Atleast i thought so anyways. Anf just felt like commending Kate on doing an excellent Aussie accent.
~*evoke*~
yeah her accent was very good. She was terrific in this underrated and COMPLETELY misunderstood film.
shareI think the British (which Kate Winslet is) are better at doing an Australian accent because they are similar. The Americans have a lot of trouble mastering our accents. I'm an Aussie by the way.
shareyeah i was astounded. just watched it and completely forgot she was british. well, as much as you can forget. i always wholly believe her characters though. but yeah, i live in australia and she was as australian as anyone here. in fact, she does the accent better than i do, im a new zealander..
shareIm Australian and I thought her accent was incredible she never slipped.
shareagree, plus our accent has a bit of an english infuence in it, especially for south australians.
shareIf my eyes were shut I would have never guessed it was a non-australian doing our accent, that's how good it was.
THen again, imitating an aussie coming from an english person wouldn't be a big stretch.
not such a leap for someone who is an english actress, but then again americans think every famous person must be american, so we will forgive your ignorance
shareumm... I have a feeling that most Americans are well aware that there are actors that come from other countries... In fact, I think that some may even be more aware of them because, at least from when I have experienced, it is easter to break into the industry when you are in close proximity to where it happens (ie: LA/NY), as opposed to being across the pond, therefore being more aware of those actors who are not Americans... It's too bad you assume all Americans are idiots, ooh well.
"I'm not a concept, Joel. I'm just a *beep* up girl looking for my own piece of mind." -clem
True I'm American and I know very well where people are from.
Cate Blanchett--Aussie
Nicole Kidman--Aussie
Russell Crowe--New Zealand
Keira Knightley--UK
Kate Winslet--UK
Kate Beckinsale--UK
Charlize Theron--South Africa
Back on topic though:
Kate's accent was really great, but i have noticed that Aussies can do excellent english accents too.
Speaking about good accents and crap ones, I hate to say it -because I reaallllly love Cate Blanchett- but Cates' russian accent in the latest Indiana Jones movie is laughable. As with most people who try immitating an accent whose language is not english based (ie russian/ german/ etc...) they usually slip up at the end of sentences. Cate Blanchett did so far too often for me to be able to properly immerse myself in that one. Also, the poor directing certainly didn't help.
But to Kate Winslett... *tips hat*. Awesome job. Absolutely flawless. I believed she was an Aussie, and as I'm an Aussie, that's saying something [more accurately, I should say 'that's repeating something', but I expect you know what I mean]. Pity there aren't awards for things like that. There'd be the semi-prestigious 'Oscars', and then there'd be the 'Accers' for excellence in accent immitation. They should also do awards for the worst accents done. Maybe they'd be called the "Floppy Accers". Cate Blanchett would be a winner/ nominee for sure....
She's amazing at the American ones too! I wonder if she has to train or if accents just come easily to her.
shareIf you look at the credits on some of Kate's movies you'll notice sometimes there is a dialect coach. But she must have some natural talent. Some people are just terrible at them. Look at Harrison Ford's russian for example.
shareHer accent was very good. I agree that it is easier for an English person to pull off an Australian accent. I think its easier for anyone from Australia, New Zealand, or the British Isles to do each other's accents and the American accent because we are all so exposed to each other through history, television, ect... Americans are rarely exposed to Australian media and the Australian accent - so naturally it would be harder for them to do. Just like the South African accent. I'm Australian and the extent of my exposure to their accent is through 'The Power of One'. I suck at the S.African accent but i can do pretty much every other English speaking one.
shareRobert Downey Jr. does a fantabulous Aussie accent in Tropic Thunder (he's a yank)!!! I spent that movie hoping to hear more of his lines in his "native" Aussie accent.
On the topic of awesome accents, Natascha McElhone deserves a mention and a standing ovation for her excellent Irish accent in Ronin :D
Peace out.
-- Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most...
And Kevin Costner is hopeless at accents apparently. In Robin Hood, he was the starring vehicle of the film and he couldn't even do a British Robin Hood. Did it completely with an American accent. It took any credibility that he was Robin Hood out of the film and made it laughable. You'd think the director would have insisted on some dialect lessons before the film started.
sharehaha no english person has to train to do an american accent! its like the easiest thing there is to copy! Australian accent on the other hand, is reeeaaaally hard... very few people i know can do one that sounds anything like it, and they are still pretty rubbish :P .
