Worst fake southern accent in cinematic history?

[Spoke]

The TV movie Ode to Billie Joe came up in another thread, and I mentioned my opinion that Robbie Benson, who played the title character in that "film," delivered perhaps the worst fake southern accent in movie history.

I want to be fair and consider all of the contenders, though.

Any other nominees?

[CalMeacham]

Gary Oldman's inexplicable Southern accent in "The Fifth Element".

[andyman]

The Cajun accents in "The Big Easy" were horrific. Also, anyone's who has been to New Orleans, knows that the people there have a completely different sound.

[Saint Zero]

Originally posted by CalMeacham
Gary Oldman's inexplicable Southern accent in "The Fifth Element".

Amen! I was wondering who in the hell he was trying to sound like. Like the movie otherwise.

Opal, character on one of those Soaps. Supposed to be from the south, but I've never heard an accent that horrible all my life.

[Crunchy Frog]

I couldn't stand Kevin Costner's attempt in JFK. Did that sound bad to anyone else?

[Blunt]

I thought Keanau Reeves in The Devil's Advocate was pretty horrible.

[obfusciatrist]

Nicholas Cage, Con Air.

[Spoke]

These are all worthy choices. (And yes, Costner's accent was particularly egregious. I'm considering changing my vote.)

And why do they keep giving Keanu Reeves parts which require him to do an accent? Memo to casting directors everywhere: Keanu can't do accents!

A couple of other nominees have occurred to me: [list] Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. It's odd, because his fake southern accent in The Green Mile wasn't so bad. The Gump accent was a mess, though. Vivian Leigh in Gone With the Wind. Sorry. I know she's an icon and all, but the attempted accent was atrocious.

[Spoke]

Although, I have to say I thought Oldman's attempt at a Southern accent wasn't too bad. It did seem a bit out of place though. I'm not sure why. Heck, we rednecks have as much right as anyone to explore the vast reaches of outer space! ;)

Just look at all the southern-accented Apollo astronauts!

[Eve]

Dick Van Dyke in "Mary Poppins."

. . . What's that, Ike? That was supposed to be a COCKNEY accent? Oh, g'wan, you're pulling my leg!

[kasuo]

Originally posted by obfusciatrist
Nicholas Cage, Con Air.

I second this one.

[JosephFinn]

Saw "Best in Show" over the weekend (highly recommended), and I was wondering what our compatriots from the South thought of Christopher Guest's Arkansas (I believe) accent from the movie. Personally, I thought it was pretty decent (especially considering he's freakin' British, and a Baron to boot - not that there's a relation there, but I'm amused that he's a lord), but I wonder what you gentleman and ladies from down South thought.

[Strainger]

I'll second Vivian Leigh in GWTW. Unfortunately it seems that a lot of actors look at GWTW as a textbook on Southern speech.

A few years ago, a movie about some poor Mississippi family came out. It starred Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood. Whoever played the sister/daughter in that film just had an atrocious fake Southern accent. I still cringe at the thought of her saying "memoirs."

I know I'm sort of breaking the rules here, but one night, I decided to watch "Savannah" to see if it was any good. I didn't make it through the opening narration before I changed the channel. Fake Southern accents are like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

[Spoke]

Originally posted by kasuo
Originally posted by obfusciatrist
Nicholas Cage, Con Air.

I second this one.


I haven't seen Con Air, but I am surprised. I thought Cage did a reasonably good approximation of a Southern accent in Raising Arizona (though why he had a southern accent in that film, I don't know). Maybe being around Holly Hunter's genuine Southern drawl made it easier for him to pick it up.

JosephFinn, I plan to see Best in Show soon. I'll give you a rating on the accent after I hear it.

[Dark Lord Davidson]

Originally posted by kasuo
Originally posted by obfusciatrist
Nicholas Cage, Con Air.

I second this one.


I third it.

[Spoke]

Dan Akroyd in Driving Miss Daisy. Jessica Tandy's accent, in contrast, was excellent.

[monster]

Originally posted by Blunt
I thought Keanau Reeves in The Devil's Advocate was pretty horrible.

This is the first one that came to my mind after reading this thread title. He's got an accent, wait, no he doesn't. Oh, yes he does. Wait, no he doesn't. Repeat ad nauseum.

[Badtz Maru]

I saw a program about the making of Forrest Gump, and Tom Hanks imitated the accent of the boy who played the young Forrest (can't recall his name at this moment), which was a real southern accent. There is a lot of variety in the way southerners talk, I have heard people that you would have sworn were doing a bad fake southern accent, and that was just the way they talked.

[Spoke]

Originally posted by Badtz Maru
I saw a program about the making of Forrest Gump, and Tom Hanks imitated the accent of the boy who played the young Forrest (can't recall his name at this moment), which was a real southern accent. There is a lot of variety in the way southerners talk, I have heard people that you would have sworn were doing a bad fake southern accent, and that was just the way they talked.

