Actors who can't/can do Southern accents

[LostinVA]

Julia Roberts can't -- AND SHE'S FROM GEORGIA!!!

Cate Blanchett can -- AND SHE'S AUSSIE!!!!

[Bucky]

1. it breaks my heart to admit this, but the guy who voices Foghorn Leghorn

But at least he's not as bad as the guy who does Deputy Dawg.

[no name no slogan]

2. Kevin Costner

But that guy can't do shit, anyway.

[TZ]

6. That's who I was going to say

He can't do ANY accent..his attempt at British in Robin Hood...just awful

[Rob H.]

3. I haven't seen more than a few minutes of it

but Kyra Sedgwick's accent in The Closer was awful, imo. I live in the South and her accent is way over-the-top and obviously faked.

[TheManInTheMac]

4. It's a conundrum about Julia Roberts and Cate Blanchett, for sure...

...but I think the reason is that when you are talking about southern accents, it is all about having an ear for diphthongs, which northerners and other English accents are more sensitive to. The subtle differences between someone from, say Georgia, and someone from North Carolina or Virginia may not be as discernible to a southerner as they are to someone outside of that culture.

[TheManInTheMac]

7. It could also be that Julia Roberts can't act her way out of a wet paper sack...

...while Cate Blanchett is a professional who likely goes to the location of the character and learns everything she can, while Julia just phones it in and if she needs to use a southern accent she tries to remember how she used to talk before her voice coach taught her how to talk like a yankee.

I knew this fellow, a consultant from PWC, who sounded like he was from Indiana. He was born and raised in South Carolina. He told me he went to a voice coach so he could sound "more educated." I thought that was ridiculous (of course I was polite and didn't say anything); there is nothing uneducated sounding about a southern accent, and sacrificing your heritage for what you perceive as a prejudicial barrier to career advancement struck me as a poor tradeoff.

One of my favorite professors at Ohio State was Candy Canzonerri. She was from Mississippi and had the accent to prove it. When she talked, all I could do is listen. Her words flowed like melted gold.

[LostinVA]

8. Ashley Judd and Holly Hunter can both easily still slip into their "old" accents

Of course, both are smarter and better actors than Roberts.

[TheManInTheMac]

21. I think that is because they did not sacrifice them to conformity.

Ashley and Holly both never forgot how to talk. And they never forgot that listening trumps speaking. I grew up in southeastern Ohio, where we speak redneck--a kind of blend of southern and northern American. During high school, I dropped that accent for something more mid-western (I still remember the day I stopped pronouncing the word bush "boosh": it was in Freshman Hall).

In college (and for more years than I want to admit) I worked at Kmart in Columbus. We had many employees from diverse geographical locations. After many years, I could tell by accent if a person was from India or Pakistan, if they were an Indian Hindu or an Indian Muslim, a Pakistani Hindu or a Pakistani Muslim, if they were Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese or Japanese. I could tell if they were from Cleveland, Columbus or Dayton. I can tell if a person is from Pittsburgh by the way the pronounce their U's.

I made so many friends from so many parts of the world in those days that it flushed all prejudice from my formative years in Appalachia. It was like racism Drano.

Don't even get me started on the sex;-).

[martymar64]

51. Same with Kim Basinger, a true Georgia peach.

I loved her in Pret a Porter.

Andy McDowell had a great accent when she would let it out. Too bad she couldn't act.

[Shell Beau]

5. Nicole Kidman didn't do so well in Cold Mountain.

And those who WAY over exaggerate it kill me.

[LostinVA]

9. Russell Crowe did a good accent in "A Beautiful Mind"

Alas, it was not a WV accent!

How is my Little Delta Kitten Baby's black eye? (I called DYFS, btw).b

[Shell Beau]

11. Ha!! It is looking great today! I bought a mosquito net

to go over her bed, so those nasty ass pests can kiss my ass!! :7 I will be victorious! :P

[LostinVA]

14. Maybe you can teach LDKB to go skeeternoodling

Every time I type that, I lol.

[Shell Beau]

17. Haha! You said skeeternoodling!

That is a great term though! That is my word for the day!

