't how we're to seem at all. It's just steriotypical.

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But when I try to think of American actors on British TV I am really scratching my head. Scraping the barrel there is John Barrowman (though born in Scotland) raised in America, but in most of his roles he plays an American and keeps his own accent. There probably are a few lesser known actors, but I am really struggling to come up with anymore.

 

Yeah, although I'm not familiar with British TV, that's kinda what I figured.

 

 

I like the american accent. Wouldn't like it as my accent though. It sounds to laid back, not that they are laid back. It sounds like a lazy accent like they drag their words out like Kim said. Then again to you americans we sound posh and up tight. You could say we like to pronounce our words. But it isn't how we're to seem at all. It's just steriotypical.

 

We are laid back and some would say lazy. ;) Not all British accents sound posh to us - people with an Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady) accent certainly don't sound that way.

 

Emma's accent sounds posh. I don't know if you guys over in England have ever seen the show Arrested Development but in the last season Charlize Theron played a British girl that Michael was dating. Everyone thought she was so smart and insightful because of her accent. But it turned out she was actually mentally retarded. It plays on the assumption that Americans think Brits are smart just because of their posh accent. The episodes were actually funnier than I'm making them sound.

 

I think that also comes into play for British actors. Even if they were a horrible actor Americans would assume that they were great just because they act with a British accent. I've been hearing for years that the HP series features a who's who of the best British actors. I've never heard of most of these people before the HP series. That's not to say that they aren't good but I would have to figure there's at least one Ben Affleck in the bunch. They can't all be great can they?

 

America, like Britain has its ACTORS who when they are on screen are ACTING! That is to say, they are quite over the top and relishing every word they say but the general public misses that and just assumes it's great acting. I suppose it's no secret because of my avatar that I'm a Jeff Bridges fan. I haven't seen all his films by any means but he has such an easy going manner that he is actually an extremely good actor but is so deceptive about it he doesn't get a lot of mention by the media at large. You'll get a lot more press by playing Forrest Gump and ACTING than you will by playing a fully fleshed and deeply flawed character like Bad Blake. Just look at Bridges in Texasville (the lesser known sequel to The Last Picture Show) when he'd come into his own as an actor. Now look at him in The Big Lebowski. Totally different role but in that role you wouldn't ever believe that he ever played a simple Southern character. In Iron Man he played another completely different character but didn't play it as the BAD GUY! LOOK AT ME!!! He just fully embodied the role.

 

Wow, I went way off subject. Sorry for it being so long. I didn't intend to do that.

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I think that also comes into play for British actors. Even if they were a horrible actor Americans would assume that they were great just because they act with a British accent. I've been hearing for years that the HP series features a who's who of the best British actors. I've never heard of most of these people before the HP series. That's not to say that they aren't good but I would have to figure there's at least one Ben Affleck in the bunch. They can't all be great can they?

They can, believe me. Harry Potter has such a stellar cast, more so than any other movie or franchise I know. HP has some huge names from British television and film and names such as Dame Maggie Smith, Julie Walters and Alan Rickman are some of the most respected in the business. I don't know a bad actor among them.

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I don't think Emma sounds posh to be honest. I think she just sounds british ahha.

 

A proper British accent sounds posh to us. :)

 

They can, believe me. Harry Potter has such a stellar cast, more so than any other movie or franchise I know. HP has some huge names from British television and film and names such as Dame Maggie Smith, Julie Walters and Alan Rickman are some of the most respected in the business. I don't know a bad actor among them.

 

I think Rickman is great. I've been a fan of his for a while. He has really done great things with Snape.

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A proper British accent sounds posh to us. :)

 

I think Rickman is great. I've been a fan of his for a while. He has really done great things with Snape.

I know. That's what I stated in my first post.

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Thing is that Emma speaks received pronunciation, and that is just one of many British accents. There are so many for such a small country, with such variation. I have to say I do like the geordie accent on Cheryl Cole, although not as much as Emma's. I'm from Yorkshire (can you guess?) although I don't feel like I have a strong Yorkshire accent at all. Although being from the north I do say glass, not glarse, like Emma would, path, not parthe etc. Emma's accent is just brilliant.

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I hope that we are not taking this thread off topic, it seems to have gone from 'American Accents' to just 'Accents', but I think that is a good way for the discussion to go, it opens it up more.

 

Thing is that Emma speaks received pronunciation, and that is just one of many British accents. There are so many for such a small country, with such variation. I have to say I do like the geordie accent on Cheryl Cole, although not as much as Emma's. I'm from Yorkshire (can you guess?) although I don't feel like I have a strong Yorkshire accent at all. Although being from the north I do say glass, not glarse, like Emma would, path, not parthe etc. Emma's accent is just brilliant.

I love Emma's accent too.

