MovieChat Forums > Real Time (2008) Discussion > Randy's Aussie Accent

Randy's Aussie Accent

posted 16 years ago by CamoDamage
15 replies | jump to latest

Now, it has to be said that American's aren't the best at doing international english speaking accents. Sure there have been a few leading ladies of late who have nailed a bit of a plumb English/British access (Renee as Bridget Jones, Gwyneth in Sliding Doors) but apart from that not a whole not. I'm not sure why this is but it's great to see the Yanks trying to have a listen to the way some of the rest of the world sounds.

I have to say that when I stumbled across the trailer for this movie and heard Randy Quaid speak, not only was I shocked to hear an Australian accent and one being done by an American, but I was shocked and stunned that hear that he absolutely NAILS IT!

On ya Randy.

The accent is relaxed, warm and friendly. I would even go so far to say it's from central/North West NSW. It's not overdone and has none of that nasal twang that usually pops up when done by a Yank (a la Downey Jr. in Natural Born Killers/Tropic Thunder).

I'm sure a whole bunch of us here on Oz will go see this flick just to give praise to Randy for doing the Australian voice justice.

[–] lladon 15 years ago

It's impressive enough that, as a Canadian living in Australia, I actually had to stop and think whether Randy Quaid was an Aussie... So that's impressive I guess?

Come son of Jor-El, kneel before Zod!

[–] hexrei 15 years ago

Do they actually state he is Australian in the film? I missed a few minutes but I felt like his accent was closer to New Zealand than Aussie.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ikoogle 15 years ago

yeah Randy aussie sounding accent was just brilliant for the movie! He sort of added a friendly sunny characteristic to the film that was otherwise all shot against the cold background.

[–] spill_prone_canvas 15 years ago

His accent was very convincing, but i'm positive he was emulating a New Zealand accent. Did he specifically mention his origins in the film?

[–] idiotproof-1 15 years ago

Yeah I thought it was pretty good, though he did slip into some NZ pronunciation every once in awhile, but overall, it was impressive for an American. He could've been from the north island where the accent is less obvious.

Pretty cool dialogue driven flick. Show that all you need is a car, a cat & 2 dudes to make an enjoyable film

[–] vinnie_vegas69 15 years ago

He was definitely doing an Australian accent, because he didn't use the hallmark New Zealand things of pronouncing words like "six" and "fish" like "sux" and "fush", which you'd definitely latch onto if you were trying to do the accent.

But he did slip into a bit of New Zealand pronunciation at times - Forgiveable though. There are plenty of Aussies with a bit of that anyway - Expat New Zealanders.

It's definitely a believable accent that someone might have. The thing that surprised me about it is that with the amount of Australian actors in Hollywood, they wouldn't have hired one to play this role. Alternatively, it's surprising that Randy Quaid is doing that accent in a role that really doesn't require it.

[–] Cain-12 15 years ago

Just goes to show ya, Randy is a great actor! All the actors in this film were brilliant

Rikko

[–] GuyWhoDoesntGetSarcasm 15 years ago

In the film, when Randy Quaid's boss calls him on his cell, the ring tone is "Waltzing Matilda". I think that answers the question as to his purported nationality.

As to the accent, he did a pretty good job, but some parts sounded southern drawl american, and some new zealand, especially when he says "get back in the car" it sounds like "cair" or "care" which is very new zealandish.

Infact, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually studied the new zealand accent to do this movie, because it is much stronger than the aussie accent, and in some ways sounds like an over-emphasised aussie accent, and most americans/canadians watching this film would probably associate the accent with Australia on hearing it, no offence to kiwi's or canadians :P

The accent, at a lot of points, reminded me of the band manager off "Flight of the Concords" TV series. very funny!! The same guy was also in "Yes Man", as Jim Cary's boss in the bank.

[–] hcrapwhitman 14 years ago

Do they actually state he is Australian in the film?

No, but the ring tone on his phone was Waltzing Matilda which is Australia's unoffical national anthem.

[–] shutupyo 15 years ago

in the first few minutes i decided that his accent was going to drive me insane. within about 15 minutes you forget about and can't imagine what he sounds like without an accent. so in the end i was really impressed by it. by his performance overall, actually. randy quaid is far more gifted an actor than he gets credit for.

[–] hcrapwhitman 14 years ago

I put Randy's accent somewhere between a real Australian accent and an Australian accent that you'd hear on The Simpsons

[–] natos99 14 years ago

I am Australian & thought his accent was really well done, I thought it was an Australian actor until I realised it was Randy Quaid about 10-15 mins into the film nice work very under rated actor

[–] Sharpster 14 years ago

It was a great accent, but nobody in Australia actually speaks like that.

[–] Violet_Loves_Iliona 12 years ago

EXACTLY!!! Reading the posts above, I feel like I'm in a parallel universe - he's clearly trying to sound Australian, but it ABSOLUTELY doesn't sound realistic, which is a real pity, because aside from his accent, his acting was very good, and it was an interesting storyline which was quite well-executed.

I had to make a really strong effort to not to be put off by the accent, but I don't understand why they didn't either get an actual Australian to play the role, or give him another accent... Or they could even have said that he was originally from Australia but spent most of his life in Canada, that way the actor could have spoken with a mostly Canadian accent while just throwing in the odd bit of Australian accent... Come to think of it, I think that's definitely what they should have done because, aside from the accent, Randy Quaid was very good in his role, and his mannerisms and facial expressions came across as Australian, it was just the accent that failed him. :(

Violet

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