[LostinVA]

20. Bella's head may be as big and round as Haruka's

I thought that was impossible!

[Shell Beau]

23. My dad laughed because he was cutting out just her head in one

of her pics, and he said he just cut in a circle. She has a good round head! :)

[Mike 03]

24. I agree with this observation of Kidman in Cold Mountain, but I cut her some slack because

I think her natural accent is British, if I'm not mistaken.

[blue_onyx]

26. Her accent is Australian

[Mike 03]

55. Thank you.

I was shocked to find out she had an accent because the first movie I recall seeing her in was EYES WIDE SHUT (or THE OTHERS, whichever came first).

[Shell Beau]

28. She is Australian.

[Mike 03]

54. Thank you! I didn't know that. NT

[Jamastiene]

36. I hate it when they do that too.

It's like they studied Rue McLanahan and decided to up the thickness by about 50. Geez, nobody down here talks that freaking way. All they gotta do is pronounce their e's as i's and stretch a few words out and they got it. All those hysterics are really not necessary.

[MedleyMisty]

47. I refused to see Cold Mountain because of the overdone Southern accents

Saying "don't tell me it's rainin'!" in a really really exaggerated accent is still an in-joke between my husband and me.

[LostinVA]

56. Some were actually very well done WNC accents

[BeachBaby]

10. Ben Affleck in "Pearl Harbor".

Good grief.

[Cant trust em]

12. Not as bad as actors who can't do English accents.

Yikes!

[Shell Beau]

13. I don't know! I listen to some of the southern accents and

think they are ridiculous! Yes, we have a very strong drawl, but MY GOD, it isn't what most people portray it as. And I am a southern Belle! :rofl:

[LostinVA]

16. I lived in NC for 17 years, and VA for almost 10

I can still do a good Piedmont NC accent if I want, and I will probably always say "y'all."

[Shell Beau]

18. I try not to say y'all, and it just doesn't work for me.

I can't say you guys or whatever else would go there.

[LostinVA]

19. I picked up "y'all" within a month of living in NC

You could say,"youuns."

[Shell Beau]

22. Oh no I couldn't!

:rofl:

[Jamastiene]

37. Even if I took a class, I'd probably never drop the "y'all."

It just works.

[yellowdogintexas]

30. the day y'all leaves my vocabulary will be the day I can no longer speak nt

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

32. "I can still do a good Piedmont NC accent if I want"

Like when we were in that gas station convenience store by your parents and you were trying to counteract my yankee-ness.

[LostinVA]

38. I didn't want to get lynched -- and it worked, didn't it???

[Rhythm]

33. My "piedmont NC"ness only comes back out after

...a few too many 'adult beverages.' Then Lyric proceeds to laugh her ass off at me, because i sound like such a southern hick.

It took me several years of concerted effort to get rid of the majority of the southern 'twang' in my overall speech, so now for the most part i don't sound like i'm from anywhere.

[Orrex]

43. You were NC17?!?

I always knew you were cool!

[madmax]

58. Just moved to NC 2 years ago

from NJ and everyone pegs me for either NY or NJ. Really, really I don't have an accent. :) I say New Jerzy not Joisey. And I don't use a lot of slang, especially when I'm out. :shrug:

[DatManFromNawlins]

65. Depends on what part of the south

I got lost in Tennessee one time, pulled up to a service station to ask for directions, and was met with an accent so thick that I couldn't understand it. I ended up driving to the next town and asking someone there instead.

[martymar64]

52. Every time I try an English accent, it comes out sounding Australian

It's always the A's that get me. The Aussie A's are closer to Americans than English.

[DS1]

15. Costner and Cage

[Mike 03]

25. Am I mistaken, or is that what Leo DiCaprio was going for in BODY OF LIES.

It sounded to me like he was attempting a Southern Accent.

But I think that movie is a huge satire in the first place and that it probably doesn't matter how good the accent is. It was not worse than Russel Crowe's.

[Demoiselle]

27. George W. Bush (eom)

[LisaM]

29. Vivien Leigh in GWTW

I thought she was great.

