# Actors from outside the Southeastern U.S., or even the country doing Southern accents--do they usually do it well? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563 "2020-07-07T02:28:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/61 "2020-07-10T21:52:54Z")
> [@K2500](#): > > Does “fixin ta” fall in the same dialect as “y’all”? As someone who lives in the South, no. Y’all is general usage by every possible Southern dialect (and Yankees who come down, like yours truly). “Fixin ta” is only used by certain dialects as far as I can tell. Same as “Reckon” as mentioned above. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/62 "2020-07-10T21:55:05Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > The funny part about that film is that for the first like half hour I had no idea what accent he was doing. I guess it seems like he’s trying to do an upper class Kentucky accent? It’s not as over the top as his turn in Logan Lucky at least :D. His absurd accent is actually noted by the other characters in the movie - at one point, I think they refer to him as “CSI-KFC”. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/63 "2020-07-11T00:52:48Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > On the other hand, I have four nieces who were born and raised in North Carolina, and (to me anyway) have no trace of an accent. That’s probably because their parents are native Chicagoans. I’ve spent considerable time in the Raleigh area and have encountered folks with thick accents, mild accents, and no accents at all. So you can’t assume all residents of a certain region all sound the same anyway. I’ve lived in North Carolina my whole life. I grew up near Charlotte and had a Piedmont accent. Then I went to East Carolina University and quickly acquired an ENC accent. It was noticeable enough that my older sister’s friend commented on it when I ran into her at the store after my first semester of school. Ten years ago I moved to the mountains and I’ve gotten a trace of WNC accent. It’s nowhere near as thick as my friends who grew up here, though…at least to my hearing. I refuse to say “chirruns” (children) but I do know I’ve acquired a few other regionalisms. ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/64 "2020-07-11T01:19:17Z")
I’ve been using '‘y’all’ and ‘fixing to’ my whole life. My dad uses ‘reckon’ but I really don’t. I think it would be kinda weird to see ‘y’all’ used singularly. The singular of yall when I say it is ‘ya’ sometimes combined with ‘what’ as ‘cha’. “Cha’ll fixtin’ ta do today?” (Did really grasp it being a dialect until I typed that sentence) ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/65 "2020-07-12T19:35:02Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > some genuine southern accents _do_ sound over-the-top to us northerners. I lived in Wilmington, North Carolina for a few years, and there were a variety of southern accents. However, there were a few people with accents so strong that if an actor had sounded like that in a movie my reaction would have been: “Come on, no one really talks like that!” ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/66 "2020-07-12T19:55:42Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > I lived in Wilmington, North Carolina for a few years, and there were a variety of southern accents. However, there were a few people with accents so strong that if an actor had sounded like that in a movie my reaction would have been: “Come on, no one really talks like that!” I had a similar experience. Grew up in Georgia. The first time I pulled off the beaten path in Louisiana and heard real people talking Cajun-style, I honestly wasn’t sure if they were talking naturally or having some fun at my expense. But it turns out that some people really do talk like Cajun Chef (Justin Wilson). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/67 "2020-07-13T01:55:33Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Are there examples of someone, British or otherwise, overdoing a “standard” American accent? I listen to a lot of audiobooks narrated by Brits who practice The Queen’s English using RP while sipping sherry at their local pub. And I love their accents… until an American character shows up. And starts talking like John Wayne. I am not exaggerating. What readers like Jonathan Cecil or Simon Prebble don’t realize is that only one Amurr’can ever sounded that way. One thing they do is exaggerate the rhotic Rs until they’re a c_aRR_-toon. As a result, a number of my favorite P. G. Wodehouse and Dick Francis books throw in this atrocious accent. I’m always tempted to stop listening whenever I hear “Oh, and have you met Connie’s fiancé Butch from the States?” ("Waaall, pardn_eR_, ah reckon as how I’m rath_eR_ a strang_eR_ he_Re.")_ ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/68 "2020-07-21T16:17:01Z")
