Neutralaccent.com - Celebrity Voices

but she can't play American, she has an accent

2009-08-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

"When I started out six years ago people were like, 'Oh, she's great, but she can't play American, she has an accent," Diane Kruger said during an interview at Manhattan's Bowery Hotel. "So all these years I've spent working on my accent, and finally you get rid of an accent and something like ['Inglourious Basterds'] comes along."

Lindsay Lohan goes ‘Brit’ and speaks with English accent

2009-08-20T23:58:00.000-07:00

Lindsay Lohan might be BFF with Britney Spears, but it looks like she’s on the track to actually turn into the pop star instead.

The Irish-American actress displayed the first sign of an impending celebrity meltdown: she spoke to the paparazzi in a British accent.

During the height of Spears’ public mental breakdown, she often became British for the cameras.

Now Lohan has done just that, telling a TMZ reporter “Please stop” over and over again in the same posh accent.

For Spears, next in line after becoming a ‘Brit’ (ha!) was a shave of the head and a trip to the psychiatric ward.

Hopefully Lohan’s use of the accent leads to a role in an English movie instead!

An accent on radiance

2009-07-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

"He would help me with my American accent and tell me when it was good and not so great," Cotillard says. Public Enemies is based on the story of dapper fugitive John Dillinger and his love for former cloakroom attendant Billie Frechette.

Mallika Sherawat unlearning her ‘Indian accent’

2009-07-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

Mumbai: Mallika Sherawat knows how to turn on her sexuality to woo the world, but there still remains some untrained parts of her personality. Recently having been signed for a Hollywood venture, her accent is coming in the way of her acting skills. She has been adviced to get rid of her Indian accent, and she is sincerely working hard for her role.

Mallika is taking voice lessons, doing research and learning hip-hop for a role in the ambitious flick of her career.

The actress posted on Twitter, “Been having to take ‘accent elimination’ classes, to sound more American in new film.” When asked by a fan to elaborate, she replied, “I’m under confidentialty for now, but that’s why I’m taking hip-hop dance classes.”

Mallika’s character has been inspired by San Francisco Attorney General Kamala Harris. The actress, with over 6,000 followers on Twitter, shall soon be visiting Twitter’s San Francisco office today — a first for any Indian celebrity.

When people hear my real accent, they don't put two and two together.

2009-07-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

She loved it," laughs Friel, who has hired a British nanny in an effort to preserve her daughter's English accent, although, she says, "I feel like we're losing an uphill battle."

Ironically, having jumped off the television bandwagon at an early age, she's grateful to Pushing Daisies for not only giving her a second chance, but also for allowing her to demonstrate a flawless American accent.

"When people hear my real accent, they don't put two and two together. So that gives me a degree of privacy which I haven't had for the longest time in England, where I've been working since I was 13 and in the public eye, although it's starting to happen here now, too. But mostly nobody recognises me, which is fantastic.

I was raised with a New York accent

2009-07-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

“I’m like a really nasal ventriloquist,” he said. “I was raised with a New York accent, and I can’t really do a falsetto. I can do the voice of the wimpy New York kid who got beaten up in the schoolyard, which was me.”

The 23-year-old also said she tried to lose her accent to “fit in”.

2009-07-18T15:23:00.001-07:00

She said: “When I lived in New York I tried really hard to ditch the British accent to fit in. I went to classes and everything. I ended up putting on this terrible ‘Nu Yawk' accent and hid behind that for a while. Now I don't try to hide it so much, but my accent slips all over the place.”

Cheryl Cole's accent problems?

2009-07-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

Cheryl Cole's Geordie accent is apparently proving to be a problem in her bid to become a star in the US.

The Girls Aloud singer, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has been chosen by Simon Cowell to front a US version of The X Factor - but The Daily Mirror reports US TV bosses are screening episodes of the British talent show to audiences to gauge how well they can understand her.

A source said: "They were bowled over by Cheryl and thought she was sassy, smart, charismatic and beautiful; there was just one small problem - they couldn't make head nor tail of her Geordie accent."

The source added: "She was witty, empathetic and really encouraging to some of the acts.

"But while her accent isn't that thick, the Americans really seemed to struggle with it.

"Simon jokingly offered to pay for elocution lessons for her but, seriously, that may be the route she has to take if she is really considering breaking into television over there."

