# Actors and fake accents: Best and worst **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000 "2003-12-25T12:58:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/61 "2003-12-26T14:39:55Z")
I thought Laurence Olivier had pretty convincing German accents in both _Marathon Man_ and _The Boys From Brazil_. Then again, I’m not from Germany. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/62 "2003-12-26T14:57:47Z")
and he sounded perfect as Zeus in **Clash of the Titans** _"Release the Kraken!_ ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/63 "2003-12-26T16:36:45Z")
Not to rain on the parade of Australians, but what little I’ve heard of Nicole Kidman’s Southern accent in Cold Mountain just doesn’t make it. Bad fake accents are a real pet peeve of mine. Doing a movie about Ireland? There are plenty of great Irish actors out there. Hire one of 'em. Doing a movie set in the South? Plenty of genuine Southern actors in Hollywood. Use 'em. Watching an otherwise great movie with bad fake accents is like hearing a beautiful symphony performed slightly out of tune. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/64 "2003-12-26T18:00:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > \*\*Not to rain on the parade of Australians, but what little I’ve heard of Nicole Kidman’s Southern accent in Cold Mountain just doesn’t make it. > \*\* Yikes. OP checking in. While Kidman has been spot-on with American accents so far, you’re right in this case, at least as far as what I’ve seen in the trailer. [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ColdMountain-1128336/trailers.php](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ColdMountain-1128336/trailers.php) Kidman doesn’t do the southern accent well. Of course I could not pull off a southern accent well either (being from California), so while she’s amazing in that she can do a southern accent better than I could, neither one of us should have been cast in that role 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/65 "2003-12-26T18:13:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TeaElle \* > \*\*Other good disappearing accents: Catherine Zeta-Jones, \*\* …but I’ve noticed CZJ’s natural accent comes through a bit more when her character is frightened, angry, or otherwise stressed. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/66 "2003-12-26T18:33:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Babbington \* > \*\*And I must respectfully disagree with you. The movie did not suck. \*\* Yes it did! It did it did it did! And I’m going to hold my breath until you admit it! Starting breathholding now… ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/67 "2003-12-26T18:41:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Weird\_AL\_Einstein \* > \*\*Speaking of James Marsters as Spike in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”…he can not only do a convincing English accent, he can also do a convincing “Englishman trying to sound American but failing miserably” accent, as I recall from at least one episode of that show. How many actors can do that? \*\* His accent is not too bad, but the painfully over-the-top use of odd mannerisms does stand out like a sore thumb. He sounds like a Briton from outside London doing a bad impression of a Londoner. I thought Ewen Bremner’s American accent in _Blackhawk Down_ was awful. As bad as Jonny Lee Miller’s Scottish accent in _Trainspotting_ was good (or was it? I can only really judge generalised or Edinburgh accents). ---
**Author:** ![Corixidae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Corixidae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corixidae)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/68 "2003-12-26T18:44:01Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > I don’t know how much of the accent he used was his creation v. that of a dialect coach, but it was brilliant: > > Actually, he used a wax cylinder recording of Walt Whitman reading “Leaves of Grass” as his model for that accent. And I must respectfully disagree with you. The movie did not suck. I have to disagree some with both of you. For me, Day-Lewis’ accent completely detracted from his performance. It was so over-the-top, I couldn’t concentrate on his character and the story. Every time he appeared on-screen and uttered any lines, I wanted to tear the DVD from my player and fling it through the window. And the movie blew chunks. Was way too long, a good 2 hours longer than it needed to be. Although maybe if the execrable accent hadn’t bothered me so much, the movie’s length wouldn’t have bothered me either. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/69 "2003-12-26T18:50:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tavalla \* > **The only foreign actor I’ve ever heard really nail the Australian accent was Helena Bonham-Carter in _Til Human Voices Wake Us_. Freakishly accurate, and I’ve never heard anyone else do as well.