in this clip, James Spader is speaking in a way I find very intriguing. He’s perfectly understandable and clear, but the best way to describe what I’m talking about is that it seems like his consonants are all buffered or muffled. There’s a “rounded off” quality to his speaking… does that make sense?
Anyway, if you understand what I’m referring to, is there a way to “officially” describe that way of speaking? It’s particularly obvious at the very end when he says “Do you agree with me, Jim?”
(You have to scroll down the page to get to the clip)
WARNING: the page talks about upcoming things happening on “The Office”, so if you want to avoid that kind of information, don’t click the link.
I’m no linquist, cunning or otherwise, but I know exactly what you mean and I too would be interested to know if there’s a name for it. If I weren’t a fan I’d call it an affectation to portray sophistication but he’s always spoken that way regardless of what role he’s playing so I think it comes naturally now(if it didn’t always).
It’s kind of throaty and purry. I want to liken it to a much subdued male version of Kim Catrall’s Samantha Jones but that’s not quite right either.
I always thought he had a prep school accent. I just checked his bio and he went Philips Academy in Andover. Maybe the accent explains a lot of the parts he got when he was younger.
I always thought of his voice as a “snooty, rich person’s” accent. A good comparison would be that of the mother of Harold in the movie Harold and Maude. It almost comes off as a slighter version of a British wealth accent to me. I have been entranced by his voice since I first saw him in Pretty in Pink.
I cannot believe I forgot this actor since he costarred with James in Boston Legal, but another great example of an actor with this type of accent is John Larouquette. I remember having the hugest crush on him when he was on the show Night court and it was because of his voice and his perverseness. Another great actor.
Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society, so that the actor James Spader may be discussed in more detail along with his works. The factual speech-related aspects of the topic may still be discussed there.
Also, please note that the original thread is over two years old. James Spader was in the cast of The Office from 2011 to 2012. The link in the OP will also no longer take you to a working video clip.