All in the accent

2009-07-12T07:30:00.001-07:00

MARION Cotillard says the most challenging part of playing John Dillinger’s love interest in the film Public Enemies was developing a believable Midwestern accent. The Academy Award-winning actress worked for four months with a dialect coach, two hours a day, to tone down her French accent.

“It was really weird because she taught me how to use my jaw and my tongue in a different way,” she said during a recent interview.

Her biggest challenge? The R and the L. “I think it was the hardest thing that I’ve ever had to do,” she said.

Eventually, Cotillard – who won a best-actress Oscar for playing chanteuse Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose – pulled it off to play her half-French, half-Indian character, Billie Frechette.

Michael Mann, the director of Public Enemies, said he had seen Cotillard’s previous movies and knew she could overcome speech problems.

“I knew mechanically, with fantastic discipline, a great work ethic and just hard work, she will master the English,” he said.

After Public Enemies, which stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, Cotillard played a character who had a French accent over a British accent.

Her biggest problem: the R’s and the L’s – again.

“I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?! It took me four months to get this R and L,’” she said.

Accent has been a constant challenge for the 33-year-old Cotillard, who acts in French and English movies. She learned English when she was 11. When she got her first English role (in Tim Burton’s Big Fish) she went to the Berlitz language centre to work on her English accent.

Then, she returned to France for a role in her first language. On the first day, in the first scene, she spent three hours on the very first line.

Despite the constant stream of dialect coaches, Cotillard said she likes the challenge of changing her accent for roles. She said it makes her appreciate success more.

“I like when it’s really something that you don’t get right away,” she said. “You just have to work and work and work.” – AP

the most challenging part - developing a believable Midwestern accent.

2009-07-07T05:03:00.000-07:00

Marion Cotillard says the most challenging part of playing John Dillinger's love interest in the upcoming film "Public Enemies" was developing a believable Midwestern accent.

I knew that it wouldn't be 100 per cent perfect," she says modestly

2009-07-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

There was also the case of mastering Frechette's curious French-Canadian-Wisconsin accent. Cotillard worked with a dialect coach every day for four months in order to get the accent as accurate as possible. "I knew that it wouldn't be 100 per cent perfect," she says modestly, admitting that it was one of the most difficult tasks of her career.

In spite of break-out work in her native accent in films

2009-06-14T09:19:00.001-07:00

In spite of break-out work in her native accent in films such as The Devil Wears Prada, however, Blunt is finding her greatest fame on the big screen by playing Americans.

I hadn't done a Southern accent since I pretended to be a cowboy when I was 7," Moyer recalls.

2009-06-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

When Stephen Moyer auditioned in London for the HBO drama "True Blood," the Englishman didn't know whether he could pull off the accent needed to play Bill Compton, a 170-year-old Louisiana vampire.

Miley Cyrus works on her accent for 'The Last Song'

2009-06-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

Miley Cyrus, who starts shooting for ‘The Last Song’ from June 15 in Georgia, is working with a dialect coach to get rid of her southern accent.

Finally get to use her own Manchester English accent

2009-06-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

Anna managed to effectively shout at a tennis ball standing in for a huge T-Rex and was delighted to finally get to use her own Manchester English accent after going "posh" for Shakespeare plays and playing an American in Daisies.

Bicoastal sound with a N.Y. accent

2009-05-08T09:12:00.003-07:00

Fake British accent

2009-04-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

Madonna please take your old lady face, sick looking frog body and fake British accent back to the UK. You hate America anyways...

Voice / Dialect Coach

2009-04-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

Wright is a graduate of the National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. She has served as a voice/dialect coach at many theatre companies including Denver Center, Playmakers Repertory, and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Also an actress, some of her recent credits include Amanda in "The Glass Menagerie" at the Boulder Repertory and Judy Shepard in the HBO film "The Laramie Project."

She was also slammed for her accent

2009-04-12T00:49:00.000-07:00

British actress Sienna Miller's new film The Mysteries of Pittsburgh has been panned by critics, with some saying she has a "moustache".

She was also slammed for her accent with one critic saying: "Just what accent Miller is attempting is hard to guess."

Which English accent do you prefer and why (eg. Scottish, American, Australian)?

