MovieChat Forums > Love Ranch (2011) Discussion > Helen Mirren's American accent

Helen Mirren's American accent

posted 13 years ago by rgl-6
4 replies | jump to latest

Dame Helen is one of my favorite actresses and it is beyond dispute that she is one of the best actresses of our generation. With that being said, she was still unable to pull of a credible American accent in this film. I guess it is a knack that some actors have. I know that Charlie Hunnam struggles from time to time in Sons of Anarchy. Kelly MacDonald, a Scot, pulls off a perfect regional accent in No Country for Old Men.

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[–] Star-cjh 13 years ago

I just watched her in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and in Teaching Mrs. Tingle and she has a New Englander kind of accent it wasn't too bad. Compare her to Kate Winslet in film roles I could barely tell she was British--so I agree that some people have a knack for it while others don't.

[–] rgl-6 12 years ago

There are only two things I focused on in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and neither of them were her accent.

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[–] tremas-1 11 years ago

TO STAR-CJH:
I didn't see "Roman Spring" or "Mrs. Tingle," but it makes sense that Mirren's New England accent is passable. It's close enough to the posh British English Mirren can adopt without any trouble at all.

[–] IrishEyes1989 12 years ago

While I agree that Helen isn't terribly adept with American accents, her attempt in Love Ranch was the best I've seen her do. It was much better than the one she had in Losing Chase, for instance. Beyond being a skill that some people have a talent for and others do not, I think a big part of nailing different accents depends on a person's own accent. In Helen's case, her natural accent is quite upper class and posh. It's difficult to fully disguise that, especially with a standard American accent.