MovieChat Forums > House M.D. (2004) Discussion > Hugh Laurie's accent is terrible

Hugh Laurie's accent is terrible


I like Laurie and find him funny but i caught a clip of this the other day and forgot how downright dreadful Lauries accent is in this. it sounds like someone doing a charicature of an American accent.



















Walking on water is like finding a non fake female profile on a dating site...a miracle!

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I saw a promo for it the other day and was considering getting it...then I heard Hugh.
Now I really love the guy but I swear it was like Stuart Little's dad on helium

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A clip of what?

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I thought he did great job with it.He sure fooled Bryan Singer, he didn't even know Hugh was British.

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I thought he a spoke a better american accent than a lot of americans. His accent isnt too thick honestly. The only thing i noticed about the things he said almost sounded odd, like the way he said cut throat bi*** he used too much tongue or something, he did it a few times

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I agree Hugh was nearly flawless with his American accent. Only the odd word now and then sounded off.

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Agreed! In fact, when I saw him on a talk show using his native British accent, at first I didn't realize it was him.


"You're so analytical! Sometimes you just have to let art... flow... over you." The Big Chill

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Interesting fact is Hugh used his American accent on the House set even when they were not filming.When one of his kid's was visiting he used his normal voice and Peter Jacobs( Taub) admitted it was odd hearing him speak in his own voice .

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Thanks for posting that - interesting!


"You're so analytical! Sometimes you just have to let art... flow... over you." The Big Chill

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Your welcome! I guess maybe it as easier that way than to go back and forth, either way I'm impressed.

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People who only know he's British notice things like how he says "bitch." His accent is one of the best I've heard.

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I thought he a spoke a better american accent than a lot of americans.
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I thought he did great job with it.He sure fooled Bryan Singer, he didn't even know Hugh was British.








Well Singer must have had ear muffs on or something. my American friends laughed whenever they used to hear him speaking. I'm not American but even i can see how bad his accent is. they said he'd been watching too many old black and white films.













Walking on water is like finding a non fake female profile on a dating site...a miracle!

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Seriously? I guess it must depend on where your American friends are from? Maybe they're used to their own regional accent.

The reason Hugh's American accent works is because he's not trying to do any regional accent. I cringe whenever i hear anyone outside of New England try to do that accent because i grew up hearing the real thing and it's very hard to imitate. But someone outside this area wouldn't notice anything off with it.

Just like when i watch The Closer, Brenda's "accent" doesn't sound fake to me, but to southerners it sounds horrible. At least that's what i've read on The Closer forums.

In early seasons, Hugh tripped up on a couple words, but i never thought that this is a British guy trying to do a fake American accent. In fact there is one episode in Season 1 where House does a fake British accent. You have to admit that it must take some kind of talent for a guy who is British to have to do a fake British accent all while doing a convincing American accent.

I've watched a couple British dramas on PBS with an American character played by a Brit and they can barely get through their lines without the British accent coming through.






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No she doesnt.


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It would make sense that House wouldn't have any specific regional accent; we know that as a Marine "brat" he grew up all over the world (Japan and Egypt were mentioned) as well as, presumably, numerous bases all over the country.

As for Laurie "American" accent, considering his was the largest part, with the most dialogue, including lots of "techno" speak, it's amazing that he did so well. Yes, there are times here and there (Occam's Razor comes to mind) when his own accent ghosts through. And HL admitted that there were some words and word combinations that he had problems with, in fact, I think rewrites were needed a few times to "write around" difficult phrases. There were a couple times I picked up on a slightly more British pronunciation of a word..here and there.

But considering how much dialogue he spoke in eight seasons, and even toward the end people were still surprised to find out he was British...he did a damn good job.

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Where are your American friends from? I'm from New Jersey and his accent was almost always flawless to me.

In fact, I can even remember the one time I heard it peak through. In the episode Three Stories, he said this line to Cuddy in the first scene: "You said this is the fifth time he?s missed a class this year!" When he said the word "year," I heard the accent. But he's been practically perfect throughout.

Your friends must not be from the Northeast.

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So, according to you, the star of one of the most popular TV shows ever would be SO BAD that he would make people laugh just by speaking. Right.

_____
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If you're from the West or East, I could see why. But his accent sounds pretty Midwestern or Northern.

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How do your "american friends laugh" whenever they hear him speaking, when this series was a national hit?
Are you saying that all americans were tuning in to "laugh" at House M.D.?

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A clip of what?






House. i used to watch it but haven't seen it for a while.










Walking on water is like finding a non fake female profile on a dating site...a miracle!

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Actually, Hugh Laurie not speaking a typical/classic American accent while playing House makes sense since House grew up all over the world and picked up various accents while doing so.
If you think that Hugh Laurie did a bad job then I have to tell you that I have heard much worse. There are some American actors who were supposed to play Germans and screwed up the German language that much while doing so that I, for who German is the native language, needed the English subtitles to understand what they said. For example, on the show The Blacklist. On top of that the location scouts screwed up big time with choosing neighborhoods in the USA for the shooting, which don't even in the slightest resemble how it looks in my home country.

House to Wilson about Cuddy: She is not some floozy in a bar. She is the floozy I work for.

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I thought he did a superb job, really convincing. Had I not known Laurie was English I would not have guessed it was not his true accent.

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I have heard Hugh Laurie speak British. He played a small part in the Kate Winslet /Emma Thompson version of Sense and Sensibility. I am American, and I had seen every season of House, and until I saw that movie, I swear I had no idea that he was British (and I usually pick up on that stuff very easily) . His American accent sounds authentic enough to fool me...

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He fooled me. Like others, I didn't even find out the actor was British until after the first time I viewed the show.

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44 years old and living in the UK here, so I've known of his real accent most of my life. Still, his House accent sounds perfect to me. Guess it's where you're from: When I hear any American use the British accent I notice it pretty clearly. The lead roles in Hannibal and The Walking Dead are both British faking the accent which shocked me as I had not heard of them before. I would bet money that some (or many) Americans find fault in them where I find none. It's all very cool though.

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Really? It's so terrible the people who cast him didn't even know he was British.

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I think his accent was perfect, i actually like him more with his American accent suounds sexier on him lol.

But i think his British accent slipped up just twice on the show : the cat episode imitating Blofeld and in season 7 for the wedding episode.

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