Alicia Vikander's accent
Strange that when I saw her for the first time in Ex Machina, her voice didn't bother me at all and all I saw was an android and not a European actress, yet in Bourne her American accent was so noticeably distracting.
shareWhere are you from?
Her accent at first sounded British, and then Irish. She was born and raised in Sweden. Didn't hear anything close to a 'great basin accent', sometimes known as the flat-American accent. The actors from outside the U.S. seem to do best when they imitate a regional (southern, Texas, surfer, ebonics, etc) U.S. accent.
I'm Californian. People say we have a kind of whiny spoiled valley girl accent.
You're right about regional accents. Various UK actors can pull off a Southern American accent on the show Walking Dead (Rick, Maggie).
Among my favorite European actors who just can't seem to nail down an American accent is Liam Neeson. It's especially glaring in his 'Taken' movies.
Love Liam Neeson! Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan, too. All Welsh or Irish, never heard them pull off an American accent. Those Irish GoT actors like Aiden Gillen seem to be able to do it, he sounded very American in 'The Wire' (although it was a regional Baltimore/Northeaster accent).
I'm from California, too. Know what you mean about the 'valley girl accent' label, now and then a friend will point out my vocabulary and inflection as 'California' and I immediately think "what accent?!?!!":-)
Good call on the UK actors with the Atlanta accent in WD. There was a show this past year, 'Preacher', and the male and female leads sounded completely American and I had no idea they were British (they did a Texas and sassy-ebonics accent, respectively, though).
I have to disagree with you guys about the accents on Walking Dead and Preacher. They don't sound British but they do sound forced and artificial.
shareThanks for joining in!
Help us out here, so we can move the conversation forward. Where are you from? Which characters' accents? What are good examples of authentic accents? Any other reasons you hold your opinion?
I'm from NC and I'm talking specifically about Rick and Maggie from Walking Dead and Jesse and Tulip from Preacher. Their accents just come across as kind of phony, and in the case of the latter two even caricaturish. I've heard worse though, and from American actors. DeNiro's accent in Cape Fear was God awful.
shareAh! You have that NC 'local' ear, no wonder it doesn't sound quite right to you with Maggie and Rick! To my ear, where most people in CA come from somewhere else and there is no 'valley girl' accent except in '80s movies and adopted as an affect by wealthy teenagers sometime before or after their 'wigger-ebonics'phase, all the 'Southern' accents kind of blend together. Same with NY, Baltimore and Boston; the accents are indistinguishable to my ear, but my wife is from Boston and she can distinguish even neighborhoods and regions.
DeNiro was frightening as can be in 'Cape Fear', but I can see how you might be taken out of the moment if you detected some inauthenticity in the accent.
Yeah, DeNiro was great aside from the accent. I don't care nearly enough about it to let it seriously affect my enjoyment of the movie. Same with Preacher and WD.
shareConnery was Scottish.
shareI think that if they can't play a convincing American, they shouldn't attempt it at all.
Liam Neeson knows he can't do it. And rather than offend Americans with a bad attempt, he just chooses not to do the accent.
Jason Statham, Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery, they're all the same. Rather than embarrass themselves, they just don't play Americans. They still get gigs though.
I think Gerard Butler's accent is also noticeable when he plays American characters especially in Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen.
I didn't find Alicia Vikander's accent TOO distracting and I think she was hotter than Nikki (for some reason Julia Stiles hasn't been in too many other movies besides Bourne.)
Erin Richards in Gotham is Welsh but I couldn't tell at all from her appearance on the show.
...I think (Alicia Vikander) was hotter than Nikki (for some reason Julia Stiles hasn't been in too many other movies besides Bourne)
Guessing you are female, but I think you've just answered the "for some reason" that Julia Stiles hasn't been in too many other movies.;-) share
Vikander is gorgeous and love her accent, I don't think she is playing American in this movie. you don't have to be American to be in the CIA.
Julia Stiles was in some movies before Bourne when she was younger.