# “There’s No Such Thing As A Bad Movie Accent” **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 18, 2023, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773 "2023-08-18T23:34:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/81 "2023-08-21T09:31:21Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I think Michael C. Hall, an actor I like, ruined the Mini Series _Safe_ with his atrocious accent in that show. I’ve never seen that one and I think Michael C. Hall is a great actor, but his take as JFK in an episode of The Crown was like listening to some random guy sitting next to you on the subway who says, “Hey, check out my Kennedy impression I’ve been working on for 5 minutes!” It was like maybe the British people who make The Crown couldn’t tell just how bad he did. But maybe that’s more of an impression complaint than a bad accent complaint. Dunno. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2023, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/82 "2023-08-21T09:39:55Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > Oh, I don’t agree with that. If the effort is made, after 20 years or less, most people are going to be fluent in an acquired language, but if they started learning it as an adult, most of them are always going to speak it with an accent. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example. I don’t know if he started learning English later in his life, but it doesn’t matter. He and plenty of others with strong accents are fluent in English. Yeah, “fluent” was the wrong word. I should know: I’ve lived in Israel since I was six years old and I still have a very slight American accent while speaking Hebrew. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/83 "2023-08-21T09:56:20Z")
I figured it was an oversight and am glad to see you agree. 😀 ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/84 "2023-08-21T11:27:31Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > I’ve never seen that one and I think Michael C. Hall is a great actor, but his take as JFK in an episode of The Crown was like listening to some random guy sitting next to you on the subway who says, “Hey, check out my Kennedy impression I’ve been working on for 5 minutes!” That’s how I felt about Martin Freeman in season 1 of Fargo. “I say old chap, check out my William H. Macy impression I’ve been working on for 5 minutes!” ---
**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:** [August 21, 2023, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/85 "2023-08-21T14:37:02Z")
Aha! Today I just figured out that it isn’t the accent that takes me out of a movie/show as much as an inconsistent one. That Keanu in Dracula clip was so painful (that was a hat trick: Bad Accent, Inconsistent Accent, and Horrible Acting). Someone mentioned Rizzoli and Isles; it would’ve been painful with a cadre of C-list actors trying to do a Boston accent…and slipping in and out of it. . > [@kayaker](#): > > I can’t tell a good accent from a bad accent. Nor can I tell if a vocalist is auto tuned. Please show me how to attain these superpowers. My life would be so much less frustrating… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/86 "2023-08-21T14:48:37Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Someone mentioned Rizzoli and Isles; it would’ve been painful with a cadre of C-list actors trying to do a Boston accent…and slipping in and out of it. > > . I don’t think it’s that hard for non-USAians to do a generic American accent. The country has so many regional accents, and as mentioned above they are rather fluid across a region so there’s no single southern accent. But a particular regional accent like ‘Bastan’ can turn even more ear-grating the genuine noise form when poorly imitated. Other regionals like Maine or Nawlins are also more difficult to pull off. But again, matters not much to me. Suspension of disbelief and all that, at least as voices go. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/87 "2023-08-21T15:01:03Z")
John Malkovich’s “Russian” accent in **Rounders** is pretty notorious. He reportedly admitted to co-star Matt Damon that he was just making it up as he went and that “I’m a terrible actor.” For that matter most Hollywood Russian accents tend to be awful; they usually sound like, well, John Malkovich in **Rounders**. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/88 "2023-08-21T15:02:09Z")
The first time I saw _Monty Pythong’s The Meaning of Life,_ it took me a while to realize the American couple was supposed to be American. I kept trying to figure out what accept they had and then suddenly in dawned on me. Really, really bad accents. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/89 "2023-08-21T15:11:53Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > John Malkovich’s “Russian” accent in **Rounders** is pretty notorious. Hah! I loved that movie and thought Malkovich did a great job as Teddy KGB. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/90 "2023-08-21T15:32:56Z")
“Payyy theee mann” ---
**Author:** ![ashtayk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@ashtayk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashtayk)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/91 "2023-08-21T16:26:00Z")
John Malkovich has such a distinctive tone that it overrides any accent he puts on makes them all sound like John Malkovich. Came here to talk about the accents in “The Wire”. While Idris Elba’s accent was terrific (check out Roy Wood Jr talking about it [[https://youtu.be/UDcLlgsKg5U](https://youtu.be/UDcLlgsKg5U)]). But I distinctly remember figuring out Dominic West was not American very early on. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/92 "2023-08-21T16:57:57Z")
I may have been whooshed, but she spoke with what I assume is her normal Irish accent in the MCU movies. Not many Americans say “knackered” after all. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/93 "2023-08-21T17:19:54Z")
Exactly re John M. Just as in GoT, Dinklege’s faux English just evolves into “What he’s been doing for 8 years” ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/94 "2023-08-21T17:54:12Z")
I just checked YouTube, and it appears that you’re right. Interestingly, I’d never caught it in the films. It could be that she usually only speaks a sentence or two at a time, so I just missed it until I watched a compilation of her dialogue. To quote Sideshow Bob, “cheerfully withdrawn.” ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/95 "2023-08-21T18:29:11Z")
Dominic West’s accent in _The Wire_ (was it meant to be a Baltimore accent?) was no where near as good as his ‘fake British’ one in the same show. That really did sound, to me, like an American doing a pretty terrible English accent. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/96 "2023-08-21T18:48:02Z")
Scroll down just a bit… > **[MAD Issue #130 - Read MAD Issue #130 comic online in high...](https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/MAD/Issue-130?id=72833#47)** > > Read MAD Issue #130 comic online free and high quality. Unique reading type: All pages - just need to scroll to read next page. “Now, remember … **speak in German!** ” ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/97 "2023-08-21T19:04:11Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I can’t stand it if an actor does a bad imitation of an accent I am familiar with. Fake Boston accents drive me mad, because I grew up in New England and know on a visceral level what they sound like. Don’t click on this then: [Our target is a major transaction of microprocessors.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r46JtPDtqAk) Seriously, if this link doesn’t disprove the thread title, nothing will. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/98 "2023-08-23T15:38:56Z")
Sometimes it just takes one line to jump out at me. Tim Roth was, overall, fine in _Reservoir Dogs_, but when he said “You’re not blind, there’s just blood in your eyes,” it sounded horribly affected. Not that most people even bother, but I’ve seen a few bad (stereotypical) Canadian accents by non-Canucks. The Alan Rudolph film _Afterglow_ is set in Montreal, and there’s an “oot” (for “out”) that emphatically lands at the end of a sentence that still gets my hackles up decades later. When Mike Myers dials up the “oot and aboot” for comedic effect, he’s actually representing a rural Ontario accent pretty accurately. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/99 "2023-08-23T15:48:03Z")
Tim Curry in _Congo_ has a terrible accent. I think he’s Hungarian? And still don’t have a clue why his character is in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773/100 "2023-08-23T16:32:50Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Tim Curry in _Congo_ has a terrible accent. I think he’s Hungarian? Silly accents in silly movies don’t particularly bother me. (See also: Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-movie-accent/988773.md?page=6)