Badtz Maru, I have lived and traveled all over the South. Not to hold myself out as the ultimate authority, but I have heard just about every variation on the Southern accent. I'm especially familiar with Alabama accents, since I grew up just across the border in Georgia, and have many friends and relatives scattered all over Alabama. (Forrest Gump is set in Alabama, you'll recall.)

I defy anyone to find an accent anywhere in the South that matches what Hanks did in Gump.

(If Hanks was imitating the boy, it must have been a lousy imitation.)

Sally Field, on the other hand, turned in a pretty good accent as Forrest's mother. I will give credit where credit is due.

[Max Torque]

Originally posted by Lord Davidson
Originally posted by kasuo
Originally posted by obfusciatrist
Nicholas Cage, Con Air.I second this one.I third it.

Consider it fourthed. Little Nicky Cage should be a hands-down winner for that feeble attempt at an accent.

[Spoke]

Hey, how about George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke? I still can't believe he got an Oscar for this painfully bad fake accent.

[Mr. Blue Sky]

All of the secondary characters in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

[ruadh]

Originally posted by Saint Zero
Opal, character on one of those Soaps. Supposed to be from the south, but I've never heard an accent that horrible all my life.

That would be All My Children. Opal was the mother of Jenny, played by Kim Delaney now of NYPD Blue fame. Amazing how much useless knowledge you store up over the years huh? :)

I found Russell Crowe's wife in The Insider absolutely unbearable to listen to. Can't really speak for whether or not her accent was authentic or not, though, since I'm not really familiar with upper-class versions of Southern accents. (And if her accent was authentic, then I don't want to be familiar with them!)

[D Marie]

Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias.

There was a piece on this very topic on NPR's "This American Life" on Friday evening, and the author's contention was that Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear was the absolute pits.

[D Marie]

Forgot to say: I know Julia Roberts is from Georgia, but she went to a speech coach to pick up that awful accent in place of her own natural one, which apparently wasn't drawling enough for Hollywood (according to the "This American Life" guy).

[Nightingale]

How 'bout Jody Foster in [i} Maverick[/i]? The whole movie was pretty much a stinker, but that chicken-fried accent she put on was the worst!!

[Gadarene]

JosephFinn: I'm pretty certain Christopher Guest isn't British, though he does have a barony.

As far as the OP goes, I suffered through The legend of Bagger Vance this weekend, and while Charlize Theron's Southern accent wasn't the worst part of the movie*, it sure as hell wasn't very good.


*An honor which is shared jointly by the shallow narrative, the tepid script, and the nonexistent characterizations.

[Brynda]

Originally posted by spoke-
Dan Akroyd in Driving Miss Daisy. Jessica Tandy's accent, in contrast, was excellent.

oh my God, yes!! Dan Akroyd stunk up that movie something fierce.

[xanadu]

Originally posted by andyman
The Cajun accents in "The Big Easy" were horrific. Also, anyone's who has been to New Orleans, knows that the people there have a completely different sound.



I'd have to agree. I saw this movie and I laughed my ass off at Dennis Quaid's pathetic attempt to sound like a Louisiana dude.

[Jekeira]

Originally posted by D Marie
Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias.


That movie did feature a rather bizarre array of accents, but Olympia Dukakis' was by far the worst. It was so bad it was just strange. It may have been the worst fake accent of any kind I have ever heard, ever.

[rocking chair]

puut the buuun-nee daown. (put the bunny down)

[Brynda]

The accents in The Big Easy may have been awful, but that one sex scene--yikes! Whoo, baby!

[betenoir]

Originally posted by D Marie
Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias.

There was a piece on this very topic on NPR's "This American Life" on Friday evening, and the author's contention was that Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear was the absolute pits.

Hey! When was this? The show I heard Sunday was on the Media Fringe.

[HelloKitty]

Originally posted by Brynda
Originally posted by spoke-
Dan Akroyd in Driving Miss Daisy. Jessica Tandy's accent, in contrast, was excellent.

oh my God, yes!! Dan Akroyd stunk up that movie something fierce.

He stunk it up enough to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor...

[Typo Negative]

The absolute worst southern accent I have ever heard was from Kim Bassinger in 'Ready to Wear'.Ironically, I hear she is from Georgia!

[kawliga]

Nastassia Kinsky in "Paris, Texas"

Michael Caine in "Hurry Sundown"

Laurence Olivier, as Big Daddy in a TV production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

[Wendell Wagner]

Christopher Guest was born in the U.S. to British parents. I believed he's never lived in the U.K. I just watched _Spinal Tap_ again recently, and it was obvious that Harry Shearer was having trouble keeping his British accent consistent. The other actors did a pretty good job with the accents, it seemed to me.