PS. I'm English, for any really stupid people who didn't gather that.
Her accent was amazing, I saw this film a few months ago on TV, and I'm an Australian and she sounded so much like us, she was also good at doing an American one in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, however like peeweepaul said, American ones are easy to copy....where as aussie is pretty difficult.
R.I.P. River Phoenix
Sorry, but I disagree. There are quite a few non-American actors who do terrible American accents. It's hard to get just right. The "r's" always give it away.
Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths both do very good American accents, and both are Aussies.
And, enough with the American-bashing, already. Thanks!
Most people can detect a fake accent, it's just not that hard, specially if they are faking your _own_ accent.
I've never heard an Aussie pull off a convincing American accent yet, although some are definitely much worse than others. But even the best is still bad enough to be obvious to most people who are paying attention.
Did you hear Meryl Streep's incredibly bad Aussie accent? Wow, if ever there was an argument against stunt casting that was it!
There's _zero_ good reason to have Americans playing Aussies or Aussies and Brits playing Americans because there are plenty of actors from these countries who can play the parts. So why do these clowns in charge of casting still insist on killing cred by having some Aussie badly play a 'Noo Yoiker' or whatever?
Go watch 'Dark City' to see a classic example of really bad accents knocking a bunch of points off the rating of what is actually a darn fine movie.
There's an incredible amount of Aussies who have pulled off American accents - Kate Blanchett, Toni Collette, etc. It's usually the other way around that doesn't work so not sure why you said they can't do that.
Meryl Streep is the best actor for accents regardless of her fake Aussie accent.
The fact of the matter is, foreign actors are sometimes better for the part and vice versa, thus the reason they are chosen for the roles they play or if it's Hollywood, well they want name actors in roles and would rather put them in a role with a fake accent then getting some unknown actor from another country who can speak the accent better.
Most of the time, I really don't care about accents. Yes sometimes they are not very good but most of the time, I can overlook that and concentrate on the story if it's a good one.
I'll tell you in another life when we are both cats.
Maybe you tell yourself they have done it OK but really they haven't. It's so easy to tell when the actor isn't American born and is faking the accent. I can hear it first line everytime and so can most Americans I know.
Plus you Aussies need to realize that just faking the accent isn't enough to transform an Aussie into an American. We are totally different people culturally and in other ways. Many Australian people I know and have met believe we're the same but we're not. And that's great! How boring would this world be if everyone was the same?
Ugh, no you cannot tell a good deal of British or Aussie actors are not Americans because their accents are done very well with only a few exceptions and why are you assuming I'm Aussie? I'm not. Why do you assume that ANY Aussie for that matter would be able to 'transform' into an American? The whole idea behind acting is that you are playing somebody that you aren't. That's why it's called 'acting'. Mostly it's Americans who cannot fake accents as well as Aussies or the British or Irish or whatever else.
I've been to Australia more than once and have met many Aussies and not one of them thinks Americans are the same as Aussies just as they know they are different than the British or 'pommies' as they sometimes call them but they do have some things in common with British culture as well as American culture but Aussies have a unique culture all their own and THEY KNOW THIS. I don't know who you met in Australia or why they believe they're the same as Americans because that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. It is obvious by your posts that you have some sort of 'issue' with Aussies and you need to get over this personal problem of yours.
I'll tell you in another life when we are both cats.
An Australian or Brit may like to believe that's the case but it's not true. Even most stupid Americans can pick a fake American from the get go and a smart one never misses it.
I lived and worked in Australia for years and can tell you that Australia has based itself and its culture upon the US since the beginning of forever, and definitely since the beginning of the 20th century. My Aussie 'mates' often took the mickey out of me and America but it was pretty clear they idolized the States and moving to America and becoming American was the goal just about every one I met.
There's a weird kind of self hatred going on in Australia, a kind of self loathing of their Aussie selves. They seem to think of us as being their idealized version of Australia and even when I reminded them of the dark side of America and its people they didn't want to know.
