I just watched what the first episode that they've shown on BBC America today where they have the American band staying at the hotel and a couple other Americans, and they have terrible terrible accents.
Liked the show other than that, but come on!
... You know it's only a show, right? Chill. It's not a big deal.
sharei agree; the band manager mispronounces "privacy". It bothers me greatly
shareYou know, I thought the actores were Americans but for some reason were talking in a really stilted way! (I thought maybe they were trying to make themselves more understandable to a British audience, but why would they need to? British people watch American TV all the time. I obviously wasn't thinking about it too hard.)
I also thought the manager pronounced "privacy" the English way to patronize them. This makes more sense!
I bought the accents; I just don't think they talked like Americans or had the right body language. They were like a British person's conception of American stereotypes.
On our box from American TV...
Everybody is smart, even the dumb ones. They're just too dumb to realise it.
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Well it's kinda funny. Oftentimes in American films and television, American actors try to pass off a British accent and fail miserably. Of course middle America can't tell the difference, but i'm sure across the pond everyone is cringing.
shareBtw, who plays the American band's manager, she looks a bit like Diana Rigg's actress daughter, is it her?
shareYou're right. Everyone on this side of the pond IS cringing. Ever since Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. Don't the TV companies realise these shows are global now?!? Don't they think anyone will notice?!?
Richard.
The Europe side of the Pond.
yeah, we cringe, absolutely. then again, one of my favourite actresses, kate maberly, is very british, and whilst i love her, she's got a dreadful american accent.
and for some reason, it's never stopped -- kevin costner, gwen paltrow, anne hathaway, it just doesn't seem to end. i guess they don't realise there are aeroplanes to take actors from one country to another....
I'm going to say this once, and once only, Gene: STAY OUT OF CAMBERWICK GREEN!
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Hell yeah.
The other thing is that we don't hang the flag outside our pubs, or have Union Jack teapots (as I saw in the Bourne Ultimatum recently).
Well, SOME of us in "middle America" CAN tell the difference, you arse.
That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it...
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ok
shareAm I the only one who is clueless as to what a 'British' accent is? Doesn't it take away from Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish having an accent? Not to mention we having an 'English' accent. Just a thought.
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Well, that happens in American movies with a huge budget, shows and so on with the Spaniards, and as Spanish person, I just don't mind, because American movies show us always like some places of South America, and it's not the producers’ fault they have never been here, but there are documentaries. Then, as someone said before, it's just TV, so if there is not more budget or interest in doing things more realistic, there is not, and you have to believe that's happening in Spain, or those actors are Americans.
shareI came onto this board to post the same thing, I thought holy crap those are some crappy attempts at American accents but then I thought about Gwyneth Paltrow, Renee Zellweger, Keanu Reeves and Julia Roberts trying to do British accents. All terrible I bet to Brits' ears. Accents seem to be pretty tough for all actors on both sides of the pond and everywhere else.
~Angelina
"What did you want to be Raymond K. Hessel?"
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i'm british too and gwyneth paltrow's accent is shoddy. when it's on, it's ok, it's passable -- if i were in a pub next to her booth i might question it once in a while, but for the most part it's decent... but when she slips she slips pretty bad. anne hathaway, zellweger and reeves should not be allowed to do one, ever again. in fact i could say that about most americans attempting an accent. just don't do it. we know when you do it. and we laugh at you for it.
johnny depp is brilliant, tho, his accents alone have made me appreciate his movies more. i've never even fancied his acting much until i started seeing the movies where he does accents, he's quite good. the other americans need his dialect coach, he's wonderful.
I'm going to say this once, and once only, Gene: STAY OUT OF CAMBERWICK GREEN!
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didn't see inspector abbeline.
i didn't mean that depp was perfect -- i hear it when he slips up as well... but as far as americans doing accents go, comparatively speaking, he is brilliant. compared to say kevin costner, james caviezel, anne hathway, james doohan, john hillerman, elijah wood, etc., depp is brilliant.
anyone who listens to madonna's attempt to sound like us would probably welcome depp's accent, imperfect or not he's still brilliant when compared to the rest of them!!!
I'm going to say this once, and once only, Gene: STAY OUT OF CAMBERWICK GREEN!