2009-04-10T08:55:00.001-07:00

I like the English accent. I am more used to the American accent, but with the English accent it is easier to define the whole word, while the American accent sometimes puts them all together. This is a problem when you are first learning the language.

Heavy Russian accent

2009-04-10T08:53:00.001-07:00

With the coming of sound, audiences couldn't understand his heavy Russian accent or his mangled English-language syntax.

Spanish accent

2009-04-10T08:45:00.000-07:00

Pena's highly cartoonish Spanish accent rings false in a film that strives for a certain authenticity.

Occasionally affecting an English accent

2009-04-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

Having two duos featuring the name "Seals" appeared problematic, and, to Jim, Dan had never seemed like a "real cowboy", but, with his teenage habit of humming Beatles tunes and occasionally affecting an English accent, more like an "English rider". England Dan was born.

Dialect coaches associated with American film

2009-04-05T00:36:00.000-07:00

Joan Hall, senior scientist in the Department of English and chief editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), reviews index cards containing edited entries to be included in the fifth and final volume of DARE while working in the project’s office in Helen C. White Hall.

For example, Hollywood has discovered DARE. A number of dialect coaches associated with American film and theater have used examples from DARE’s collection of 1,483 audio recordings to try to nail particular regional dialects. Actress Diane Keaton used DARE’s Mississippi tapes to practice for her role in the 1986 film “Crimes of the Heart.”

“She isn’t interested in becoming an actress but voice-over work is something that appealed"

2009-04-05T00:27:00.000-07:00

Victoria Beckham has become the latest celebrity to give her voice for a cartoon series by recording for the hit animated kids show “Spongebob Squarepants”.
Contactmusic.com reports that the Spice Girls star, who now runs her own fashion empire, follows in the footsteps of Johnny Depp, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie.

Slang versus dialect

2009-04-01T23:25:00.000-07:00

For example, where the average American would say “church” for a house of worship and “birch” for a certain type of tall, straight tree, the Scots speaker would pronounce these words “kirk” and “birk.” That’s dialect, not slang.

Mma Ramotswe, played by Jill Scott, corrects the sign advertising her business.

2009-04-01T23:08:00.001-07:00

Rose won a Tony for her role in "Caroline, or Change" and is best known as a member of the trio in the film "Dreamgirls." She wasn't familiar with the Botswana accent, so she improvised.

"I auditioned with a South African accent because it was one that I knew, and I wanted them to be able to hear that this was something that could fit on my tongue," Rose says.

She got the role as Mma Makutsi and learned the accent in part by immersion.

"I really got to be around the people of the area and take those rhythms into my person and become a part of that Earth, which is, I think, extraordinarily lucky and very necessary in that situation," she says, "because Botswana is not an accent that is something that we're used to hearing. And the differences between Botswana and South Africa, though slight, are magnified, particularly if you're trying to unlearn something to take something else in."

Scott, for her part, says she used an accent she saw in a movie.

"I auditioned with the 'Sarafina' accent, and it didn't go over so well," she says.

Inspector Rebus star halts West End play over noise in stalls

2009-04-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

It was funny how he switched from an American to Scottish accent to make his point."

Switching from his stage American accent to his native Scottish drawl he demanded that the teacher responsible for the children remove them - or the play would cease.

If Gogol's Russian, does that mean Swift is English?

2009-04-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

In fact Swift called himself "English", spoke of his residence in Dublin as an "exile" in "a land I hate", and did not even have an Irish accent. But he has long become a great Irish patriot, adorning banknotes and tourist brochures.

On doing an Irish accent

2009-04-01T22:42:00.001-07:00

On doing an Irish accent ‘I found it the most difficult accent I’ve ever had to do. I’ve never needed help on accents before, but on this one it was good that I had a voice coach to test words on. And it was really helpful to be in Belfast, to soak up the atmosphere on the streets. I think that really brought something to the film. It was very important to get it right on this film, which has such a sense of time and place.’

She deserved her Oscar glory

2009-04-01T22:39:00.001-07:00

Winslet not only had to create an emotional life for Hanna, she had to perform extensively in the nude, and then in aged make-up, while all the time perfecting a German accent. She deserved her Oscar glory, and it's difficult to imagine Kidman in the part.