[LostinVA]

39. Good one

[Justyce]

31. Kyra Sedgewick can't even come close....

I actually like "The Closer", but I can't stand that fake accent.

[Mudoria]

34. I think the problem with most non-southerners, actors included

is they really try to lay it on too thick. Usually it's so bad it's basically a caricature of an accent. Who knows, maybe that's what they are going for :shrug:

[LostinVA]

41. I agree -- they all want to sound like the reddest redneck from some isolated part of AL or MS

Like Shell Beau (I wonder if she'll see this???).

[taterguy]

35. Strother Martin set the bar very high

There was something incredibly real and menacing about his performance in Cool Hand Luke.

It spawned countless imitators, none of which quite got it right

[Pharlo]

40. It may not be a southern accent, but anytime I think of

actors and accents, the one that comes to mind is Peter Seller's version of a 'French' accent in The Pink Panther series. Terrible and brilliant all at once. Not really a good French accent, but brilliant - almost another character in itself.

So, a 'bad' accent can also be a 'good' accent. Like Foghorn Leghorn.

[LostinVA]

42. lol

[Are_grits_groceries]

44. The clue I use to decide if someone is from the South

is the word y'all. Even if people have no accent and they use that word, I know they are either from the South or were around people who were when they grew up. It's almost like the last remnant that sticks.

[mitchum]

46. Another clue is "cut off the light" rather than "turn off the light"

and often "tote" rather than "carry"

[mitchum]

45. Kevin Spacey had a horrible affected southern accent in "Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil"...

but I think that may have been by design.
The character was originally from South Georgia (take my word for it, that is ground zero for redneckland), but had remade himself as a more cultured dealer in antiquities. Hence, the Tennessee Williams accent the character adopted.
Or I may just be cutting Spacey some slack...

[dana_b]

60. he wasn't much better in "A Time To Kill".

although he is a good actor.

[mitchum]

63. Interesting....maybe that why he did a Bobby Darin biopic instead of a Hank Williams biopic

[Zomby Woof]

48. Yeah, but...

Australia is REALLY DOWN SOUTH, so that makes sense. :D

[KamaAina]

49. Brad Pitt did a nice NOLA accent in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

of course, the true N'Awlins accent (see under Connick, Harry Jr.) isn't really "Southern", but it's even harder to do right (cf. Dennis Quaid in "The Big Easy" :puke: )

Of course, Mr. Pitt is a part-time NOLA resident, so he is a bit of a ringer...

[MilesColtrane]

53. I know some Yats.

Weird combo of Brooklyneese and Cajun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yat_dialect

[DatManFromNawlins]

64. The cajun coach in Waterboy....

... spot on! ;)

[SoxFan]

50. In fairness to Kevin Costner

Most people are probably thinking of his accent in "JFK". What you have to understand is that he was portraying a New Orleanian, and New Orleanians have perhaps the strangest accent in North America. It's not exactly Southern, and has hints of Cajun and, of all things, Brookly/Noo Joisey in it. It's almost impossible to pull off if you aren't from there, so people who make the attempt inevitably sound like they are mangling a Mississippi/Alabama accent.

[LostinVA]

57. I forgot one -- Talledgea Nights aka Ricky Bobby

Most accents were very good Piedmont NC accents, especially the woman who played his wife. Gary Cole and Jane Lynch did a great job, although Cole's "i's" weren't great.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

59. While I like Kevin Costner as an actor, he sucks at accents....see "JFK"

I think he started out trying to do a southern accent, it's almost like he gives up halfway through the movie. Which is more than he did in Robin Hood where he didn't even bother. And his Massachetts accent in Thirteen Days was akward as well.

Don't get me wrong, I like Costner and I think he sometimes gets unfairly knocked as an actor. But he should never attempt an accent.

[NightWatcher]

61. Nick Cage from Con Air was the worse faux suthern

[KamaAina]

62. Especially egregious since he, like Pitt, is a part-time NOLA guy

in fact, he owns what may be the most haunted property in the country, the Lalaurie Mansion on lower Royal St. He's trying to unload it, without success, so far.