Jack Sparrow - not British. It's "Pirates of the Caribbean".
Ichabod Crane - also not British. "Sleepy Hollow" takes place in upstate New York.
For what it's worth, Paltrow's American accent sounds a it clipped, too. Rene sounds awful hoity-toity in her normal speech, as well. :)
shareI'm sorry to say that when I first saw Sliding Doors (years ago), I thought Gwyneth Paltrow was British. But I saw Becoming Jane recently, and Anne Hathaway's accent didn't sound right to me.
share
hi, pinkberry --
are you american? don't worry, i'm not going to attack you. just genuinely curious. but i only ask because i have had a few american friends who thought paltrow was british too. and to an american ear, i suppose she mightn't sound that bad -- i've heard quite a few of the americans call her "that british woman." mostly because a fair number of her projects she's done she has an accent. hers is certainly better than say elijah wood [eep] had done in the LOTR movies. because even americans *must* hear the bad accent there, hopefully!!
....*headshake* i can't believe they let anne hathaway play jane austin... i'm not even a huge jane austin fan, but seriously, there are some roles that folks from that side of the Atlantic shouldn't play, as a general rule. Obviously there are some exceptions. But few. and iconic UK folks are that general rule -- it would be like casting William Shatner to play the Welsh singer Tom Jones.... *cringe*
I'm going to say this once, and once only, Gene: STAY OUT OF CAMBERWICK GREEN!
Actually, I think the Brits are far better at American accents than the other way around. U.S. television has a ton of them right now(Minnie Driver from 'The Riches', Dominic West & Idris Elba on 'The Wire', Jason Isaacs on 'Brotherhood'... even Kevin McKidd does a fair job on "Journeyman'...). Dunno if there are many U.S. actors playing British on the tube in the U.K. but I haven't spotted any on BBC America. I'm glad some of you Brits think Depp has managed it, as I think he's one of the best actors we have. I think the only American actor I've ever heard receive praise from a British actor for having a good accent was Michael Caine talking about how impressed he was with Forest Whitaker in 'The Crying Game' many years ago...
shareGENERALLY speaking, deggman, i agree -- brits are usually better at doing american accents. mine isn't perfect, but i've been living in the states for quite a few years, and i do it just to avoid having people ask me what part of AUSTRALIA i'm from (i'm from Surrey, England), so it just seemed better to start talking like a yank and avoiding the conversation in general.
Didn't see crying game or whitaker's accent, but depp is pretty good for an american doing an accent. there are a lot of brits on deadwood and they do fairly decent american accents.
but we do have our actors who totally blow it and do terrible american accents. i think we just have less of them with bad american accents than yanks doing bad brit accents.
for example, i love kate maberly very much, brilliant actress-- my favourite, in fact, but she's not the greatest with the american accent. brilliant actress, but not the greatest with the american accent.
:)
I'm going to say this once, and once only, Gene: STAY OUT OF CAMBERWICK GREEN!
"privacy" *shudder*
Whatever is left of me - whatever I am - I'm yours - James Bond
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hiya majoolie --
ya i know you posted this months ago too but i guess i wasn't notified that you had replied.
i'm just so desperately curious about this -- someone seriously thought Scotland was in Utah? Oh dear.... i do hope you are exaggerating for effect....
ya to avoid constant barrage of questions i stick with an american accent. usually i do fine. once in a rare while i will run into someone who is british (i live in a military town and it happens a lot) and once i realise i'm safe i can let that go... i recently went home and everyone thought i was american, but by the time i'd come back my real accent had come back. i have to think about it sometimes.
but on the rare occasions i will actually speak with my real accent, i usually get "wow you're irish, huh? cool. so... like... where in england is ireland, anyway?" or i get australian -- even after i say "surrey, near london" they say "wow, so do you have a lot of kangaroos over there in australia?" sigh.... then the people point to things and say "what do you call this trash can?" i say "rubbish bin." they say "wow! cool! and this?" they just keep pointing to things and try to get me to talk.
what's best is when they start putting on fake accents. terrible fake accents. and try to convince you that they are from scotland or ireland or england. but if you ask them where wales is they blink and say, without an accent anymore, "uhhhhh... the ocean?"
yeahh...... any americans reading this who do that? we make fun of you for that kind of stuff.
