Natalie's accent
-
garnerphils — 13 years ago(November 29, 2012 09:27 PM)
What I find baffling is why an American was cast for the role in the first place. I appreciate Portman as much as anyone, but were there no British actresses capable of playing the part? Emily Blunt comes to mind, although she is a couple years younger than Natalie and wasn't as popular at the time. Somebody. And that goes double for Renee Zellweger in "Bridget Jones' Diary."
-
akin-2-grieve — 13 years ago(December 07, 2012 03:00 PM)
I thought her accent was fine (I am London born and raised).
And how about Gwyneth Paltrow? Absolutely nailed different British accents, in a couple of different roles.
It is also worth bearing in mind that in Britain we are, generally, more exposed to American culture form a young age than Americans are to British culture. And of course it is probably worth a British film actor getting good at American accents to land more jobs! -
gogarrett — 12 years ago(April 14, 2013 08:26 AM)
I appreciate reading comments from Brits on Natalie's accent, because I wondered myself how she did. The movie was so amazing I really didn't dwell on her accent that much. The directing, screenplay and acting in this movie were as close to perfect as I've seen.
-
mel_anie_98 — 12 years ago(June 15, 2013 12:53 PM)
Excuse me, but we Americans DO get exposure to other cultures, just maybe not the same ones you do. What exactly do you know about Native American or Hispanic culture, other than stereotypes? Latinos have been making their mark on American culture for years, and their influence is getting stronger and stronger. And, as a nation that is made up of more cultures than the UK (arguably) I'm quite baffled by any statement that Americans are culture-clueless.
I live in England now and I can't tell you how many people I've run into that don't know anything about cultures on the other side of the pond, or even some European ones for that matter. I was walking around with a friend one day and mentioned that one food that I missed from home was a nice burrito, and a British person passed by me and asked her mate, "What's a burrito?" And a few months ago I went to 4 butcher shops looking for Italian sausage and no one even knew what it was, even after I described it. And let's not even talk about music or art.
Every country in the world is most familiar with the cultures and ways of living that surround them and their country, and sometimes not much more than that. That's normal. -
ecidnac — 13 years ago(March 19, 2013 09:23 AM)
Really? After at least 2 dozen viewings she still bothers the ever living crap out of me (especially when she says "but" like "pah" as if she's only said half a word) so I'm surprised the couple English posters here don't have a problem with it.
I was surprised when she was cast and it would've been great if they got someone else to play Evey Hammond. She's the only thing that bothers me about this movie (well that, and for all his preparation, V couldn't find better body armor?!)
I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class, especially since I rule. -
jacksvoice — 13 years ago(January 15, 2013 05:55 PM)
thats annoying. its no big deal that all the british actors do american roles and american accents, but if an american actor does a british actor its a big deal? you dont notice it as much when brits are playing americans because it is more familiar to you. take notice.
-
ChristianP96 — 12 years ago(June 18, 2013 02:18 AM)
It's because English people grow up with American television, just like most English-speaking countries. This means they are more accustomed to the accent, whereas Americans don't necessarily watch much English television, so it's understandable if they can't nail the accent.
-
tremazing87 — 12 years ago(November 01, 2013 12:24 PM)
I don't think British people are necessarily better at doing an American accent than the other way around. I think that Americans are just worse at spotting an impostor. Considering the size of the country, the size of the immigrant population, and the number of regional accents floating around, an American probably has a much greater allowance for variation in their acceptance of "American English" and even English in general than a British person does for "British English".
I used to live in Korea and always wondered why if I or any other non-Korea person(American, Chinese, British, etc) spoke a sentence completely correctly, a lot of Korean people still couldn't understand them. And it's because they just aren't used to hearing Korean spoken with a foreign accent. They're a country of 50 million people and for the most part, the only people they really hear speaking Korean to them are other Koreans. They are not easily fooled by anyone speaking Korean who didn't grow up with the language, and even people who did grow up speaking Korean but didn't grow up in Korea are easily spotted.