[Spoke]

How 'bout Jody Foster in Maverick?

I didn't see Maverick, but I thought Jody did a pretty good southern accent in Silence of the Lambs.

And about Kim Basinger: Her accent is as authentic as they come. She is from Athens, GA, and her accent comes through loud and clear in interviews.

I didn't see Steel Magnolias, so I can't comment on the accents there, but as you noted, Julia Roberts is from Smyrna, GA, so I would be disappointed if she turned in a bad accent.

Dan Akroyd got an Oscar nomination for that abomination of a fake accent? Why do they keep rewarding these horrible accents? First George Kennedy and now this!

Oh yeah, I forgot that Vivian Leigh reprised her horrible fake accent in Streetcar Named Desire. Yech!

By the way, I have some respect for Clark Gable. He was asked to do a southern accent in GWTW, but refused, knowing it wouldn't have been good. Thank you Mr. Gable.

[kunilou]

Originally posted by D Marie
Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias.

Speaking of Steel Magnolias, I hate it when directors lump all accents together as if "Southern" were a single type of speech. Kim Basinger does not sound like Dolly Parton any more than Joe Pesci sounds like Rodney Dangerfield, even though they're both "New York."

[PunditLisa]

Y'all beat me to Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias. Ironic, no?

Also, for male I have to also second Kevin Costner in JFK.

[ultress]

I have to disagree that Vivian Leigh did such a terrible job with the accent. Her accent suits a different South than where we live today, and of course since that day and time our accents have changed. It would be hard to judge in this day and time.
Forrest Grump, I think that it wasn't so much that his accent was bad as the fact that the character he played was 'mentally slow' thus his speech was different from anyone's.
I will agree that Cage was pretty bad in Con Air. Julia Roberts, I must admit I didn't pay that much attention to her accent even though I have the movie.
I dislike the accents used in Designing Women. Every one of the girls had a different accent.

[Spoke]

I dislike the accents used in Designing Women. Every one of the girls had a different accent.

Well yeah, ultress, but they all sound authentic. And in fact, aren't the cast members of DW all native Southerners?

Besides, the show is set in Atlanta, and we do get all kinds of Southern accents congregating here.

I can't go along with you on Vivian Leigh. I've never heard an accent like hers in my life outside a movie theater.

[ultress]

I think that Annie Potts was the worst one and I don't think she was southern, then Jane Smart..if you've heard her IRL she's lost her southern accent.
On Vivian Leigh, the whole point in the movie was for her to exaggerate her accent. When comparing her to the other females in the movie, it was clear that she exaggerated her accent to impress her suitors. I guess it's a matter of what you prefer as far as accents go.
Being from the south, accents vary from county to county, not to mention from state to state. It would be hard to impress on someone that they have the wrong accent according to the county they are from. :)

[Spoke]

Well now, ultress, far be it from me to come across as a smarty-pants know-it-all ('cause we know that nobody on this board fits that description ;)), but it looks like Annie Potts (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Potts,+Annie) is a native southerner, hailing from Kentucky.

Of course we can quibble about whether Kentuckians really get to call themselves southerners, being as how they got all weak-kneed when the bugles were blowing, but you have to admit that there are some pretty thick southern accents to be heard there.

[Lamia]

I think many people outside the South simply have no idea what real Southern accents actually sound like, which is why there are such horrible fake accents in the movies. It's partially so the huge portion of the audience that doesn't know any better will understand that the character is supposed to be Southern, and partially because many actors don't know any better themselves.

I spent my entire childhood in the South, but my family moved to the Midwest before I started high school. My sisters and I do not have very strong accents, but they were enough to identify us as being from someplace other than the Midwest. People often tried to guess where we were from, but they never got the correct region and almost never even guessed the South. In fact, when we explained that we were Southern people would often protest that our accents didn't sound Southern at all! The most common assumption seemed to be that we were British, or the children of British immigrants. My mother, who is from Texas, is frequently mistaken for an Australian.

I am back in the South for college, and as I often tell people, "In the North they don't know you're Southern unless you sound like you're from 'Hee Haw'".

[Sir Rhosis]

I'll tenth or fifteenth (or whatever its up to now) Nicholas Cage's atrocious southern accent in Con Air.

Although he didn't use it for the entire movie, and may have been overdoing it on purpose since his character was undercover, John Travolta's southern accent in the opening sequences of The General's Daughter is pretty damn bad.

Worst I've ever heard? Lindsay Wagner in The Bionic Woman playing a dual role as a southern look-alike for the Jamie Summers character. Beyond bad.

Sir

[bwk]

Um, everybody in the cast of 'In the heat of the night'. I don't know if it counts because it is television...

And as for Keanu Reeves, he's a doll, just gorgeous, but he can barely do emotions, much less an accent.

