English-language accents in film

In the 1990s, dialect coaches became significant in the film industry as more filmmakers began employing them to train actors to speak in accents. The Los Angeles Times described the general training approach, "It's a process that involves repetition, studying audio- and videotapes, visits to locations where the characters live, along with breathing and vocal exercises." Coaches start "by breaking down the script phonetically" using the International Phonetic Alphabet, and since most actors are not familiar with the alphabet, the coaches use other approaches to train actors, such as word lists or tapes. Coaches often have archives of sample tapes to reference in their work. They are usually brought in during rehearsals, the post-production process, or emotional scenes that challenge an accepted performance. In the credits, they are usually listed as dialogue consultants. Often, actors will work with their coaches for several months pre-production. Most critics of film accents credit the amount of time spent training with the quality and effectiveness of the replicated accent. [1]

American accents became increasingly adopted by non-American actors by 2000. With many film-related opportunities available in the United States, actors trained to have American accents to be more competitive. At the 72nd Academy Awards honoring films of 1999, all non-American actors nominated in the four acting categories portrayed American characters, including British actor Michael Caine, who won Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Cider House Rules. Another attribution to the trend is with films increasingly being co-financed by non-U.S. interests, film producers became more willing to cast non-American actors.[1]

While actors in theatre are traditionally trained to have a Mid-Atlantic accent, actors in film are instead trained to have a General American accent. Dialect coach Robert Easton said the Mid-Atlantic accent was "too semi-British" and opted for General American. Easton commended British actors in learning American accents, "[They] in general are very open to doing whatever is necessary to create the character, not only in terms of dialect, but in terms of body language, mannerisms and so forth. It's an oversimplification, but the English tend to try and use themselves to find and express the character, whereas Americans are more likely to use the character to express themselves."[1]

Ronald Bergan in The Guardian assessed several performances using Irish accents in film. He said Marlon Brando had a "relatively accurate" accent in The Missouri Breaks (1976).[13] Donald Clarke of The Irish Times commended the following non-Irish actors for their Irish accents in film: Cate Blanchett in Veronica Guerin (2003), Kate Hudson in About Adam (2000), Will Poulter in Glassland (2014), Paddy Considine in In America (2002), James McAvoy in Inside I'm Dancing (2004), Judi Dench in Philomena (2013), and Maggie Smith in The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987). Clarke also recognized the performances of Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989), In the Name of the Father (1993), and The Boxer (1997). He recognized Andrea Riseborough's performance in Shadow Dancer (2012) and Never Let Me Go (2010) and Angelica Huston's performance in The Dead (1987) and Agnes Browne (1999).[14]

Clarke was critical of Mark Strong's accent as Conor Cruise O'Brien in The Siege of Jadotville (2016).[14] Bergan was critical of Robert Mitchum's accent in Ryan's Daughter (1970) and Sean Connery having a "faltering" accent in the films Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) and The Untouchables (1987), having "habitually refused to alter" his Scottish one.[13] GQ's Dan Sheehan was also critical of Connery's accent in The Untouchables. Sheehan also found Tom Cruise's accent in Far and Away (1992) problematic, as well as Nicole Kidman's, to a lesser degree. The writer said in Back to the Future Part III (1990) that Michael J. Fox's accent as his distant relative Seamus McFly had the "most endearingly dreadful Irish accent". Sheehan recognized Julia Roberts's good-faith efforts to nail Irish accents in Michael Collins (1996) and Mary Reilly (1996), "It’s not good, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s not completely atrocious either. And at least she never lapses into full-blown caricature."[15]

During the silent film era in the United States, Russian-born actors like Alla Nazimova were able to perform in roles even if they had Russian accents or could not speak English.[16] With advent of sound film, Nazimova and other actors were not able to transition to speaking performances.[17] The Hollywood film Rasputin and the Empress (1932), a film about Imperial Russia, featured no Russian actors, and the cast did not attempt to use Russian accents.[18] The film Crime and Punishment (1935), based on the Russian novel of the same name, did not depict any characters with Russian accents.[19] Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) featured no significant Russian actors and no Russian accents depicted.[20] However, actor Akim Tamiroff, despite a thick Russian accent, was highly active in American film from the 1930s to the 1970s and featured in supporting roles in films like Touch of Evil (1958).[21] Maria Ouspenskaya, active from 1915 through 1949, was also known for her "unusual accent" and was often cast in "grandmotherly" roles.[22]

Ronald Bergan, writing in The Guardian, said in 2010 that South African accents were "notoriously difficult" for actors to speak. Bergan said actor Marlon Brando, who attempted foreign accents, was not able to convey a South African one in A Dry White Season (1989). Bergan also called "worthy but inconsistent efforts" the performances of Denzel Washington and Kevin Kline in Cry Freedom (1987) and that of Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond (2006). Of the film Invictus (2009), Bergan said of Morgan Freeman's and Matt Damon's performances, "For most audiences... who don't have an ear especially attuned to the nuances of South African accents, Freeman and Damon will sound authentic enough."[13]

Lawrence Christon, writing in Variety in 2007, said in U.S. film in the first half of the twentieth century, "actors spoke in a kind of neutralized Midwestern dialect," with actors like Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck having distinct qualities. Actor John Wayne conveyed a similar dialect even as the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan in the film The Conqueror (1956) with little objection. French New Wave and Italian films in the 1950s and the 1960s, including The 400 Blows, Hiroshima mon amour (both 1959) and La dolce vita (1960), exposed U.S. film audiences to new accents.[23] The Los Angeles Times commented in 2000: "Once upon a time, what characters said in a film was more important than how they said it. For years, Hollywood played fast and loose with foreign accents, generally relying on a stable of European character actors to provide international flavor, with the overall attitude being something along the lines of 'one accent fits all.'" The newspaper said many credited Meryl Streep "for raising the accent bar" with her portrayal of a Polish woman in the 1982 film Sophie's Choice. Streep subsequently performed with other accents and became the standard against which other actors' accented performances were compared.[1] The Los Angeles Times said in 2002 that female actors, including Streep and Gwyneth Paltrow, had more success in accented performances than male actors.[24]

• Robinson, Harlow (2007). Russians in Hollywood, Hollywood's Russians: Biography of an Image. University Press of New England. ISBN 978-1-55553-686-2.