This was posted some time ago on Dakota's IMDb board. Since her accent is still being discussed I thought I would bring this over.
She also talks about Elle, Emma Watson, and other actors accents.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4jYpkmhMsk
Yep, she was amazing in that movie :)
shareI didn't buy it. Personally, I found Dakota's accent distracting throughout the entire film. The same can and has been said about Emma Watson in Perks. Her accent was my single complaint about that film, and I've heard similar responses from most people I know who saw it. Did Dakota's accent sound NOT British? Certainly not, everyone knew she was supposed to be a British teenager. As for authenticity, I can't say the same thing. Her voice lacked personality, and it sounded "put on" to me. There are few actors who can truly transform their voice to another dialect and do it well.
shareThanks for posting that, but it is so much to-do about nothing. People who like to nit-pick accent irregularities or who say a slightly flawed accent spoiled their enjoyment of a movie don't have much going for them to begin with.
Fanning did a fine job and no one should care if it didn't sound precisely like any particular "British" accent. It is interesting that the UK dialect expert thinks it is very good.
In my experience foreign actors trying to put on an authentic American accent have far more difficulty. For examples I like Rachel Weisz and Cate Blanchett but neither of them do a very believable American accent. But they are actors, they make movies, it isn't anything worth dwelling on. They are not being represented as dialect experts, are they?
TxMike
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.
dakotas accent was in and out. a bit forced at times but overall she did a grand job.
shareI was watching a movie about a young woman having her life taken away from her due to a horrible disease and seeing how this was like a dagger through the heart of those who loved her...but rose to the occassion in spite of this and gave everything they had to make her life go as well as possible. I didn't have time to notice accents.
shareThese topics are bollocks. I'm British, and there are numerous different dialects here in the UK (further up north you go the funnier they sound ;-) ). She was absoloutely fine, and it's probably because she is a very good young actress.
shareI couldn't have put it better myself, the film was shown on BBC2 last night and I missed the first ten minutes thus missing the opening credits and I thought that Tessa was played by a British actress until I seen the closing credits.
An exceptional performance from Dakota and the supporting cast didn't do too badly either, a film that makes you happy, sad, laugh out loud and cry but above all makes you aware.
bootblack987 - Among the many other positive comments on this thread defending or even dismissing Ms. Fanning's accent as insignificant, yours is the finest and most profound. WTF difference should it make whether an actor or actress depicting a character outside of their home country's accent is spot on or not? It should always be the story, the writing, acting, direction, cinematography, musical score, and everything else about a film that makes it good or bad; not how accurately or inaccurately one's dialect is spoken. What utter nonsense.
shareExcellent post TxMike about idiots who are distracted or taken out of a film due to an actor's inability to do a proper accent when playing a character outside of their home country.
But while you are correct about Weisz and Blanchett, two of my favorite non-American actors who do absolutely flawless American accents in my book are Jonny Lee Miller and Rachel Griffiths. Both are amazing in Eli Stone and Six Feet Under, respectively. They give you no clue whatsoever that they aren't American when they play one.