British people think that American actors trying to do British accents are among the most hilarious people on earth. (Irish people feel the same way about stage Irish accents, with more annoyance.) Two days after I arrived in London for a stint in The Economist's headquarters, I found myself in one of the conversations that every American expat there must have at least bimonthly: "Why Americans imitating Brits are pathetic." It's very hard for Americans to hear the defects, just as the British and Irish can't tell the hilarious differences between their notion of "an American accent", and the language as spoken by actual Americans.
The Brits in question were suddenly unamused to find that I'd been watching a BBC drama set in America the night before, a Victorian period piece about an entire town populated by people with serious speech impediments. At least, that's what I thought it was about, until I realized that I was watching the dramatization of a well-known Victorian novel (hanged if I can remember which novel, and that the bizarre speech patterns were due simply to casting British people who weren't very good at doing American accents. Several of the people talking to me had watched it, and hadn't noticed anything wrong. Suddenly, the topic of accents seemed much less funny.
But American accents are hard--just how hard is brought home by this video. For that matter, is any accent easy?
I recall reading some years ago that the most difficult English-language accent for outsiders to imitate is South African.
Actually, as Peter Sellers demonstrated, British accents are actually quite easy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLsVh6Qrpew
I love hearing Brits do US accents, because you get to hear what we sound like to them. Maybe they don't like hearing us do their accents, for basically the same reason: They think we sound like cowboys, which is pretty cool; we think they sound quaint, and maybe a bit light in the loafers. Some Brits seem to lose their sense of humor about themselves, when there's Americans around.
How's that for a steaming pile of unwarranted generalizations?
I spent a fun half hour once with an Israeli guy (who was brilliant at languages) and a French guy (not so brilliant) both trying to master how we pronounce "Maryland". Neither did.
If you can find it, there is a stunning recording of Peter Sellers walking someone through about 15 accents in a minute or so. Truly astounding
There is footage of Sellers going through all those accents in the 'Dr. Strangelove' DVD extras. It's pretty remarkable.
A lot of this is relative. I used to think that non-southerners who did southern and/or Texas accents sounded ridiculous. But I moved away from Texas and, after a couple of years, was shocked at what I heard when I'd go home to see family and friends. They all DO sound like hopeless rubes, and those Hollywood imitations were a lot more spot-on than I cared to admit back when I was 'one of them.'
I'd bet you could do a bitchin' Valley Girl with no trouble.
I have worked with a few South Africans. We were discussing how they sound like a cross between an Englishman and a Dane/German person.
It was immensly difficult to immitate because it crosses the alternative vowel pronunciations of the English accent with the gutteral stresses of the German accent. What is odd is that Americans do not have a more gutteral sounding accent in certain regions of the country, specifically places like the mid-west where so many Germans migrated.
It was a great little vid. Frankly, my dear, I give a damn about accents. They sound very good to the ear, no matter the accent, as long as its eNglish they're speaking. Couldn't tell a good Swedish accent from a bad one, of course, but I can visualize a good Swede from...
A Frenchman once asked me to teach him all the basic American obscenities. Even after much practice, he couldn't come close. I had to tell him that if he wanted to start a fight, calling someone a 'moo-ZAIR foo-CARE or a coke-sue-CARE wasn't going to do the job. He couldn't even handle 'What's it to you?', which came out something like wotty-ZEET tu-YOO.
Notice that Peter Sellars' American accent, for his role in Dr Strangelove as the American President, is a generic American local news anchorman accent, with no discernible regional inflections or color. This is interesting, considering that the American presidents in Peter Sellars' lifetime until 1964 had very distinct regional accents (and in the case of FDR a distinct patrician accent as well) Think how distinct the regional accents of Truman, JFK, and LBJ were, and even Ike's Midwestern accent was no bland local news anchorman voice.
One wonders if the blandness of Sellars' American accent in Dr Strangelove was meant to reflect the blandness of the character he portrayed, or if that was simply the best American accent he could muster at the time.
Eltoro: Supposedly Sellers was supposed to play Major Kong, but was having a great deal of trouble with the accent. He broke his ankle before those scenes were shot, and had to be replaced; there's some speculation that the ankle break was manufactured because Sellers wouldn't have been able to pull of the role.
I had a similar experience, Woody, after going to college in DC after growing up on Long Island. After a few years, I was suddenly horrified to learn my mother sounded like Mike Myers' character on "Coffee Talk".
Anastasia Griffith on Damages has an excellent American accent. By the way, she is the sister of Jamie Bamber, who plays Apollo on the new BSG.
Hugh Laurie, who plays Dr. House, also has a good American accent. The one Brit who has difficulty doing a real American accent, but is still a compelling actor is Clive Owen.
I didn't actually think the Brits doing American accents in the Slate video were bad, and I'm American. Certainly, some sounded goofy, but then, a lot of Americans sound goofy to me!
When growing up, I noticed a lot of defects in others speech, and consciously avoided them. Today, I don't sound anything like people in the area I'm from (Central Texas) and people won't believe me when I say I am!
Indian accents are quite regularly used for a laugh. As Russell Peters says, Indian accents are good at "cutting the tension". See this (audio NSFW). It's absolutely hilarious.
Peter Seller's in Party does an Indian accent, but it's a pretty awful one. And, of course, there are multiple Indian accents, not just one. But you have to be an Indian to distinguish between them.
Girish
A lot of Aussies seem to do really good American accents: Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Russel Crowe, Naomi Watts.
Mel Gibson does a brilliant German accent.
Just saw that Slate video. Could June Thomas be any less subtle in broadcasting her sexual orientation? Maybe if she wore a tie with that suit, I guess. Jesus.
It seems that almost no actor--American or Brit--not from the South can do a Southern accent. They all tend to sound like either (a) Rhett Butler/Scarlet O'Hara, or (b) Ma or Pa Kettle.
And, yes, I'm aware that there are quite a variety of "Southern" accents. But I don't know any that really sound much like Rhett or Scarlet. And few that sound close to the Kettles.
Robert Duvall is a notable exception, but maybe he's a Southerner.
Robert Duvall is a notable exception, but maybe he's a Southerner.
Posted by Jim | September 24, 2007 11:59 AM
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Yes, he's a military brat born in California, but his parents were Virginians, so he heard that at home
Actually, from an English point of view most American accents sound less like a cowboy (how flattering that would be!) and more just abrasive and oddly whiney - either a bit honking, a bit wheedling or a bit buttery, depending on the mood and class of the American in question.
Thanks, Jon! I always wondered.
No actors can do a good New England accent, unless they come from here. (Denis Leary is a great example of a typical Eastern Massachusetts accent.)
Most actors try for the JFK accent. I've lived here 45 years and never heard anyone outside the Kennedy family speak like that.
Holly Hunter tried to put on a New England accent in one movie. It bruised my soul.