Pennsylvania-born (to a father from Georgia, though), lived in NC for 11 years, now living in the DC area, and I have some hints of a “southern” accent. I picked up “y’all” right away and still use it sometimes. It’s a highly useful construct, since the plural/formal “you” has become the singular as well in English. Similar usage to “youse guys” and “yinz” / “you’uns”. Never said “fixin’ ta” though I once said “offered to”: when describing our cat, who was normally very even tempered even at the vet, but on one occasion He had Had Quite Enough, and “offered to” to bite the vet. He opened his mouth wide, and moved his head toward her hand, but did not do anything more than that. Back to the OP: I agree with the comment on The Walking Dead. I thought Lincoln (Rick) and Cohan (Maggie) were very convincing. Neither of them affected a really thick accent, which would probably help; theirs were more of a generic “southern” that anyone who hadn’t lived in very isolated areas might evolve toward. Sort of the southern equivalent of a “midwestern” accent, if you get my drift. “Southern” isn’t one accent; put someone from the Louisiana bayou in a room with someone of Gullah (coastal NC/SC/GA) and they will have trouble understanding each other. I suspect the Walking Dead cast had very good accent coaches. I still shudder at the first “American” companion on Doctor Who - Peri, with (I think) Colin Baker. Her “American” accent was almost as cringeworthy as my British (of any flavor) or Noo Yawk would be. Luckily for modern theatrics, I only attempt those as a joke! One of the most entertaining “foreign accent attempts” I ever saw was at a play in Chapel Hill. They had an American actor, playing a character who was a British actor trying to sound like an American from Texas. While I don’t know what, say, Sir Laurence Olivier would sound like if he had ever tried to deliberately fake, badly, a Texas accent, this fellow sure sounded like what I’d imagine Olivier would have produced. ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2020, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/69 "2020-07-23T04:47:57Z")
I like using “Offered to” in that context. “Tried to bite the vet” has a different connotation. Didn’t know it was a southern thing, how would it be said elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/70 "2024-03-27T14:11:59Z")
This article suggests an accurate Southern accent is a rare thing. As a Canadian I hear the accent too rarely to judge accuracy. > **[Why Does Every Southern Accent in a Movie Sound So Bad?](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/magazine/southern-accents-movies.html?ugrp=u&unlocked_article_code=1.f00.Hery.5Gh5jzlMxLJQ&smid=url-share)** > > Even good actors, from Margaret Qualley to Daniel Craig, are always talking in put-upon drawls. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/71 "2024-03-27T14:34:14Z")
From someone born in Yale Hospital (formerly Grace New Haven) and who attended college in Cambridge. I moved to NC in 1979 and married into a wonderful extended family from Middlesex, NC (Nash County). Sadly, my wife passed away and I’m now remarried to a NY native, but still around my Southern in-laws all the time. My wife lovingly mocks my code-switching. I’m definitely a “pahk my cah” guy when I’m up north, and a “carry my friend to the store” guy when I’m around my family here in NC. She often gets into the car as we start towards home and tells me, “You immediately started speaking Southern with that guy. Did you know him?” Anyway, I probably have a pretty good ear for NC accents, at least. My take on actors is that too many of them simply go overboard and try to emulate Foghorn Leghorn. Less is more. Just toss in a few Southernisms every now and then and most actors would be fine playing a Southerner. I do find inconsistency in a an actor’s accent somewhat abrasive, though. Not many of them can keep it up scene after scene. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/72 "2024-03-28T04:42:22Z")
I was amused by a couple of things Jason Isbell said about being in _Killers of the Flower Moon_. > Before his first day on set, Isbell says, "I got my hair cut and did a wardrobe fitting, then I went to [dialect coach] Tim Monich. And he said ‘I don’t have any notes for you. Talk the way you normally talk.’” … > “First rehearsal, Marty introduced me to De Niro. I said, ‘I’m really excited to be here. I can’t wait to watch you guys work.” > > De Niro looked at him like something was growing out of his head. “You know, the De Niro who-the-fuck-are-you face? And I thought, oh no, he’s not nice. Damn it. But finally he realized this is how I actually talk.” Like maybe he thought Isbell was on some Method bullshit. _What’s this kid doing, acting like he’s from Oklahoma?