But like I said earlier, just faking the accent is not enough, specially when it's a bad fake as they always are.
I never claimed that Aussies don't like Americans or American culture. I'm saying the Aussies I knew NEVER thought they were JUST LIKE Americans as you have claimed.
There is no self-hatred going on in Australia. All the Aussies I know are proud of their country. They don't fancy their stereotyped past, i.e. 'prison country', etc. but they love their country.
Don't know what sort of Aussies you knew, but the ones I know are nothing like you claim.
I'll tell you in another life when we are both cats.
I never claimed that Aussies don't like Americans or American culture. I'm saying the Aussies I knew NEVER thought they were JUST LIKE Americans as you have claimed.
There is no self-hatred going on in Australia. All the Aussies I know are proud of their country. They don't fancy their stereotyped past, i.e. 'prison country', etc. but they love their country.
Don't know what sort of Aussies you knew, but the ones I know are nothing like you claim.
Yes I'm sure there are some people who would love to relocate. I know hundreds of people who would LOVE TO LIVE in Australia who happen to be American. Does this mean they hate America? Not necessarily.
I'm not Aussie, so I'm not sure why you are referring to me as you are in your post. I don't think Americans appreciate slavery either...there's a good deal of slave apologists here or did you not notice this? And anyone who regrets this past is often to be full of 'white guilt' so there's no winning. Not sure why anyone needs to 'get over' anything. People don't like stereotypes in their own countries no matter where they are from.
I don't know anyone here in America who doesn't know how to spell Australia. What a stupid thing to say. I realize there may be some dumbing down of Americans but the notion that 'most Americans' can't even spell Australia is something you just made up. I think most Americans realize that most Aussies don't live in 'the bush' either. As I said, Americans DO think of Australia because you can ask just about any random American who has not traveled overseas before where they would like to go if they could and a very high percentage of them would love to go to Australia...wow, this must mean, if we go by your past 'logical' posts, they must hate America.
Yes, this is interesting. I love how you make crap up.
I'll tell you in another life when we are both cats.
OK look, you're fooling no one. I see you went back and Americanized your spelling! The edit button is your savior huh?
There are many Americans who want to deny our dark past just as there are many Australians who want to pretend Australia wasn't founded as a penal colony. But you know, living in denial won't change a damn thing. America was built on the backs of African slaves and we fought a huge and bloody civil war so bitter even today there are those who pretend it never happened and the south never lost.
Australians fear Americans think you're all still convicts or a bunch of hayseeds with dangly cork hats which is nuts but there ya go. A big chunk of America is populated with hayseeds but we don't lose any sleep over how people think of us, as you will have noticed by the fact we keep doing the kind of stuff that makes people think we're a bunch of d1cks.
I guess it's a little flattering that you guys want to be us so bad but the fact is I find it way more strange than flattering. Be yourselves and stop worrying about what we think. Definitely stop trying to be us because you're not us and never will be. You say you're proud to be Australian -- time for you to start proving it.
And no Americans do _not_ think about Australia. You keep telling yourself we do but we don't. Sorry but that's how it is. Out of a little more than 300 million of us maybe a few dozen will be thinking about Australia at any given moment and those will be bored kids working on some boring assignment.
You're never going to come to terms with being Australian until you ditch those fantasies about the US. Quit practicing your American accent in that mirror and just be Australian! I _like_ Aussies! You're a great bunch of people.
Thanks again.
How did I 'Americanize' my spelling? I really don't know what you mean. I do have a habit of using British spelling. I'm a bit of an Anglophile. Don't remember correcting anything.
I told you. I'm not Aussie. I'm American. I live in the south so I'm very well aware of how southerners feel about the civil war. I have made friends in Australia and been there twice. I believe I already posted that?
Ugh, yes. Americans do think about Australia...at least people who live where I do think about it because they talk about wanting to go there.
Also, I know what you're doing. If you want to think I'm Aussie, that is fine. If I were Australian, I would be proud of it. I'm an American and have no shame.
If you want to continue on this tact, that is fine with me but it really reflects poorly on you and not me.