 

You are right about the variation of accents here in the UK, I can usually tell where someone is from, even down to indiviual areas... I could speak to somone locally and will probably be able to tell you which area of Staffordshire they come from. I don't really know how to describe my accent, I suppose it's a bit of a mix - we had the Welsh and the Geordies come to the area during the industrial revolution for the Pottery industry, but we also have our own dialect in the Potteries too. Like you we also pronounce words how they are spelt..... book (with an oo sound) instead of buck, look instead luck etc.

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Thing is that Emma speaks received pronunciation, and that is just one of many British accents. There are so many for such a small country, with such variation. I have to say I do like the geordie accent on Cheryl Cole, although not as much as Emma's. I'm from Yorkshire (can you guess?) although I don't feel like I have a strong Yorkshire accent at all. Although being from the north I do say glass, not glarse, like Emma would, path, not parthe etc. Emma's accent is just brilliant.

I found this little masterpiece some years ago when I was dealing with some British accents.

 

 

 

You are right, there are so many and I'm still not able to understand a real scotsman

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I found this little masterpiece some years ago when I was dealing with some British accents.

 

 

 

You are right, there are so many and I'm still not able to understand a real scotsman

 

I think you gotta be a real scotsman to understand a real scottsman.

 

 

 

I clicked on your link and found this post under the video:

 

I want my own British kid.

 

That had to have been written by an American. We think that you can just run out to Wal-Mart buy anything.

 

 

.

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I clicked on your link and found this post under the video:

 

That had to have been written by an American. We think that you can just run out to Wal-Mart buy anything.

 

 

.

 

The video was GREAT. I laughed so hard. And the comment, "I want my own British kid". I agree, although you'll be surprised what you can find at Wal-Mart. Lol. :D

I do not yet know how to do multiple quotes in my post, but I want to know this: what does one mean when they refer to Emma speaking "received pronunciation"?

I have also noticed that there are differences between pronouncing words as you see them, ex. "Book" vs. "Buhk" (I don't do the best on phonetics).

Speaking of American accents, I am quite similar when I can guess where a person is from (I am actually better at this when I figure out which country a Spanish-speaker is from, but that's another topic altogether), what region/area. But the other day, while thinking about this topic at work (thanks to YOU people! :o) I spoke to a woman who had quite a soft southern twang to her voice. I guessed she was from Kentucky. Boy, was I wrong.

She was from northern Florida. LOL.

At least I tried. -shrug-

:)

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what does one mean when they refer to Emma speaking "received pronunciation"?

 

Here, maybe this link will help: RP

 

I came across this a few years ago on another Emma forum. I had to look it up too. I believe it's kind of the same thing as non-regional dialect. Most news casters and TV show hosts in the US will use a non regional dialect so as to be more palatable to wider audience.

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Here, maybe this link will help: RP

 

I came across this a few years ago on another Emma forum. I had to look it up too. I believe it's kind of the same thing as non-regional dialect. Most news casters and TV show hosts in the US will use a non regional dialect so as to be more palatable to wider audience.

 

Hmmm. I never knew this...the things you learn everyday. I guess you can call me lazy for not looking it up. Kind of forgot to.

A "non-regional" dialect. That is a bit confusing to understand when speaking about the English language. Is it like a standard dialect? The only thing I can equate it to (I don't know if you are familiar with any other language) is Spain's Castilian dialect because I've studied it extensively, even though my native language is English...go figure. It's considered the"proper" way of speaking the language.

I find this so interesting!

I'm. A. Geek. -shrug-

Thanks for the link! :)

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A "non-regional" dialect. That is a bit confusing to understand when speaking about the English language. Is it like a standard dialect? It's considered the"proper" way of speaking the language.

 

I don't know that American English (AE) has a standard dialect or proper way of speaking like England or some other countries do. A non regional dialect is done in such a way that it's just very bland and doesn't give any clues as to where the speaker is from. It's used mainly for TV and such. If this nondescript dialect wasn't used then a person in Cupertino, CA might have trouble understanding a reporter from New York.

 

I remember once my sister was dating this guy from Vermont. We were playing basketball and he wanted to take a break so he said "Let's have a reese's." I was like, alright, we're gonna go get some candy. But what he really meant was recess. But he pronounced it rees's. So you can see the need for a non regional dialect in mass media.

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I don't know that American English (AE) has a standard dialect or proper way of speaking like England or some other countries do. A non regional dialect is done in such a way that it's just very bland and doesn't give any clues as to where the speaker is from.

 

I remember once my sister was dating this guy from Vermont. We were playing basketball and he wanted to take a break so he said "Let's have a reese's." I was like, alright, we're gonna go get some candy. But what he really meant was recess. But he pronounced it rees's. So you can see the need for a non regional dialect in mass media.

 

LOL at the "reese's".

I never really much given non-regional dialects of a spoken language (particularly English) a thought, so I never picked up on newscasters' way of speaking.

So much to learn! Lol.

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