Brazil Through Foreign Eyes

2009-04-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

How is your Portuguese coming along? What words do you find most difficult to pronounce/remember or are there any words that you regularly confuse?

I wish I were one of those people who pick up languages more easily. I have been living in a Brazilian social circle for many years. I thought once we moved here I could 'pick it up' more easily. Not so. I understand a great deal but I find it very difficult to express myself beyond simple conversations. I think I have a pretty good Carioca accent, but so often the teller at the grocery store just looks back at me with a blank stare when I respond to her questions.

I am again enrolled in a Portuguese class.

Otherwise maybe Matt should put on a fake accent

2009-04-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, considering Megan sang a Stevie Wonder song, after seeing Stevie Wonder perform today, people will finally realize how bad Megan is by comparison. Otherwise maybe Matt should put on a fake accent, call himself by his middle name and start vying for the Votefortheworst.com vote because it seems to be working out for ‘Joy.’

Calabasas actress lends voice to the cause of Alzheimer's

2009-04-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

After Sherman's husband urged her to "put her money where her mouth is," she decided to donate half her earnings as a voice-over actress to the Alzheimer's Association.

Sherman's had some onscreen roles, but she is chiefly a voice-over actress.

"Basically anytime you hear a voice but don't see a person," said Sherman, explaining her work. "I do cartoons, radio, television commercials, dialogue for movies, audio books, video games. I get to do everything. That's why it's so much fun."

Michael Caine on Michael Caine

2009-04-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

"THE CIDER-HOUSE RULES" (1999)
Caine earned his second supporting actor Oscar as an orphanage doctor who also performs abortions "It gave me a chance to work with a lot of wonderful people, Tobey [Maguire] and Charlize [Theron]. I loved it and the kids. I loved the part. Also, I had an American accent. I hadn't done that very much. It did very well."

'West Side Story' with a Spanish accent

2009-03-18T12:51:00.001-07:00

'WEST SIDE STORY': "My biggest challenge is that... there are people who don’t want change, certainly not in a show that’s considered a classic,” says director Arthur Laurents.

Half-mumbled French accent

2009-03-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

“This narrative is not a true account,” heralds the opening title card, acknowledging both the manufacture of Mr. Auder’s contemporary persona as well as the inescapable subjectivity of his documentary narrative. Though it touches on all aspects of his personal and professional life, “The Feature” is primarily the story of Mr. Auder’s marriages, first to the irrepressible Viva, later to the introverted Cindy Sherman, whose reluctance to be a subject of his omnivorous, gregarious work opens up a rift in their relationship. Or that’s how Mr. Auder, who narrates in his seductive, half-mumbled French accent, remembers things.

Julia loves British accents

2009-03-17T11:08:00.001-07:00

To comfort me he offered two pearls of wisdom; Julia loves British accents and Julia loves presents.

Overly proper English accent.

2009-03-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

A few hundred movie fans got a sneak peek at 22 minutes of "Bruno" late Sunday night at the South by Southwest film festival, which opened Friday. The scenes came in three segments, with Baron Cohen appearing on screen in between in an editing room to introduce them in an overly proper English accent.

European accent

2009-03-15T21:39:00.001-07:00

The filming was done in the Toronto area and around their Markham home. With no budgets, permits were out of the question, so many of the scenes in the first instalment were filmed in a local train yard, where they were often chased off by ATV-driving security guards, which they describe as nerve-wracking. Much of the acting was provided by friends like Derek Chan, who stars in Part One with Ian, who plays a fellow soldier with a vaguely European accent.

When I hear the accents, my heart sinks.

2009-03-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

When I hear the accents, my heart sinks.
One character speaks English with a thick German accent, while another answers in a Masterpiece Theater British accent, and a third sounds American. These accents are just a small part of what makes the most recent crop of Hollywood Holocaust/Nazi movies - Valkyrie, The Reader, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Good, Adam Resurrected, Spring 1941 and Defiance - so annoying.

‘Brooklyn Boy’ traces a return to Jewish roots

2009-03-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

I’ve read that Margulies’ dialogue is excellent — nuanced and right on target. What are your thoughts about that? Will the cast in this production be speaking with Brooklyn or ethnic accents?

I agree that Margulies has a gift for dialogue. I find his writing to be so honest and multi-layered.

