Brits Doing An American Accent!

Running scared? Ha . . . you're hilarious. You also know nothing about American accents or speech pattterns, which is, if you'll recall, the subject of the thread. But i'm sure you're right, Bubba, you're always right, huh?

The thread was about how successful we are at your accents, compared with how unsuccessful you lot are with ours.

I gave reasons for that, then you decided to pick a fight because you're a bit sad.

you were kidding, right?

Maybe you should write to the people who cast True Blood and Homeland.

Sure, Bubba, whatever you say . . .

Sorry, didn't see you down there, cowering behind Beth's skirt tails.

Funny - My Fair Lady also uses "loverly" and "guvna". I wonder if that is why we assume the Brits use it? I guess that is something just from that era of movie making? Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady were both released in 1964 I think.

I think actors speak "southern" horribly. I cringe when I hear them in some movies.

I tend to not notice accents at all unless they are unusual or really bad. I mean to say - I hear it and recognize it as British, Australian, etc... - no big deal. Unless the person is butchering the heck out of it for some reason. If it seems assumed - then it is usually better just to speak with your regular voice. It seems to be more distracting than anything.

Just as an aside - I was in New York one time and the cab driver asked me if I was from England! Totally cracked me up. I am quite southern in my drawl. Maybe not to the extent of some of my family but still - noticeably so.

Anyway - back to the subject at hand. Izzy - was Renee' Zellweger's (however you spell her name) accent good in Bridget Jone's Diary? What about Gwynneth Paltrow in Emma? Just curious. Though that is the opposite.

I think Robert Pattinson does a lovely American voice. Sans Brit overtones. Of course it wouldn't matter if he didn't. I just think he is pretty.

My objection is to the notion that there is a single "American" accent to which one can allude for sake of this discussion. What would that accent be? The way people from New Jersey speak? Illinois, Kansas, Texas, California? The problem probably arises from the fact that television tends to want to homogenize. Archie Bunker was unique not only for the character, but for the way Carol O'Connor and Jean Stapleton spoke. But generally, you don't hear the protagonist of a major television series speaking with a strong Down East Accent, or the accent of the Mississippi Delta, or a Chicago accent.

I can't agree with Frank just because, really, there is no such thing as an American accent.

Hi Miss Sunshine! Lovely to hear from you.

I've not seen either Emma or Bridget Jones, but I have seen clips from Bridget Jones and her accent sounds authentically home counties.

I also think the bloke who plays Tyrian Lannister in Game of Thrones is very good, but then again so is the guy who plays his brother Jamie, and he's Danish.

In order to do an accent properly you need to spend time in the place your accent is from. The Geordie accent is one of the hardest to do, but I lived in Newcastle for three years so I can pull that one off.



What do you think of the accents in True Blood? Are the English actors up to scratch? How do they compare to the American (non-southern) actors?

That's kind of like great big Portugal trying to intimidate itty bitty little Brazil into talking the right way.

A mild version of a down easter . . .

In that vid, he refers to a Newfie. That refers to Newfoundland, which has been a part of Canada since 1949 . . .

Set wrote:


Oh - I absolutely agree. I guess that is what Izzy is saying as well. Too many different ones to call it "American" or "Brit". I think that what most people mean is a lump of them. I know I am guilty of it.

But I totally get that a nice "clean" non accent is what television shows f a more serious nature go for. Unless of course it is a "character" and they are wanting to emphasize the area he is associated with. My Name is Earl is a classic example of a bunch of rednecks - or "trailer trash" if you will from a rural area (I can say that - my papaw had a trailer park and lived in one). Of course what makes them funny is their situation and where they are from. Just as Archie and Edith Bunker are a characterization of their era and surroundings.

So interesting.

Ah Thank you much Izzy!

Well...my turn to say I have not ever seen Game of Thrones or True Blood. I suck at series watching for some reason. I am not regimented enough in my schedule with the boys to sit down and watch anything consistently. AND the Prof. (my husband) has the DVR all mucked up with historical biographies and such.

The only series I can ever watch are the ones that everyone will sit down and watch...like The Walking Dead (zombies).

But movies I can get to. I might see if I can look the earlier seasons up on Netflix tonight after I get the 3 stooges down though. I wake up early enough that I may be able to watch them in the mornings before they all wake up! Our TV is also connected to the XBox. So it being summer - I have to give over to them before I get them out and about.

Way too much information. Sorry about that.

Take care Izzy

What about Rick's accent in The Walking Dead then? He's English.

You take care too.

Oh my goodness! He was in Love Actually too! (I forgot!) I love that movie.

Anyway - would have never known he was British from watching The Walking Dead. He does a great job. Of course I am no expert - but I never got hung up on it or suspected he was British.

Saying pawpaw tells a lot about you, darlin' . . .

That's papaw

Kelly Macdonald did a very good east Texas accent in No Country for Old Men. I had forgotten that she was Scottish, and that I had seen her in Train Spotting and The Girl in the Café.

Oh she is good.