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[Choop]

i can read that without highlighting

anthony hopkins also does a killer south-new-zealand accent, see 'the world's fastest indian' for proof

[greenkoolayd]

Pedro mentioned, while we were discussing this last night, that Anthony Hopkins does a very good British accent. I told him I thought that this was because he's actually British, and that in reality he does a very good American accent. So. pop quiz time: who was right?

(Highlight for answer:) I was right: he's Welsh.

mom is always right.

[littlefallsmets]

His Nixon... not so much.

[jay-ell]

i can read that without highlighting

anthony hopkins also does a killer south-new-zealand accent, see 'the world's fastest indian' for proof

Crap, that's what I get for being in a hurry and not checking to be sure my post actually ended up on beige.

Possibly ignorant question for the Brits and Aussies: If you're British, with, say a London accent, is it fairly easy to adopt a different type of accent within the Empire, like Welsh or even Irish or Australian?

I ask because, while my natural accent is Mid-Atlantic, I find certain types of Southern accents easy to imitate (Georgian and Texan, but not South Carolinian) and can do passable Midwest/Minnesotan, Canadian, and New York. Yet my Boston stinks, and I can hardly comprehend Cajun, let alone imitate it. And any attempt at a British accent is limited to sounding like Mary Poppins, which works fine in the bedroom but isn't of much use anywhere else.

As a sort of follow-up question, can the average Brit tell the difference between various US accents? Watching a lot of British TV, I can hear a lot of different voices, but though I can tell that there is a difference, I couldn't really identify someone's point of origin from his accent the way I could an American. I would posit that most of the American television that gets exported features either Californian or Mid-Atlantic speech with occasional Texas and New York accents thrown in for color.

[greenkoolayd]

ooh, that reminds me of that scottish girl that adopted the texas accent in 'no country for old men'.  she was friggin great.

[Choop]

can somebody tell me where the fuck anna paquin's british accent came from? she was on the SAG awards last night and my brain melted a bit when she talked.

[Drygioni]

can somebody tell me where the fuck anna paquin's british accent came from? she was on the SAG awards last night and my brain melted a bit when she talked.

Says she's a New Zealander on Wikipedia?

[lprkn]

Pedro mentioned, while we were discussing this last night, that Anthony Hopkins does a very good British accent. I told him I thought that this was because he's actually British, and that in reality he does a very good American accent. So. pop quiz time: who was right?

(Highlight for answer:) I was right: he's x.

In that case, I'm happy that he can speak English.

[Choop]

so who would play who?



a dream early-90's cast would be tim curry as freddie mercury, cristopher walken as john deacon, chris isaak as brian may, and ian hart as roger taylor.

but who would be appropriate for the roles now?

[littlefallsmets]

The dude from Dexter as Freddie Mercury, Lady Gaga as Brian May.

[greenkoolayd]

Lady Gaga as Brian May.

what a sweet burn.  you have my respect.

[jay-ell]

Torchwood, season 2, episode 1: James Marsters. (Also of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.)

American born. What do you think? Convincingly British? Do we have a winner?

[Doc]

Crap, that's what I get for being in a hurry and not checking to be sure my post actually ended up on beige.

Possibly ignorant question for the Brits and Aussies: If you're British, with, say a London accent, is it fairly easy to adopt a different type of accent within the Empire, like Welsh or even Irish or Australian?

I ask because, while my natural accent is Mid-Atlantic, I find certain types of Southern accents easy to imitate (Georgian and Texan, but not South Carolinian) and can do passable Midwest/Minnesotan, Canadian, and New York. Yet my Boston stinks, and I can hardly comprehend Cajun, let alone imitate it. And any attempt at a British accent is limited to sounding like Mary Poppins, which works fine in the bedroom but isn't of much use anywhere else.

As a sort of follow-up question, can the average Brit tell the difference between various US accents? Watching a lot of British TV, I can hear a lot of different voices, but though I can tell that there is a difference, I couldn't really identify someone's point of origin from his accent the way I could an American. I would posit that most of the American television that gets exported features either Californian or Mid-Atlantic speech with occasional Texas and New York accents thrown in for color.

I can passably do different regional aussie accents and a decent new zealand accent but I couldn't do a british, scottish or irish accent well enough to fool anyone who had spent any time there. I've got a weird accent to begin with though, not typically australian, I tend to get asked if I'm canadian or irish, but generally not from people who are from those places.

[Choop]

the non-cajun new orleans accent is maybe the most difficult to imitate in the states. there's still a touch of cajun, but it sounds a lot like a south alabama drawl with a dash of old baltimore, what with the eliding and vowel contortion.

my fake accents are generally passable but not for long.

[Drygioni]

Possibly ignorant question for the Brits and Aussies: If you're British, with, say a London accent, is it fairly easy to adopt a different type of accent within the Empire, like Welsh or even Irish or Australian?

'London' accent? I should slap you for that

Depends on how good your impressions are obviously but English dialects depends, it's easy to do an approximation of most but you'd rarely fool a speaker. Most Welsh dialects are the same, Scottish really depends on which area of Scotland you're imitating but you always sound like a tit, 'Irish' is fine if you're just doing a less-ridiculous 'Leprechaun' voice, have got away with it in the past, Australian I've fooled people with but probably wouldn't fool Doc, presumably it also has regional diversity so I just imitate Flight of the Conchords   

That's just me obviously, seems to hold true for most people I know though.

And any attempt at a British accent is limited to sounding like Mary Poppins, which works fine in the bedroom but isn't of much use anywhere else.

Oooh matron

As a sort of follow-up question, can the average Brit tell the difference between various US accents? Watching a lot of British TV, I can hear a lot of different voices, but though I can tell that there is a difference, I couldn't really identify someone's point of origin from his accent the way I could an American. I would posit that most of the American television that gets exported features either Californian or Mid-Atlantic speech with occasional Texas and New York accents thrown in for color.

Yes, to an extent. I can obviously distinguish between your most stereotypical West Coast, East Coast and Southern accents, and then the 'subdivisions' within those. Depends obviously. You don't just all the sound the same at any rate which a lot of Americans have told me Brits do, though admittedly Britain's international cultural output heavily features 'Estuary (BBC) English'. Isn't there a Mancunian on Frasier or did I make that up?

It does annoy me sometimes when people use the term 'British accent'. You've got this this (Jay-ell you'll like that one) this this this this and it literally differs every 10 miles. People can tell which village I'm from in the local area

It's fine saying 'he's got a British accent' or whatever but when people are like 'I'm imitating a British accent' and then just speak like the Queen it fucks me off no end

Do Americans mix up English/Scottish/Australian accents or are they easier to distinguish?