The play takes place in a variety of locations, so only a few of the characters are actually Brooklynites. They will be working with a dialect coach to guide them in sounding as authentic as possible.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

2009-03-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

Her make-up induces a pink-eyed look and her hair has been twisted into a topknot that leads to the unfortunate illusion that her head is on a permanent tilt. Nor does the Franglais accent do much for her dialogue.

Johansson attempting a Russian accent

2009-03-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

The amount of talent Marvel has assembled for Iron Man 2 is pretty impressive.The thought of Johansson attempting a Russian accent sends chills down my spine, PopWatchers, and not in a good way.

Executing a believable American accent

2009-03-13T00:14:00.000-07:00

"Sunshine Cleaning" is a motion picture that succeeds entirely because of the prodigious acting labor from stars Amy Adams and Emily Blunt.

However, the moments are infused with a tender primal hurt from Blunt, who loses the war in executing a believable American accent, but brings the character to surprising life with what little screentime she has.

Movie industry’s unseen stars lament anonymity

2009-03-12T02:27:00.000-07:00

Sounding off: An actress records dialogue for a film. Some actors, known as ‘dubbing artists’, are used to record their eloquent and sonorous voices over the voices of the on-screen actors and actresses.

Henry Kissinger has a Russian accent

2009-03-12T01:33:00.000-07:00

"At the same time, the Soviets are about to nuke America. It's 1985 and Nixon is President. We've won in Vietnam. Oh, and Henry Kissinger has a Russian accent. And Ronald Reagan is thinking of running for President in 1988. Wow, isn't that cool that they got it wrong on purpose? I'm so amazed at this "high-brow art" of deliberately getting dates and timelines wrong, you know, just to be "artistic," and get the drooling of the critics. That is sooooo genius. Like way totally cool.

Cheryl Cole 'warned not to drop accent'

2009-03-12T01:29:00.000-07:00

"If she is seen to be changing her accent for commercial reasons, this could damage her image here...In the UK, the Geordie accent is viewed very positively and studies of reactions to accents consistently show that it is considered friendly, honest and generally attractive," said Joan Beal, professor of English Language at Sheffield University.

"There are lots of voice coaches who claim to be able to soften regional accents, and I’m sure Cheryl would have access to reputable ones who’ve worked successfully with actors. But does she want to be seen as putting on an act?"

Sporting a thick Australian accent

2009-03-12T01:16:00.000-07:00

The 24-year-old broadcaster epitomises the term ‘surprise package’. Sporting a thick Australian accent, her East-Asian looks are at complete odds with her voice.

Ravaged life with a dewy complexion and an upper-class accent

2009-03-12T01:12:00.000-07:00

Indeed, if anything, Boyle’s magical tale, with its unconvincing one-dimensional characters and absurd plot devices, greatly understates the depth of suffering among India’s poor. It is near-impossible, for instance, that Jamal would emerge from his ravaged life with a dewy complexion and an upper-class accent. But the real problem with Slumdog is neither its characterisation of India as just another Third World country nor its shallow, impressionistic portrayal of poverty.

Accent-challenged co-stars

2009-03-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

But you'll be bothered by some of their accent-challenged co-stars (the mostly U.K. cast tries to sound American, but can't always pull it off--Jibson is perhaps the most guilty, but a few of them slip up). The only huge problem lies with McGrath, who sticks out with her over-the-top portrayal of the unnecessarily cruel Harriet, the least likely med student in the history of the world (I'm guessing they let McGrath perform with her accent because she wasn't good enough to fake one, which kinda makes we wish they let her try for my own amusement).

She has that subtle international accent

2009-03-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

Now, she has that subtle international accent peculiar to so many nomadic actors.

"That's so annoying," she says, sounding part British.

But still Aussie enough.

"Thankyou," she says, relieved.

Upper-class London accent

2009-03-12T00:57:00.000-07:00

Knightley is a remarkable feat of human architecture -- supermodel-tall and supermodel-skinny, but also broad-shouldered -- with a diffident, English-rose style of beauty and an upper-class London accent to match.

Irish accent

2009-03-12T00:45:00.000-07:00

Neil McDonough brings a bizarre touch to his character, choosing to talk in a spotty Irish accent for the entire movie.