Regarding southern accents in movies/TV shows, my husband and I have taken to making fun of the Walking Dead, which totally has Rick’s accept wrong… it’s generic southern, not Tennessee/GA border accent.
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I was in a play set in a small village in Ireland. What was amazing was how so many people from all over Ireland had gathered together in this one tiny pub, because all the performers simply did whatever Irish accent they could do (if any). Me, my accent was a little Barry Fitzgerald with a lot of the Lucky Charms guy. I knew it wasn’t close to authentic, but it got laughs at the first read through, and the play wasn’t the sort of thing that I felt demanded any striving for authenticity.
Two curious things about it, though. First, during rehearsals I was often the designated reader for actors who couldn’t be there, because, even though I can’t readily do impressions, I’m quite a good mimic of lines that I’ve heard over and over. Funny thing is, whenever I read for the people with better accents, I could replicate their great accents quite well, but when it came to my own part, I was back in cartoonland.
The other thing is that from first rehearsal to final performance was close to three months, and after all that time, I developed a distinct lilt in the back of my voice. The accent for the show was just silly, but this lilt was apparently incredibly convincing. I kept meeting seemingly sensible people who would say “I can tell you’re Irish. I’ve lived there. You’ve mostly lost your accent but I can still hear it a little.” Never ran into any native Irish to find out what they thought of it, though.
######Wow, such a long anecdote really needs a punchline. Sorry.
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You can’t really complain about )ean Connery’s ac(sh)cents, as he doesn’t do any. It’s all Connery 1.0, all the time.
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Oh yes, English with an accent indicating the language it represents is such a bizarre Hollywood convention.
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It is John Cleese. Michael Palin is playing Sir Galahad, immediately to King Arthur’s left. (To his left is Sir Lancelot, also played by John Cleese. I strongly suspect Michael Palin also plays one of the other French knights we briefly see snickering behind the battlements shortly before this clip starts.)
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It seems to me there’s a difference between attempting an accent and failing, and simply doing every part (Irish-American cop, Lithuanian submarine captain, etc.) without even trying.
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Not just Hollywood!
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Thanks for pointing out my pet peeve - no one does Southern Accents right - except the Alabama accents in My Cousin Vinny were spot on.
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Why on earth did they pin the Far and Away and Snatch accents to Belfast? I assume they mean Ulster or NI but even that’s wrong. Pitt is doing a (not too shabby) Irish Traveller accent which is nothing like an Ulster accent.
The commentator is actually worse than the movie.
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Ack. You’re right–for some reason I always thought it was Palin. My entire concept of reality is now shaken to the core. What other of my cherished beliefs are wrong?
I… I feel lost and adrift in a sea of uncertainty…
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Watch the bonus features of The Holy Grail DVD and you’ll learn that John Cleese only did the closeups because he’s afraid of heights.
As tall as he is he must spend a lot of time crouching.
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Rick Grimes’ accent in the walking dead kills me… that’s supposed to be a Tennessee/North GA accent? NOPE.
Darryl’s is pretty good though. I’ll accept his any day.
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I’m pretty sure Darryl’s accent is his real accent, given that he speaks the same way in Blade 2 from almost 20 years ago (and which I was watching two days ago).
I’m just glad that Rick doesn’t sound like he’s from London. Of course, he and the Governor both went to the same acting school in England and knew each other there.
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Looks like Reedus is from Hollywood Florida, so you’re likely correct.
Also, he’s so very awesome…
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