https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-most-out-of-place-accents-actors-have-used-in-movie-roles
How many of us have been watching a movie set in a certain location and suddenly realized that the accent of the person speaking doesn’t belong in that region at all? Some folks would likely just shake it off and try to enjoy the movie since to be fair, that’s why you’re watching it in the first place. But there are accents that are so strong that it’s simply too hard to really get into the movie without noticing the fact that the accent just doesn’t fit the character or the situation they’re in. When the problem gets to be that distracting it’s beyond difficult to really get into what’s going on since your brain is essentially trying to fit something that doesn’t belong in this movie without regard for common knowledge and logic. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, might have been a great example, but after listening to Kevin Costner try an English accent and fail horribly it was better just to let him speak in his normal voice since it might have been a worse sin to let him keep butchering the English accent he attempted so poorly. But there are some that are even worse that might make you cringe upon hearing them.
Here are a few accents that are just way out of sync in their movies.
5. Spartacus
It might still be a revered movie that gained a great deal of attention back in the day and is still looked at as one of the best ever made, but listening to Tony Curtis and his noticeable New York accent as he portrayed a Roman was enough to make some people shake their heads and wonder why anyone thought this was a good idea. Granted, getting actors to play the parts, big-name actors no less, and simply getting the movie made was important, and linguistics might not have been as big of a deal, but it was still comical. One has to wonder how quality wasn’t such a big issue when it came to accents back then.
4. Street Fighter
Most of those that have played the game know that Guile is as American as apple pie and baseball, but taking Jean Claude Van Damme and making him the face and voice of one of the most well-known characters was kind of an odd choice. It’s true that he had the physique and the impressive moves that were needed for the movie, but otherwise, JCVD’s thick accent has been kind of hard to take over the years unless he’s been playing a character that might actually have such an accent. His performance wasn’t the only detractor from the movie, but it was just an awkward moment that a lot of people noticed.
3. The Hunt for Red October
Sean Connery had the same issue here as he did when working on The Untouchables with Kevin Costner since his thick Scottish accent just appears to come through no matter what he does. That kind of made his pseudo-Russian accent come out awkward and garbled. He had the same issue as Malone since he was supposed to be an Irish beat cop and yet he came out sounding American, then Scottish, and then as a rough form of Irish again. The guy’s accent was great when it was needed and he could speak freely without having to mask it, but it was so thick that trying any other accent just didn’t work.
2. Enemy at the Gates
This is when all attempts at an accent are kind of disregarded and left behind since Jude Law was supposed to be Russian and Ed Harris was supposed to be German. Instead, we were given a German that sounded like an American and a Russian that sounded English, which was all kinds of confusing to some folks since it meant that not a lot of effort was put into the linguistics. At least the movie did go into the movements and actions of an actual sniper since without that it might have been kind of difficult to really get people to pay attention. It was a good movie, but not because of the accents.
1. Alexander
It’s amazing how Colin Farrell can actually sound American and then slip so easily into his natural Irish accent, but doing anything else is insanely difficult and forces him into a mix of the two. For Alexander, he certainly didn’t sound like he should have since the character came from the kingdom of Macedonia. In other words, he should have sounded Greek, and it’s likely that many people noticed this. We forgive a lot in the movies, but this feels like something that probably should have been addressed. It might have made the movie just a little better at least.
Accents that are noticeably bad are actually worse than not using an accent.
Follow Us
