According to Andy Ihnatko’s entry for August 7th, charming Irish actor Colin Farrell’s accent is fake. What say you, Irish Dopers?
It’s a genuine Irish accent. Whether or not it’s his genuine Irish accent is another story: there are rumours that he made it a bit more Dublin ‘street’ to appear more raffish. However, coincidentally I was talking to a friend yesterday who actually knows him, and she says he’s always talked like that.
That’s his accent.
That columnist is an idiot. He’s complaining because he
a) doesn’t dress like he has a lot of money
and
b) the columnist doesn’t know what an actual dublin accent sounds like.
I pity the fool.
Yep I agree… its real. No doubt about it… the test for a Dublin accent is a slight sibiliant T for words that end in T … or so I’ve found.
I live with a man who grew up in Dublin, thus making me an expert on the subject of both Irish accents and attractive Irish heart throbs. Farrell sounds just like my boyfriend, who’s actually a fan of his (though, not for the same reasons that I’M a fan) and would complain vociferously if he detected any feigned Irishness. Or even if he thought the guy was from further than 20 ft. outside of Dublin.
Of course, I would never just defend a guy with a sexy accent and roguish good looks for no reason at all.
Is he generally well thought of?
I saw him on Letterman the other night and was completely put off by his attitude and arrogance. He’s a good looking guy and bright but he came across as a complete jerk to me. I hope I’m in the minority.
I saw him on Letterman as well, and he was talking quite a bit of trash, but I thought he was being pretty good-natured about it, i.e., you could see the wink behind his words.
And c’mon, it was cool when he got under Dave’s skin enough that Dave called him something that had to be bleeped out. Farrell looked shocked, but they were both having a laugh about it.
His own brother says otherwise. Cite.
FWIW he seems to be a lot more popular among American women than among Irish women, in the completely unscientific poll I’ve taken.
I don’t know how Colin Farrell spoke as a boy. But I do know that just because he was from a middle-class background in Castleknock does not mean he necessarily had a posh accent. Lots of well-off kids from relatively affluent areas have ordinary Dublin accents. And lots of Dublin people are quite at home in various different Dublin accents (e.g. Bertie Ahern) - it’s not even fake, it’s just a combination of different influences growing up and unconscious adaptation to different situations.
There is no way that that is his oroginal accent. I realise not all Castleknock people have a posh accent but his accent is too far the other end of the spectrum to be real. Definitely an affectation.
that original not oroginal obviously.
that’s not that
- one of these days I’ll learn to preview*
he may be from Castleknock, but he’s been living in Irishtown for a number of years. It may be pronounced, but it is a Dublin accent.
All this Irish talk is making me thirsty. Where’s the black stuff? 
Twisty nobody’s arguing that it’s not a Dublin accent, just that it’s not his Dublin accent. Even if he picked it up from living in Irishtown, it’s still an affectation, just as it would be if I started speaking with a Cabra accent.
My brother in law, who is as South Dub as it comesm has affected, over many years, a really rough North Dub accent. He’s affected it for so long, it is is accent. He can no longer sound D4, even if he wants to. His brother (my husband) who was brought up in the same house, same parents, same schools, and two years older, I’m told, has a ‘west-Brit’ accent.
I wonder if it’s related to level of academic advancement? I mean, I doubt the really rough Nort-side accent would go down well in Trinny.
I rarely understand what he’s saying. In fact, I’m sick of the song “Lilly the Pink.”
(Apropos of nothing, as usual.)
I know he lived in Irishtown for a while, so I’d say he picked up on rougher elements of the Dunblin accent and his exaggerating them a bit. The accent itself is a good Dublin one, but not the kind you’d expect from someone in Castleknock. I reckon he made a conscious effort to make his accent a bit more Northside.
BTW everyone I know here thinks he’s an arrogant dick. I know this is a ‘friend of a friend’ story, but someone I train with has a sister who was in a bar in Dublin recently and he arrived; she said he was being a prima donna and general loud obnoxious pain in the arse
His accent certainly sounds affected but it’s no different to the ‘street’ accent assumed by many middle class Dubliners, which I suppose makes it a genuine accent in itself. To me at least though, it is appreciably different to the accent of someone brought up in a working class Dublin household.
It doesn’t sound particularly working class to me, but nor does it sound “d4 trinners” either.
“I fought de law, and de law won.”
I reckon it is pretty affected.
There is a guy in our office who talks just like him and he is from Coolock, however, this feller’s very own sister, who also works here and funnily enough is also from Coolock talks nothing like him.
It is a very affected and nouveau accent, but it is catching on. I bet it will be called “The Colin Farrell” accent before we all get much older.
In ruadh’s link, it says
“Every time Farrell flies over the green hills of Ireland, his family says, he cries. When he lands, he kisses the ground”
Will someone pass me a bucket?