Caleb Landry Jones' accent? - Byzantium (2013) Discussion

[–] DCI77 11 years ago

I agree that it's really uneven. From what I can tell it's an English accent, though I'm not sure what part of England - could be just a generic attempt. I'm not sure if he had a dialect coach.

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[–] NeilRamjee 11 years ago

Well I'm glad someone thought it was English!
I'm a Brit myself and I have to say, it verged on German, then Australian with a hint of Texan. Truly awful not to have been picked up on as it jarred the emotional content of some of his key lines.

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[–] DCI77 11 years ago

Haha! I actually thought, in certain moments, it sounded a bit Australian. I don't think he intended it to be all over ... just not enough practice/coaching or the director didn't really care for the consistency. Funny thing is Caleb is from Texas - that may explain why you heard a 'hint of Texan.'

2013 Most Anticipated - Stoker, The Spectacular Now, Frances Ha

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[–] Ghost_Of_Me 11 years ago

I dont know what they were going for at all. I had a hard time understanding him in some scenes. I had no clue what accent they wanted, half way thru I thought they gave him a speech impediment for some sort of effect.

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[–] DCI77 11 years ago

When he said "I'm having a pa-tay," I was like that's just dreadful.

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[–] james-337 9 years ago

No, it wasn't meant to be English. He said they came to his mother's hometown for treatment for his leukaemia because "healthcare is free over here", which implies he and his father are from another country, although his mother is English. I would say Eastern European of some description.

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[–] Cleric-J-Dubois 11 years ago

Ha ha. Very good. In fact I'm sure I even heard a little klingon and Ewok in there somewhere........

Like, seriously? What WAS that?

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[–] joao-pebre 11 years ago

OMG who cares?!

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[–] Ssertorivs 10 years ago

OMG who cares?!

Those of us with a fully functioning brain, maybe?

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[–] Ivor_Bucket 11 years ago

Oh come on, people. At least listen to the dialogue before making judgements.

In the beach scene between Eleanor and Frank, Eleanor says, "You don't belong here." To which Frank replies, "This is my mum's hometown. We came here when I got ill. The healthcare over here is free and I was something of a drain on our limited resources."

"Over here" would be somewhere in Britain, probably England judging by the accents of most of the other characters, where healthcare is indeed free. Wherever Frank and his parents moved from, the healthcare would not have been free - a drain on their limited resources - and it's reasonable to assume that this would have been the USA. Most likely: English mother, American father, Frank brought up in his early years in America but has lived for the last few years in England. He would have had a mixed British/American accent.

I've met a few Americans who have lived in England for a few years. They do indeed have an accent, and a turn of phrase, which is neither quite one nor the other.

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[–] Monster_Maniac 11 years ago

He was speaking leukaemia impaired Britmerican.

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Caractacus09 10 years ago

He was born in American, as the dialogue suggests. And he's not a terrible actor. He performed exactly as he was supposed to. And the inability to mimic the accent of a people from a different region doesn't automatically make one a "terrible actor." Look at Julia Roberts (Michael Collins, Mary Reily) or Dick Van Dyke (Mary Poppins) or even Sean Connery (The Untouchables). All three fantastic performers and all three failed at producing convincing fake accents and they're not the only examples. Ease up a little on the guy. He sounds strangulated because he's sick (notice the part of the film where he practically bleeds out).

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[–] movie_nazi 10 years ago

Look at Julia Roberts (Michael Collins, Mary Reily)

Ok, now what?

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[–] Caractacus09 10 years ago

I don't follow you. There is no "now what." Everything is spelled out for anyone who cares, already.

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[–] movie_nazi 10 years ago

I don't follow you. There is no "now what." Everything is spelled out for anyone who cares, already.

Since you need everything spelled out for you.

I am now looking at Julia Roberts. I still see a bad actress. Overrated at best.

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[–] Caractacus09 10 years ago

Clearly, you're an absolutely terrible judge of acting. They don't typically give four Academy Awards to bad actors and actresses. It just isn't done. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is composed of over six-thousand of the most talented men and women working in-front of and behind the camera. This means, Julia Roberts has been judged by hundreds of her peers who have deemed her a good actress many times over. But not every good actor and actress can pull off foreign accents. It's not as easy for some people.

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[–] movie_nazi 10 years ago

She has won 1 not 4.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000210/awards?ref_=nm_ql_2

And CLEARLY the winner that year should have been Ellen Burstyn.

The AA are just a Prom for the Hollywood elite. It is not the be all end all to judge who is a worthy thespian. Many fine actors has been snubbed. How can one say the AA is worth anything when it never gave Peter O'Toole a single statue?

Evidently you are new to this.

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[–] Chanpuru 9 years ago

Ok firstly his accent is terrible but then so is his performance generally. It's the weirdest accent i think I've ever heard. It's like a verbal tour of Europe and the Americas.

Secondly just because someone is a great actor (ie the examples you gave) that doesn't mean they can do an accent....it also doesn't mean that every performance they give is great. Great actors can still give bad performances.

By coincidence i have recently started a thread in the Agent Carter board querying why American actors are almost always so bad at foreign accents:

http://m.imdb.com/title/tt3475734/board/inline/247124530?d=247461778#247461778

I'm still waiting for a good response.....

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[–] kobrakai75 11 years ago

The scene where he falls from his bicycle and the parents are getting him into the car, the father seems to have an American accent.

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[–] simonheartfield7 11 years ago

His accent was only part of the problem - I thought it was a pretty decent film only marred by one of the most mumbling, twitching, incoherent screen performances I've seen for a long time. The guy could barely deliver a single line without mangling it - had to use the subtitles for several of his scenes.

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[–] mbeswick99 11 years ago

Glad I'm not the only one who thought this. He rather damaged the film, I thought.

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Wansie 10 years ago

Agreed, his accent was terrible and drew attention to his poor acting. I watched some of the BR extras, and he can't even speak clearly (or hold himself still and straight) when he's *not* acting. A poor choice.

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[–] ella_leona 10 years ago

Without a doubt a good film, but yes his accent is awful and very distracting - thought he sounded Dutch actually, but he's American and I'm sure his real accent is a lot easier on the ears.

Also, he already looked dead so couldn't really see the attraction there - just can't believe that there were no qualified home-grown actors for this role.

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