# Worst accent in a film... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2012, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287 "2012-07-15T09:47:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/61 "2012-07-17T00:46:43Z")
> [@medicated](#): > > Speaking of which: I saw _The Pantom Menace_ at a theatre in Glasgow. When Ewan McGregor first spoke in his Alec Guinness accent, a few people actually did make disapproving sounds. Hillarious 🙂 He can’t do an American accent either. I like Ewan McGregor as an actor, but I feel bad for him whenever he’s cast in something that requires him to put on an American accent. _Down With Love_ managed to turn this weakness into a strength by casting him as a British character who fakes an over the top Southern US accent as part of an attempt to conceal his true identity. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/62 "2012-07-17T11:26:41Z")
Speaking of _Eureka_, as I did in the other thread, Matt Frewer’s Australian accent is utterly horrendous. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2012, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/63 "2012-07-17T11:43:25Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Not sure if I’m being whooshed here, but that’s deliberate, ya know. According to Carrie Fisher it was because she was inexperienced and didn’t know how to act. Can’t find a direct quote but here is an article that brings it up: [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/3707859/Wishful-Drinking-by-Carrie-Fisher-review.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/3707859/Wishful-Drinking-by-Carrie-Fisher-review.html) > [@](#): > > Fisher grew up with her mother in a house with eight pink fridges and three swimming pools and a “Shrine of the Wigs” for her mother’s hair. From 13 to 16 she performed as a backing singer in her mother’s stage show, and at 17 she went to London to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and enjoyed “the only unexamined time of my life, where I was just a student among students”. But then, at 19, “George Lucas ruined my life” by choosing her to play Princess Leia in Star Wars, the role with which she is permanently associated. _ **She was, she admits, pretty terrible in the film, with a fluctuating English accent and those awful coils of hair over her ears, but it still brings her fan mail** _. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/64 "2012-07-17T12:25:50Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > According to Carrie Fisher it was because she was inexperienced and didn’t know how to act. It is certainly very convenient, then, that she speaks with a haughty accent when addressing politically powerful Imperial authorities, like Tarkin and Vader, but always reverts to an “Everyday” accent when talking to people in situations where she’s not addressing someone like that. If it was an accident, it was a magnificently fortuitous one, because it works perfectly and goes a long way towards forming her character. Fisher’s assessment of her own performance, as quoted, is hyperbolic, silly (George Lucas didn’t ruin her life; she did, and she knows it), and flat-out wrong. She was NOT terrible in the film; in fact, she’s bloody outstanding. Fisher has since taken a lot of drugs and alcohol so maybe she doesn’t remmeber correctly. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/65 "2012-07-17T12:37:57Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It is certainly very convenient, then, that she speaks with a haughty accent when addressing politically powerful Imperial authorities, like Tarkin and Vader, but always reverts to an “Everyday” accent when talking to people in situations where she’s not addressing someone like that. If it was an accident, it was a magnificently fortuitous one, because it works perfectly and goes a long way towards forming her character. > > Fisher’s assessment of her own performance, as quoted, is hyperbolic, silly (George Lucas didn’t ruin her life; she did, and she knows it), and flat-out wrong. She was NOT terrible in the film; in fact, she’s bloody outstanding. Fisher has since taken a lot of drugs and alcohol so maybe she doesn’t remmeber correctly. I heard her talk about it (obviously I can’t quote it, the article was the best I can come up with). She was very clear that her accent was all over the place because she was not sure how she should play it. The change from scene to scene had more to do with when the scenes were shot. If you haven’t read any of her work, she is very lucid and brutally honest. I think I would take her word about her own performance rather than your interpretation. And yes, I like the movie too. And BTW that article was someone else’s interpretation of what she wrote. I’m not sure if she exactly said George Lucas ruined her life. I don’t have time to go to the library and get the book. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/66 "2012-07-17T14:05:52Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I heard her talk about it (obviously I can’t quote it, the article was the best I can come up with). She was very clear that her accent was all over the place because she was not sure how she should play it. Cuold be. \* But great art can happen accidentally\*, and her accent always matches the context. Keanu Reeves’s accent in “Dracula,” not so much. And on the Star Wars theme, Ewan MacGregor, who is a highly talented and skilled actor, does an American accent in “Black Hawk Down” that is just hilariously bad. the theatre burst into laughter when I saw it, and that’s not exactly supposed to be a knee-slapper of a movie. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/67 "2012-07-17T14:21:44Z")
Keanu Reeves and Sean Connery in any movie where they have to play someone from another country than their place of birth. These two are the Derek Zoolanders of accents. Am I the only one who sees this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills! ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/68 "2012-07-17T20:11:24Z")
