In the last ten years or so, I have noticed a wave of British and Australian actors coming into their own on the American scene. Some always take their roles with accents intact; others only reveal their country of origin during interviews. I’m sure it has gone on since there was television and movies, but it has only entered my focus of attention in the last few years. Does the same happen in the UK and Australia? Do the television and film industries there have their share of American actors (who primarily perform in those countries) training with voice coaches to deliver a believable local accent?
The Australian film industry is quite small, in terms of local actors being able to find consistent work. I realise that's probably true anywhere, but America produces far more films per year than Australia does. It's also kind of like the... golden egg? By all accounts, America is a tough industry to break into, and the traditional 'romanticism' of Hollywood is appealing for a number of actors, I presume. Also, the quality of scripted television has increased dramatically in the last decade or so, so even though it may still be viewed as a 'foot in the door' to some actors, for most it's just as good (i.e. respectable) as being a film star. As for Americans in Australian productions - it happens but rarely. That being said, quite a few American productions are filmed in Australia, as apparently it's cheaper to do so here, which might account for some of the increase in Aussie actors appearing in at least smaller roles. Just as a side note, I support the Australian arts industry as much as possible - I'd kinda like to keep some of the talent here - national pride, growth of industry...etc etc.
I have to agree. The nuances of the many different speaking regions are lost on the average American ear. As a long time aficionado of British television, I have become well versed in the differences found across the Isles, although I would never claim the capacity to reproduce them. I can usually catch even the most well trained British or Australian actor. There are definite vowel differences that are hard on the British and Australian palate. American’s tend (I can see the arguments flying already) to be a little sloppier with their vowels and reduce everything that is not stressed to a generic schwa ( ə ) I even caught Guy Pierce uttering the very Australian fourdeen (14) in L.A. Confidential.
I think part of the problem with British accents, is that there are so many regional accents, over such a small area. I used to live near to both Manchester and Liverpool, and the difference in accents is staggering considering there is only a distance of just over 30 miles between the two. And I imagine that, in your confession of never being able to replicate a British accent, you could do a better job than most Americans, Wrey- especially considering that your trade is audio in nature.
I can tell you that in my own language (Spanish) accents from different countries can be as distinctively different as the American southern drawl of rural Georgia is from the Liverpool accent made famous in the U.S. by the Beatles. And, as many countries in South America are somewhat behind in technologies and media distribution, regionalism and isolationism are still strong effectors for linguistic change.
i'll be seventy in just a month and it's been thus ever since i saw my first movie [yes, it had sound! ;-)]... are you so young you've never heard of great 'immigrant' stars like cary grant [bristol-born, archibald leach] and errol flynn [ex-aussie]?
I know who those fellahs' are, but not that they came from elsewhere than the U.S., originaly. :redface:
Carry Grant and Erol Flynn? Of course I know those fellows! But I didn't know they weren't American... hmmm That reminds me of a time when I was at an art store in Cimmaron and one of my friends starts drumming on the store's table. The owner said he'd tell us stop drumming Gene Krupa, but said we were too young. I looked at him and said, "Of course I know who Gene Krupa is! Just cuz I'm young doesn't mean I don't know my history!"
Canadian TV has lots of british and australian actors. The accents make it all the more realistic since we have so many immigrants coming here to live. Canadian Actors have always been big in Hollywood but they were never really allowed to say they were Canadians. The industry liked to hire Canadians who were trained in the Stratford Theatre in Ontario since their voices were able to project much better and their accents were fairly close to the American accents. Lorne Greene, Raymond Burr, were 2 of the most well known. Lorne Greens nickname during the war was GOD. he did the news and would come on and tell the stories and many people did not really believe them until he told them, in that wonderful voice so people started calling him GOD. just a bit of trivia. Times they are a changing so TV and movies have changed along with them.
When Michael Vartan came down here and made Rogue I was happy. He's a cool guy. Emilie de Raven is in LOST ... yay! ...