_ ”When he figured it out, he was very friendly, but it took a few days.” [Jason Isbell is Keeping His Night Job](https://www.gq.com/story/jason-isbell-just-another-actor-with-a-night-job) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/73 "2024-03-28T14:33:31Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > From someone born in Yale Hospital (formerly Grace New Haven) and who attended college in Cambridge. > > I moved to NC in 1979 and married into a wonderful extended family from Middlesex, NC (Nash County). Sadly, my wife passed away and I’m now remarried to a NY native, but still around my Southern in-laws all the time. > > My wife lovingly mocks my code-switching. I’m definitely a “pahk my cah” guy when I’m up north, and a “carry my friend to the store” guy when I’m around my family here in NC. She often gets into the car as we start towards home and tells me, “You immediately started speaking Southern with that guy. Did you know him?” > > Anyway, I probably have a pretty good ear for NC accents, at least. My take on actors is that too many of them simply go overboard and try to emulate Foghorn Leghorn. Less is more. Just toss in a few Southernisms every now and then and most actors would be fine playing a Southerner. I do find inconsistency in a an actor’s accent somewhat abrasive, though. Not many of them can keep it up scene after scene Eric Singer is a dialect coach who has a series of videos on YouTube, going through [the various dialects of North American English](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1KP4ztKK0A&t=690s) (and unlike other videos I’ve seen about American accents, he also covers African-American, Hispanic-American and Native American accents. I’ve rarely seen it acknowledged that there’s as much accent variation among black Americans as there is among whites). He points out that North Carolina is one of the most dialectally diverse states in the U.S., with accents as varied as the Outer Banks “hoi toider” brogue to Appalachian mountain English. And none of them sound like the stereotypical Blanche DuBois/Scarlett O’Hara drawl. Incidentally, my family has lived in Nash County since the Civil War; my dad was born in Nashville and grew up in Rocky Mount. I know the accent your in-laws had; many of my cousins and relatives have it, too. I hope your late wife introduced you to proper barbecue, the way God intended it to be made. Once you get past Goldsboro, the barbecue you find is either a pale imitation or a heathen abomination (looking at you, Texas). ETA: That video should be cued up to where he starts talking about North Carolina accents, but if it isn’t, go to 11:27. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/74 "2024-03-28T14:43:28Z")
[Everyone](https://youtu.be/yyUNOtRTVuc?si=fq8nUk96g3jhGgF2&t=210) can do a Southern accent. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/75 "2024-03-28T16:43:18Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > He points out that North Carolina is one of the most dialectally diverse states in the U.S., with accents as varied as the Outer Banks “hoi toider” brogue to Appalachian mountain English. This is so true. I can definitely tell the difference between central and western NC. There’s also Genteel (where “heart” becomes “Haht”). ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/76 "2024-03-28T20:00:40Z")
Most have a serviceable generic Southern accent, but aren’t great. The actors actually from the SE stand out because they sound so much more authentic. [Lucas Black in American Gothic](https://youtu.be/pMnWiZdVDlw?t=623) is one that comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/77 "2024-03-31T00:17:31Z")
He’s from Alabama and sounds like it. He was able to shift to Cajun accent in _NCIS: New Orleans_ which is different. Sounded good to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/78 "2024-03-31T15:01:26Z")
There’s this man named Eric Singer, he’s a dialect coach who works with (I presume) Hollywood actors. He has [a series on Wired on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKuPfZpzEHg&list=PLGpi9NzWs9oTnfzLp0_ZOd6VHuOpqOBMr) where he breaks down actors trying various accents. If you’re interested in this type of thing, he’s pretty entertaining and informative. In one particular video, he does a very interesting (to me, because I live there) [breakdown of Sam Rockwell’s attempt at an Ozark Mountain accent](https://youtu.be/ZXyWwirLfcg?t=297) (which, by some measures, can be considered Southern). Although to be fair, Rockwell is American (from NoCal). ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/79 "2024-04-02T17:55:50Z")
Eric Singer also has a series of three videos where he talks about the variety of North American accents (and adopts each, as he discusses each region.) I linked to one if them in post #73. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563/80 "2024-07-01T04:54:48Z")
Very early in the filming of Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks gave a ride to the young actor who played Young Forrest. As they rode along a conversation ensued. Hanks picked up that youngster’s accent and used it as Adult Forrest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-from-outside-the-southeastern-u-s-or-even-the-country-doing-southern-accents-do-they-usually-do-it-well/914563.md?page=5)