I'll tell you in another life when we are both cats.
How did I 'Americanize' my spelling? I really don't know what you mean. I do have a habit of using British spelling. I'm a bit of an Anglophile. Don't remember correcting anything.You edited your post to change the Brit-Aussie spelling to American spelling. But hey go right ahead believing anyone thinks you're not Australian.
I told you. I'm not Aussie.You did say it but it doesn't alter the facts.
I'm American.Hey whatever floats your boat man.
I live in the south so I'm very well aware of how southerners feel about the civil war.South Australia or New South Wales?
I have made friends in Australia and been there twice. I believe I already posted that?If it's on the internet it must be true right?
Ugh, yes. Americans do think about Australia..."Ugh," no, we don't. Pretty much never ever.
at least people who live where I do think about it because they talk about wanting to go there.By people who live where I do" you mean the Aussies around you down there in Australia right?
Also, I know what you're doing.I'm not even sure you know what _you_ are doing.
If you want to think I'm Aussie, that is fine.You are what you are. And you are Australian.
If I were Australian, I would be proud of it."if"? Weird. You're Australian.
I'm an American and have no shame.By "American" do you mean you got US citizenship now or are you still waiting on that? Anything else is just lying you know.
If you want to continue on this tact, that is fine with me but it really reflects poorly on you and not me.I'm not the one lying.
You can continue to look like the dunce you are by placing things that have nothing to do with the subject if you like. You don't like that I don't agree with some of your opinions and now you are resorting to child-like tactics. As I said this reflects on you and not on me. Continue with more BS if you like. Only an idiot would think that an Aussie would PRETEND to be an American on IMDB or vice versa as well. Unlike you, I'm not an idiot.
I'll tell you in another life when we are both cats.
So why do you pretend to be an American when every American here can see by the way you post and the stuff you post that you're not American (unless you have recently become naturalized).
Say hi to Jane Campion from me OK?
You're a joke. I've not done any of the things you say. More idiocy from someone who can't discuss things properly so resorts to more child like behavior. You're just another troll looking for attention.
Sure I'll roll over and say howdy to her for you...
I'll tell you in another life when we are both cats.
I never claimed that Aussies don't like Americans or American culture. I'm saying the Aussies I knew NEVER thought they were JUST LIKE Americans as you have claimed.
There is no self-hatred going on in Australia. All the Aussies I know are proud of their country. They don't fancy their stereotyped past, i.e. 'prison country', etc. but they love their country.
Don't know what sort of Aussies you knew, but the ones I know are nothing like you claim.
I'll tell you in another life when we are both cats.
I never claimed that Aussies don't like Americans or American culture. I'm saying the Aussies I knew NEVER thought they were JUST LIKE Americans as you have claimed.
There is no self-hatred going on in Australia. All the Aussies I know are proud of their country. They don't fancy their stereotyped past, i.e. 'prison country', etc. but they love their country.
Don't know what sort of Aussies you knew, but the ones I know are nothing like you claim.
I am seeing alot of people agree our (Aussie) accent is hard to pull off.
So what I wanna know is.. how often do Americans [Edit: Anyone] think non-Aussie actors have pulled it off?
..every actor in Lost has completely stuffed it (for example). I can only really think of Kate in this and Helena Bonham Carter in Till Human Voices Wake Us.
The rest have been tragic.
On the flip-side, a good percentage of aussie actors I am familiar with make me cringe when they try an american accent. Eric Bana for example.
Thoughts, reactions, etc?
[deleted]
Hahaha yeah, the episode of Lost where Hurley goes searching for the source of the numbers and ends up in the middle of no where in Australia is a perfect example of a REALLY bad accent. When the woman he met spoke, I cringed. It sounded like the accent that was tried on the Simpsons.
shareI know this is a bit OT, but this thread seems to be going that way anyway, but Alan Dale (aka Jim Robinson from Neighbours aka appearning in every big American show at the moment) is the absolute worst at doing any accent. In Ugly Betty and the OC he sounds utterly bizarre, and when he does his English accent in Lost he sounds like someone doing a bad impression of Tony Curtis's bad impression of Cary Grant in Some Like It Hot.