"Ya but she's our witch... So cut her the hell down!"
One major difference is that American TV/film studios typically have the budget to hire actual British actors when they need to, while you don't see too many American actors in British televsion/movies. Yes, Americans typically suck at British accents, but at least we're aware of it, and try to get genuine Brits in the roles that need the accent most of the time. I can recall when every American character on British television was always portrayed as Texan, because, hell, everyone can do a convincing fake Texan accent.
Incidentally, you Brits have really got to let the whole Dick Van Dyke thing go. That was over 40 years ago, seriously. Next they'll be complaining that Pepe LePew didn't have an accurate French accent, or that Charlie Chan didn't sound Chinese.
i dont think we'll ever let the dyke accent go. it's sort of the epitome of The American Attempting A British Accent Badly.
sorry. we just won't. It will always be referenced whenever another american attempts an accent. i love van dyke, he's fantastic, but he will always be famous for that accent here.
I'm going to say this once, and once only, Gene: STAY OUT OF CAMBERWICK GREEN!
Incidentally, you Brits have really got to let the whole Dick Van Dyke thing go.
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'Orwl white, Maori Parpens!' (+ Groundskeeper Willie anyone?)
"Everbody in the WORLD, is bent"share
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To any American who wishes to criticize a Brit pretending to be American, I suggest a punishment, preferably Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.
shareROFL!!!
i suggest flogging. it's always a crowd pleaser and the "Before" and "after pictures" are always worth a good look.
Shall we get Madonna? I cringe whenever I hear her attempt to use our phrases and words.... *sigh* We can start a list. Who's first for the flogging??
but we can't flog Van Dyke. he's older, now -- the tar can't be good for him.
I'm going to say this once, and once only, Gene: STAY OUT OF CAMBERWICK GREEN!
i would pay soooooooo much money to see madonna being flogged!! *shifty eyes*
not that i am being perverted or anything
I cant beleive people have missed out christian bale - he is at the top of my list as the best actor at doing transatlantice accents - anybody remembe american psycho - he is british and he was doing an american accent!!
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The best Brits doing American accents has to be Band of Brothers. A very large percentage of the cast were British, I didn't realsie even though I've seen it several times until I looked at the cast list on IMDB.
You don't crucify people! Not on Good Friday!
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Yes Alan Dale is originally from Dunedin in New Zealand but lived and worked in Australia for many years. He has appeared in quite a few American TV shows usually playing men in power. He has also done work in the UK both on TV and on stage.
shareThis initial postings really prompted a good discussion and for every Hugh Laurie or Idris "Stringer Bell" Elba who does a seemingly flawless job with an American accent we later suffer through about 90% of the British folks who toplined American programs last season (Kevin McKidd, Michelle Ryan, Lena Headey---all better in other productions) and I think the Dick Van Dyke example, while over 40 years old, STILL deserves more apology!! I wonder what the appeal is for directors--yes, the actors can attempt to prove their versatility, but I'd rather see folks who seemingly match up with the part more than some casting stunt.
shareGlad I stumbled into this discussion!! Thanks for clearing up the accent issue for me. As an American, I always thought that Gwynyth, Anne Hathaway, Johnny Depp, and Renee Z had great British accents. Thanks for setting me straight!!! As for Brits doing American accents--I'd go along with Hugh Laurie, Christian Bale, Emma Thompson (most of the time), Helena Bonham Carter, Ewan McGregor, and most of the cast of "Black Hawk Down." The worst Brit doing an American accent? Michael Caine in "Cider House Rules." And he won an Oscar for that performance. Go figure.
But American accents can be difficult to master--there are so many! I live outside Chicago, and it drives me crazy when characters from Chicago or other non-New York cities have Brooklyn accents. Hollywood seems to think that everyone who doesn't live in the South talks like a Brooklynite! (The only Chicago-based film with accurate accents is "The Fugitive.")
As well, they think that all of us in the south sound like Jeff Foxworthy hicks. Michael Caine did a far worse accent in "Second Hand Lions". For the rest of you talking about Dick Van Dyke, I never realized that was supposed to be a British accent, I thought he was from some far away land of dumb asses.
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