** She also did a freaky east-coast Canadian accent in _Margaret’s Museum_. Gave me chill’s when she’d shrug and say “suit yourself.” ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/70 "2003-12-26T19:45:37Z")
Catherene Zeta-Jones. She can sing. She can dance. She can’t speak American English. ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/71 "2003-12-27T00:56:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*Interestingly, the woman playing Arquette’s mother in that movie (Carmen Ferland) was a local and her accent was, well, local, and perfectly appropriate. > > Considering the _other_ star power in that movie, it should have been easy to just not cast Arquette in the first place and rather find a sexy Quebec actress to play Oz’s duplicitous wife. \*\* For some reason many Americans (including those responsible for making this film, I’m sure) think that a Quebecois accent must be similar to a Parisian accent, when it seems to me to actually be much closer to an Anglo-Canadian accent than any found in France. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/72 "2003-12-27T01:46:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*As for good and bad, I’m terrible at judging accents, but what about that Russian guy on _Star Trek_? They got the sounds mixed up! The Russian alphabet has no W sound-therefore, he wouldn’t say things like “wessels and wiolations!” More like, ve vill (bury you!), etc. > > What the HELL was Roddenberry smoking, anyway? \*\* If they have no W sound in Russian, why is their capital Mosco **w**? They don’t pronounce it Moss-kov. I worked with two young ladies who were both transplated Muscovites and they pronounced the city name MOSS-koh. Similarly, ‘vodka’ becomes ‘oo-odka.’ Russia is a huge landmass; I find it hard to believe that there is _one_ Russian accent any more than there is one American accent. (Chekov certainly doesn’t sound like the Big Beefy Russians from '80s action films.) Chekov’s voice was annoying at times, I grant you, but that quick, clipped sound was fairly true to the accents of the ladies I worked with. FISH ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/73 "2003-12-27T01:47:21Z")
I was watching “The Bastard” (1977 miniseries based on John Jakes novel starring Andrew Stevens as the illegitimate French son of an English nobleman and Patricia Neal as his mother) on one of the Turner channels one night a few months ago. The trivia blip when the movie went to commercial said that Neal used a perfect provincial French accent when filming then had to dub it in her regular speaking voice because the other castmembers either couldn’t or didn’t even try to use an accent. (Hard to believe that such a multitalented force as Andrew Stevens couldn’t wing one.) ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/74 "2003-12-27T04:44:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thylacine \* > \*\*Worst by far has to be Meryl Streep trying to be aussie in a Cry in The Dark. It was torturous. > > I doubt I was alone in hoping the next dingo would take out her voice box. > > Seems that the aussie accent range is easier to drop than pick up. \*\* To be fair to Ms Streep, she was doing the voice of a woman who already had a strong, distinctive, nasally annoying voice. If she’d toned it down, it wouldn’t have been Lindy Chaimberlain. We keep forgetting that Aussies have differring accents for different regions, it just that like all TV and Cinema the one we hear most is the mildest. Unfortunately, the voice most foreign actors seem to go for is the extreme Steve Irwin, Alf from ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/75 "2003-12-27T04:45:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thylacine \* > \*\*Worst by far has to be Meryl Streep trying to be aussie in a Cry in The Dark. It was torturous. > > I doubt I was alone in hoping the next dingo would take out her voice box. > > Seems that the aussie accent range is easier to drop than pick up. \*\* To be fair to Ms Streep, she was doing the voice of a woman who already had a strong, distinctive, nasally annoying voice. If she’d toned it down, it wouldn’t have been Lindy Chaimberlain. We keep forgetting that Aussies have differring accents for different regions, it just that like all TV and Cinema the one we hear most is the mildest. Unfortunately, the voice most foreign actors seem to go for is the extreme Steve Irwin type. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/76 "2003-12-27T04:58:11Z")
Gah! Damned tab key double posting! I Smash you Tab key! I smash yooooouuu!!! Sorry bout that…continue on. ---
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/77 "2003-12-27T07:28:44Z")