I'm not aussie bashing though. Toni Collette and Cate Blanchett are very good at accents. So all I'm saying is bad accenting is not an Australian national pasttime. And to make this all relevant, Kate Winslet is great too.
[deleted]
Personally I thought Kate's accent was very very convincing however I do believe she was channelling a new zealander at times, but still very very believeable. However her acting in the film was astounding, flawless and completely under-rated. As for Meryl Streep in A cry in the dark, that was a very specific Lindy Chamberlain accent and I thought she nailed it.
shareKate's bloody brilliant! She could do ANY accent on the planet and totally nail it!!! Her American is kick-@$$ and that goes all the way back to the mid-90s with Titanic! :D She has a real gift for doing accents! I wish I could get her dialogue coach! lol
I think that Nicole Kidman, Eric Bana, Naomi Watts, and Hugh Jackman cannot really pull off the American accent. Try and try as they might, it just doesn't seem to happen for them. They should all envy Kate, who can do a flawless American (Titanic, The Life of David Gale), Aussie (Holy Smoke, of course), Northern English (Romance & Cigarettes), and probably any other accent required of her. She's amazing!!! :D
Winslet's Australian accent here was superbly natural and unforced. She blended in seamlessly. She has done flawless American accents too, especially in Little Children where again I totally forgot I was watching an English actress.
Christian Bale, Toni Collette and Helena Bonham Carter have all done excellent American accents too. Cate Blanchett did a perfect British accent in Notes on a Scandal, as did Julianne Moore in The End of the Affair. Understatement is the key.
Worst accent ever: Julia Roberts attempting Irish in both Mary Reilly and Michael Collins. Ughhh...
yes it was very impressive, well done kate! I think its hard because a realistic (not over the top) aussie accent has nothing specific or obvious about it.... if that makes sense.
shareYeah I know what you mean and I agree, she just went for a broad Australian accent rather than some very specific regional twang which could have ended up sounding actressy or out of place. Well played as always, Kate.
sharePerfect aussie accent except for two small flaws. (not worth mentioning). In fact, it is the only perfect effortless aussie accent I've ever heard!Meryl Streep's effort was pathetic. I grant it is the hardest accent to do due to the nasal intonation required, but this is the only actor who has ever mastered it. Kate, you are a genius! Of course, I am an aussie.
shareAll agreed then! Kate Winslet is the best at an aussie accent! but seriously tho, I think she did a good job and is good at accents. Except a southern one. Or a "hollywoodized" southern one anyway. not saying she sucked, just didn't do a good as job as she normally would. those of you thats seen all the king's men know what I'm talkin about.
shareAgreed! Good list Crispin Dry, btw.
Whoever you are, I've always depended on the kindness of strangers...
This converstaion is pretty funny. How many non-aussies have TRIED an australian accent? Noone can do it? Please. The fact is noone is doing it.
As for everyone doing a great american accent, sorry. There are many TERRIBLE attempts done in film and television.
A. Are you Australian? B. You haven't seen the film. C. Are you really an idiot?
shareNoone? It looks like you spelled noon wrong. Its NO ONE. Seperate it.
share[deleted]
Ruth Bradley, an Irish actress, is doing an Australian accent for the film How to Change in 9 Weeks. There were some dodgy Australian accents in Point Break. Daniel Radcliffe in December Boys. I'm sure there are more. I'm not exactly an expert.
shareKW also did a very good Aussie accent in Heavenly Creatures - her first major role I think. A great and underrated film. My favourite actress and every film I see confirms that more.
P.S - to the person who said that Nicole Kidman cannot do the US accent, I totally agree. But then she can't do anything very well except simper like a moron. Ouch. Watch her attempt the English accent in Golden Compass, worse than Renee and that's saying something.
"KW also did a very good Aussie accent in Heavenly Creatures - her first major role I think. A great and underrated film. My favourite actress and every film I see confirms that more."
KW was playing a British girl, she didn't have an Australian or New Zealand (where the film was set) accent at all. KW did do an Australian accent later in Holy Smoke, though.
Yeah she did a great job possibly the best attempted Aussie accent I haver heard actually.
share