The American ear is probably less sensitive to a pure or genuine american accent because of growing up with so many accents. The ear just becomes less sensitive to the little differences. British people are probably a bit better at spotting their own accent because, even though there are a ton of accents in the UK, we're looking at 63 million people speaking "generally" the same way vs. 350 million people in the US and Canada speaking another. With that many people, it's probably easier to just blend in. That and the fact that Americans can't really tell when people from anywhere are faking an american accent if they're halfway decent. They don't have to be from the UK or even an English speaking country to fool the American ear. -
Pistolpete332010 — 10 years ago(June 29, 2015 08:23 PM)
I don't think British people are necessarily better at doing an American accent than the other way around. I think that Americans are just worse at spotting an impostor. Considering the size of the country, the size of the immigrant population, and the number of regional accents floating around, an American probably has a much greater allowance for variation in their acceptance of "American English" and even English in general than a British person does for "British English".
Another way that you can put this is that an American accent is a bit more general and flexible of an accent. I've never wanted to be insular to assert that an American accent isn't inherently easier to pull off, but I could take friends I know, hell strangers, from across the country and pluck them around and nobody would have the slightest clue where they are from. Obviously there are distinctive regional accents (NY, Boston, Southern & Southern variations, mid-western, etc). But more than not most Americans seem to have a sort nondescript American accent.
I'd almost always have put it off as Brits and other countries have far more access to our culture, films, shows, etc than vice-versa. Obviously that theory makes sense and holds the most water, but you might have something there, though, Australians seem to struggle more with the American accent than Brits. I honestly think most Americans really don't give a beep and won't notice unless it's blatant. There are so many actors out there they haven't the slightest clue where they are from and if it's not blatantly bad they don't tend to notice. Honestly, Americans also aren't as precious when it comes to accent, unless they're speaking regional NY & Boston type accents, which even American actors butcher (Though the British will struggle mightily on doing more distinctive American accents the same way an American will fail at doing anything beyond a Londoner English accent). Brits tend to be precious about their British parts and characters. Maybe it's because they have much smaller film productions locally. Maybe it's an inferiority complex (Kidding).
Lastly, as I'm beginning to ramble now. Most American actors that get the chance to play a Brit are marquee actors. Everyone knows them and that's why they've been giving the chance. The reverse is rarely true, and thus the judgmental/skeptical lens doesn't come on. I thought Portman's accent is adequate but I'm not British so I can't really say for sure. I thought Julianne Moore was competent, though, slightly stilted in her accent in A Single Man. And I thought Hathaway's British accent was pretty damn spot on. Again, couldn't say 100% for sure though.
The American ear is probably less sensitive to a pure or genuine american accent because of growing up with so many accents. The ear just becomes less sensitive to the little differences.
Without sounding insular and arrogant, could it be that a general American accent is just a bit more nondescript, because NY, Boston, Southern accents (Even the varying differences between a Texas and Georgia accent), and even Midwestern are evident to notice to any sensible American. I just think less regional-specific American accent is more wide-ranging because of the 350 million versus 53 million. It's not the ears that are less sensitive, but the accent. It's not as pure and specific. Maybe it's a bit of both though.
That and the fact that Americans can't really tell when people from anywhere are faking an american accent if they're halfway decent. They don't have to be from the UK or even an English speaking country to fool the American ear.
This supports both either theories too. -
reckless_life — 9 years ago(October 24, 2016 07:16 AM)
It was OK but like all American's doing an English accent, it was overtly posh. Only people from a wealthy background and are privately educated speak like her.
Evey didn't seem to be from that type of background so it was out of place. -
spmaher91 — 12 years ago(November 21, 2013 02:05 PM)
I've only ever heard Micheal Caine do an American accent in 2 films (The Cider House Rules and On Deadly Ground) and in both of them his American accents were horrible. Offhand, I can think of a few English actors that can do brilliant American accents though like, Hugh Laurie, Daniel Day-Lewis and Christian Bale. But there are also plenty of American actors that can pull off various English accents. Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Dinklage all do a pretty good job.
The Irish accent, however. very few American actors can seem to get that right.