John Travolta’s Baltimore accent in Hair Spray wasn’t at all authentic. It was a caricature of the accent, but then again, the whole movie was a caricature so maybe that’s how it was supposed to be. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/69 "2012-07-17T21:55:27Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > John Travolta’s Baltimore accent in Hair Spray wasn’t at all authentic. It was a caricature of the accent, but then again, the whole movie was a caricature so maybe that’s how it was supposed to be. I just watched _Primary Colors_ again last night, and his Southern accent was pretty horrible. Emma Thompson’s was better. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/70 "2012-07-17T22:19:58Z")
Ryan O’Neal in Barry Lyndon was one of Stanley Kubrick’s rare casting mistakes IMO. Besides the “fluffy” Hollywood reputation that I found it hard to get past, there are times when it seems like he isn’t even trying for an accent. Considering Kubrick’s reputation for exactitude and believability, I can imagine him throwing up his arms at some point and just giving up on him. ---
**Author:** ![moonbreath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@moonbreath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonbreath)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/71 "2012-07-17T22:34:39Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Any accent attempted by Sam Worthington. looool, i watched man on a ledge a couple weeks ago & my bf just kept moaning about his american accent randomly turning aussie. ONE OF THE WORST ACCENTS EVER IN A MOVIE (fo’ me): cameron diaz in the box! h8 that film so much. her awfuuuul southern accent just adds to my dislike of it even more. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/72 "2012-07-17T22:51:36Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > Keanu Reeves and Sean Connery in any movie where they have to play someone from another country than their place of birth. > > These two are the Derek Zoolanders of accents. > > Am I the only one who sees this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills! I think you’re completely wrong on Connery for one simple reason: He _ **never** _ tries to do an accent different than his own. Wherever his character is from, he talks the same. That doesn’t mean he’s doing a bad accent. It means he knows it doesn’t really matter (and I can think of few films where his normal voice made the movie suffer somehow). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/73 "2012-07-17T23:02:58Z")
I’ve said before: Connery is a master of accents. He can do Scottish, Scottish-American, Scottish-Irish, Scottish-English, Scottish-Russian, Scottish-Dragon… ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/74 "2012-07-17T23:50:36Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > Keanu Reeves and Sean Connery in any movie where they have to play someone from another country than their place of birth. Reeves was born in Beirut, but I do not think he could do a Lebanese accent to save his life. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/75 "2012-07-18T03:12:15Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > How about Julia Roberts in _Michael Collins_? How about let’s never talk about it ever again? ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/76 "2012-07-18T03:39:49Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > Keanu Reeves and Sean Connery in any movie where they have to play someone from another country than their place of birth. > > These two are the Derek Zoolanders of accents. > > Am I the only one who sees this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills! Actually, Keanu’s violent Southern redneck accent wasn’t too horrible in “The Gift.” His Keanuosity sort of added that sense of developmental and educational deficits to a wife-beater in a wife-beater. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/77 "2012-07-18T03:53:40Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > How about Julia Roberts in _Michael Collins_? How about Julia Roberts in _Mary Reilly_ (1996)? ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/78 "2012-07-18T10:40:27Z")
Russell Crowe in Robin Hood stands out in recent films. His accents wonders around between just about every regional British accent. It’s all over the place. It’s not just that he is doing a bad accent its that he can not even maintain the same bad accent. He got quite upset when asked about why he sounded Irish. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr-6ZjlGuBU) Though for me he did sound Irish some of the time he also had about 3 or 4 other accents in the mix as well. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/79 "2012-07-18T11:42:07Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > Actually, Keanu’s violent Southern redneck accent wasn’t too horrible in “The Gift.” His Keanuosity sort of added that sense of developmental and educational deficits to a wife-beater in a wife-beater. Similarly, his portrayal (including accent) of Siddartha in his pre-Enlightened Buddha days did manage to exude the attitude of a clueless surfer-boy pampered prince, and this achieves a kind of poetic accuracy, perhaps by accident but maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287/80 "2012-07-18T13:23:13Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Jar Jar Binks had the worst accent ever in any movie, ever, really, ever, even considering it was the accent of of a non-existent alien species. I always thought he was the best thing in those movies, because I couldn’t understand a word he said, and thus didn’t have to suffer any of Lucas’s dialogue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-accent-in-a-film/628287.md?page=5)