# Actors who are very poor at accents **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166 "2016-10-10T18:34:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/101 "2016-11-26T10:19:16Z")
Leonardo diCaprio’s South African “accent” in _Blood Diamond_. Sounded like the director just told him to say “Huh?” after each sentence. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/102 "2016-11-26T12:20:55Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Monty Python players - all of them - had insanely bad American accents when they attempted them. Were their Australian accents any better, Bruce? :dubious: 😕 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/103 "2016-11-26T12:35:49Z")
I love the character of Pavel Chekov, but Walter Koenig himself has admitted he didn’t know what a Russian accent sounded like when he auditioned for the part. All he knew was that his grandparents (IIRC), who were from Russia, couldn’t pronounce “w,” so “very” came out “wery.” After having lived in Russia for some time, I can tell you that Steve Martin’s “wild and crazy guy” comes the closest to a Russian male speaking English that I’ve ever heard. (And yes, I know he’s supposed to be Czech instead of Russian. Makes no difference.) For that matter, I’ve had real Scots tell me that James Doohan’s Montgomery Scott accent was in no way authentic, though he claimed to have modeled it after a RCAF bunkmate who was from Aberdeen. On the other hand, I’ve also heard that someone (Gene Roddenberry or James Goldstone, maybe?) told him to tone it down a bit because they couldn’t understand what he was saying on film. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/104 "2016-11-28T18:15:27Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > For that matter, I’ve had real Scots tell me that James Doohan’s Montgomery Scott accent was in no way authentic, though he claimed to have modeled it after a RCAF bunkmate who was from Aberdeen. On the other hand, I’ve also heard that someone (Gene Roddenberry or James Goldstone, maybe?) told him to tone it down a bit because they couldn’t understand what he was saying on film. Well, but you see that’s the issue, a authentic Scots accent is such that we couldn’t understand what they was saying on film. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/105 "2016-11-28T18:47:25Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Well, but you see that’s the issue, a authentic Scots accent is such that we couldn’t understand what they was saying on film. I lived in Scotland for four months and didn’t have any trouble understanding accents. I never journeyed north of Inverness, though. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/106 "2016-11-28T19:10:42Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I lived in Scotland for four months and didn’t have any trouble understanding accents. I never journeyed north of Inverness, though. ☹ It’s easier in person than on film. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/107 "2016-11-28T21:00:51Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It’s easier in person than on film. In college our skydiving club brought some students to the DZ (this was in the Midwest). One of them was from Scotland. During the lunch break I had a conversation something like this with the owner: Owner: I’m a little worried about that one guy, I think we’ve got a language problem. Me: It’s OK, he’s Scottish. Owner: (blank stare) Me: They speak English. Owner: (looks doubtfully at me) Me: Really. It’s just an accent. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/108 "2016-11-28T21:40:43Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > She has said in interviews that she can no longer do her original Australian accent. It’s gone, like John Mahoney’s original English accent. Gary Oldman says he can no longer speak with a normal English accent without some coaching. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/109 "2016-11-28T21:44:59Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Gibbs (Mark Harmon) trying to speak Russian on _ **NCIS** _ is hilariously bad. So is just about every other actor who tries to speak a foreign language or do a foreign accent on that show. (Ziva, I’m told, couldn’t speak Hebrew properly on the occasions where she attempted it.) To be fair, Cote de Pablo is Chilean. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/110 "2016-11-29T05:44:25Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I love the character of Pavel Chekov, but Walter Koenig himself has admitted he didn’t know what a Russian accent sounded like when he auditioned for the part. All he knew was that his grandparents (IIRC), who were from Russia, couldn’t pronounce “w,” so “very” came out “wery.” > > After having lived in Russia for some time, I can tell you that Steve Martin’s “wild and crazy guy” comes the closest to a Russian male speaking English that I’ve ever heard. (And yes, I know he’s supposed to be Czech instead of Russian. Makes no difference.) > > For that matter, I’ve had real Scots tell me that James Doohan’s Montgomery Scott accent was in no way authentic, though he claimed to have modeled it after a RCAF bunkmate who was from Aberdeen. On the other hand, I’ve also heard that someone (Gene Roddenberry or James Goldstone, maybe?) told him to tone it down a bit because they couldn’t understand what he was saying on film. Have you heard the Scottish accent James Mason used in _Journey to the Center of the Earth?_ ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/111 "2016-11-29T14:28:55Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I love the character of Pavel Chekov, but Walter Koenig himself has admitted he didn’t know what a Russian accent sounded like when he auditioned for the part. All he knew was that his grandparents (IIRC), who were from Russia, couldn’t pronounce “w,” so “very” came out “wery.” > > After having lived in Russia for some time, I can tell you that Steve Martin’s “wild and crazy guy” comes the closest to a Russian male speaking English that I’ve ever heard. (And yes, I know he’s supposed to be Czech instead of Russian. Makes no difference.) I’m curious what you think of John Malkovich’s accent in _Rounders_? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/112 "2016-11-29T16:11:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Well, but you see that’s the issue, a authentic Scots accent is such that we couldn’t understand what they was saying on film. Years ago I saw a comedic skit portraying a Star Trek in which _every_ character spoke with an unintelligible Scottish brogue. [Finally found it again.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoBk8bxU1rs) 😃 > [@Russian heel](#): > > Leonardo diCaprio’s South African “accent” in Blood Diamond. On the flip side, Matt Damon’s Afrikaner accent in Invictus was pretty good - and Morgan Freeman’s portrayal in the same movie of Mandela’s accent was pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/113 "2016-11-29T17:06:37Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I’m curious what you think of John Malkovich’s accent in _Rounders_? I’ll watch it when I find the time and let you know! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/114 "2017-05-19T04:58:46Z")
In an episode of _Dragnet,_ titled “Joyriders,” stock actor Peggy Webber uses a vague Southern accent. In none of the other episodes she appears in does she speak with an accent, even one in which her character lives on Central Park West in New York City. I was not impressed with her Southern accent–or with Virginia Gregg’s in the episode about Gypsy bunco artists, or Julie Bennett’s in an episode about a thief who gets into elderly people’s homes and steals money from them (at the end she speaks without the Southern accent, so the viewer can tell it’s affected.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166.md?page=5)