Image Credit: Ali Goldstein/NBC; Andrew CooperLet me say right up front that I’m from Boston. So maybe it bothers me more than most to see so many actors butcher my hometown dialect. But seriously, why is it so damn hard to do a convincing Boston accent? I was reminded of this recently watching Leonardo DiCaprio mangle his vowels in Shutter Island. You’d think that after laying waste to his Beantown accent in The Departed, someone might have pulled him aside and given him a few tips or gotten him to a Red Sox game, where he could drink a few frosties with the locals in the bleachers and maybe learn a thing or two. But, no. It was the same honking mess. And he’s not alone.
Recently, I’ve sat there wanting to jab a knitting needle into my eardrums listening to Julianne Moore on 30 Rock, Tim Robbins in Mystic River, and Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. Apparently, there’s something about pahking the cah in Hahvad yahd that makes it the Bermuda Triangle for actors trying to infuse their characters with a little local color. It’s downright bizah.
“It’s like anything else in acting,” says Hollywood dialect coach, Jess Platt, “if you sound like you’re trying to do it, it’s not going to sound natural. The whole idea of doing an accent is you’re not supposed to sound like you’re doing an accent. It shouldn’t draw attention to itself.” For the record, Platt has worked with Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Michael Caine, Geoffrey Rush, and Mike Myers, so the guy knows what he’s talking about.
So who are the worst offenders in his opinion? READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Philippe Bosse/NBCWhat is Kellie Martin’s iconic role? The star of tonight’s The Jensen Project (tragically unrelated to EW’s own Doc Jensen) has had some distinctive characters, but depending on your age, odds are one has stuck with you a lot more. Generation X or older? You probably still see her in giganto glasses as Becca Thatcher on Life Goes On. Gen Y, or whatever less catchy term means “younger than Gen X”? You can’t see her without screaming “don’t get stabbed!” for in some sense, she will always be ER’s Lucy Knight. A little younger and a bit squarer, and perhaps she is Mystery Woman Samantha. I’m convinced of it! Age = association.