As far as Nicolas Cage, I don't know why he is ever in any movie. I guess he can act, but he is butt-ugly, and as has been seconded and thirded and fourteenthed here, he cannot do a Southern accent.

Also, accents vary by region of the South, but there are also differences betweeen 'southern' and 'country' accents.

Also, I believe it is 'Vivien' Leigh, not 'Vivian'.

[Stimpy]

sorry, haven't got time to read the whole thread but i'm guessing nobody has mentioned john travolta in 'the generals daughter'. he actually isn't from the south in the film, he 'puts the accent on' to fool people, but i've a suspicion this was an excuse added by the director on hearing his vile attempt - and isn't he from the south anyway?
i've read that stephen king was planning to go and see this film the day he was knocked down and nearly killed. swings and roundabouts...

[Typo Negative]

Originally posted by spoke-

And about Kim Basinger: Her accent is as authentic as they come. She is from Athens, GA, and her accent comes through loud and clear in interviews.

Yeah, but her accent in 'Ready to Wear' was nothing short of caricature. Grossly exaggerated, and difficult to withstand, as was the rest of the film.

[Rilchiam]

Originally posted by rocking chair
puut the buuun-nee daown. (put the bunny down)

All right. This has gotten under my nerves for the last time. Cage's character did not say "Put the bunny down.". He said, "Put...the bunny...back...in...the box.".

I'm not discussing how he said it. But he said, "Put the bunny back in the box."

[Tzel]

Originally posted by Max Torque
Originally posted by Lord Davidson
Originally posted by kasuo
Originally posted by obfusciatrist
Nicholas Cage, Con Air.I second this one.I third it.

Consider it fourthed. Little Nicky Cage should be a hands-down winner for that feeble attempt at an accent.

[Tzel]

Originally posted by Max Torque
Originally posted by Lord Davidson
Originally posted by kasuo
Originally posted by obfusciatrist
Nicholas Cage, Con Air.I second this one.I third it.

Consider it fourthed. Little Nicky Cage should be a hands-down winner for that feeble attempt at an accent.

Odd, my text didn't show up. Ah well, here goes again.

When I saw the thread title, the first thing that popped into my mind was: "Con Air." Glad to see I'm not alone.

[LabRat]

I can't believe that nobody mentioned Adam Sandler's "cajun" accent from The Waterboy.

-LabRat

[TVeblen]

A ringing endorsement for kawliga's nominations of Michael Caine in Hurry Sundown and Sir Larry in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Okay, maybe Sir Larry's effort seemed lame in comparison to his usual excellence.

And I really like Michael Caine. He's been in a lot of real gobblers, but he's a very workmanlike actor. That's a tactful way of saying he takes a lot of roles that seem strange.

But the strangest had to be Hurry Sundown. It's pretty obscure (deservedly) but basically it was a Southern Gothic potboiler @ early 70's, I think. A swamp-and-magnolias drawl overlaid on a Cockney accent just didn't work.

IIRC, Jane Fonda was in it, too--and sucked. Actually the whole movie pretty much shed toxic waste over the screen.

Veb

[Johnny L.A.]

One that bugged me was the way a Confederate soldier said "We're fightin' for our rats" in [i]Gettysburg[i]." In the book, it was described that the Union soldier didn't understand and that he eventually grasped that "rats" was "rights". But in the movie it just didn't work.

[NicePete]

Bob DeNiro in Cape Fear. Liked the movie, love DeNiro, but the accent bit it.

Maybe it was supposed to be a South Jersey accent. Yeah, that's it.

Yew tawkin tuh me? I oun't see nobuddy ailse round here.

[Wendell Wagner]

TVeblen writes:

> It's pretty obscure (deservedly) but basically it was a
> Southern Gothic potboiler @ early 70's, I think.

It came out in 1967 actually.

[Occam]

Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs....<shudder>

[Spoke]

Originally posted by Occam
Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs....<shudder>

I thought Jodie Foster did an outstanding job with the accent. Sounded like near-perfect Southern/Appalachian to me.

[Mojo]

I was going to vote for Keanu Reeves in Devil's Advocate but I'll hold out til I see Con Air based on y'alls input.

[wolfman]

I couldn't actually stand to listen to enough of it to notice how technically correct it was, but Brannagh's accent in Wild Wild West was one of the most annoying things I've ever heard in a movie.

[Spoke]

Originally posted by wolfman
I couldn't actually stand to listen to enough of it to notice how technically correct it was, but Brannagh's accent in Wild Wild West was one of the most annoying things I've ever heard in a movie.

Forgot about that one. It was an atrocity. It made my cerebrum ache it was so bad. That now takes over the number 1 spot on my "bad accents" list, nudging its way past Robbie Benson's.

I had blocked Brannagh's performance out of my memory until you brought it up. Thanks.