I keep thinking Hugh Jackman in the X-Men movies. I can’t recall if he was super-great or not, but I do remember being surprised at his Aussie voice when I saw him on some show or another. I think. I think that’s the one I’m thinking of. Damn he’s hot. Anyway… Also, Lucy Lawless from Xena. I was rather stunned to hear her real accent and to learn she’s naturally a blonde. She had me convinced. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/78 "2003-12-27T09:16:56Z")
Someone earlier mentioned Anthony LaPaglia. I respectfully disagree, I can tell quite easily that he is Australian. It’s a pretty good accent, but it’s not 100% perfect. Which reminds me of Mel Gibson. His American accent has improved considerably over time. Not long ago, I caught _Lethal Weapon_ on TV and whenever he was excited, he lost the accent completely. But I saw him on some awards show a couple years ago and he either accepted or presented an award with an American accent, which made me wonder how he _really_ speaks. Whatsername in _The Ring_…Naomi Watts?..was perfect, had no idea she was Australian til much later. Same thing with Toni Collette, who plays the mom in _The Sixth Sense_. She plays a Briton in _About a Boy_, and sounds right to me, but I don’t suppose I’m the best judge. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/79 "2003-12-27T09:26:50Z")
I’m most critical of actors trying to do southern (U.S.) accents. Apparently it’s a really difficult group of accents to get right, since I’ve heard so many awful ones – many from actors who are from the south. (Actually, that’s not so hard to understand; I grew up around Atlanta and have already lost most of my accent.) The best I’ve ever heard is Natasha Richardson in _Nell_. The coolest part is that it’s not just “southern,” but it really sounds like a well-educated person from a southern cosmopolitan area. That was the first movie I’d ever seen her in, and I was surprised to learn that she’s British. Another winner is Jodie Foster in _Silence of the Lambs_, I thought – it’s definitely played up, but it still sounds natural and is a big part of the character. The part that surprised me was that in the commentary, Jonathan Demme says she started the part with no accent; when he requested she do it with an accent, she instantly went into the accent she used for the rest of the movie. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Sublight_ > **In the spirit of Bob Hoskins (whose nomination I agree with completely), I give you John Mahoney, who plays Martin Crane on Frasier. I was floored when I found out he was actually English.** But he’s lived in the U.S. for decades. His normal speaking voice is exactly the same as what he uses on the show. He was on a T.V. interview show describing how his British accent occasionally creeps back in on certain words; he had to do several takes of a scene before he could pronounce “Wednesday” with two syllables. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Trillionaire_ > **I’m from New Zealand, so am a long way from being an authority, but I thought Minnie Driver did a pretty good New York accent in the movie Sleepers.** I’ve tried to drive out all memory of _Sleepers_, but I was very impressed with Driver’s American accent in _Grosse Pointe Blank_. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Krebnar the Magnificent_ > **Continuing with the Joss references, I think that Spike (William Marsters) blows the big one with his accent.** I always thought that this was intentional. When the characters of Spike & Drusilla were first introduced, they were supposed to be over-the-top, and he was supposed to be reminiscent of Sid Vicious. Haven’t they done flashback episodes set before he was turned to a vampire, and his accent’s a little more on-target? I thought that they were implying that he (Spike, the character) affected the accent in order to get people to take him more seriously. It’s kind of like Bob Hoskins and Kenneth Brannagh doing American accents. They don’t sound natural, really, but they still work. And I have to say I have a little more sympathy for actors trying to do Irish accents now that I’ve actually been to Ireland. I only saw three fairly large cities in one corner of the country, and must’ve encountered about five or six different accents. I heard a lot of “St. Padrick’s Cataydral” but wouldn’t be able to say if that’s exclusive to Dublin or all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![CairaJade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@CairaJade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairaJade)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000/80 "2003-12-27T13:35:23Z")
I read this thread early in the day yesterday, and had it on my mind last night when I went to the movies. Well add Ewan McGregor’s horrendous Alabama accent in _Big Fish_ to the list. Great movie, bad, bad accent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-fake-accents-best-and-worst/221000.md?page=5)