Took me a while to place who she sounded like, but then realised she's been paying close attention to Emma Thompson. She managed an almost perfect replication of Thompson's voice. Remarkable.
shareI thought the exact same thing. The whole time I was just like. SHE SOUNDS JUST LIKE EMMA THOMPSON. I'm so glad someone else heard that!!
shareWell, I can't say I was reminded of Emma Thompson, in all honesty. But I must say (as an Englishman) this is by far the most impressive attempt at an English accent by an American actor I have ever heard. Up to now, I would have said the prize went to Natalie Portman for "V", but this is even better. Basically perfect.
Given the many previous examples of middling to dreadful attempts in the movies, I can only assume that doing a convincing English accent is one of the most difficult things to do (if you are American). So well done Maggie! Quite superb!
I'm English too and I totally agree. (Thinks back to Dick Van Dyke: "Orlwight Maori Parpens?")
"Everybody in the WORLD, is bent"share
I too thought Maggie was bang on.
As to most difficult, I find Aussie and NZ accents far more challenging. I suspect that's a result of my not hearing them nearly so much at a young age.
I have seen enough to know I have seen too much. -- ALOTOshare
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Well, you may be right, but I suspect it's also pretty hard the other way around. I think Christian Bale does a good US accent (but as I am not from the US, I a'm probably not the best judge of that)
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My God, it's full of stars!
Coming from an English gentleman, I dare say that you bestow a generous tribute to the acting ability of 'Miss Maggy.' I would classify 'Hysteria' as the best black comedy I have seen since 'Montenegro,' a film which was more popular on the east side of the Atlantic than the west.
The greatest American actors are those who can 'fake' a foreign accent. A few who come to mind are Spencer Tracy ('Captains Courageous'), Marlon Brando, and more recently, Leonardo Di Caprio and Robin Williams. Few modern actors born in the U.S. can come close to duplicating a European, Mexican or Asian accent. Some of the older B&W films, and some in color, have a popular American leading man or lady portraying a foreign character and uttering 'Ami-Speak.' Probably the worst is John Wayne, who was a poor actor even when speaking American english. However, he did make a large sum of money for his studio, so much that Warner Bros. threatened to cancel his contract if he enlisted for WWII.
The common denominator in the Maggie G and Natalie Portman roles was Lee Herrick, the dialogue supervisor. He was also the dialogue coach for Renée Zellweger in the Bridget Jones diaries
shareYou've misunderstood the credits. The dialogue supervisor is nothing to do with accents; they work in post-production, editing dialogue together. In actual fact the same person did coach Renee Zellwegger in "Bridget Jones" and Natalie Portman in "V For Vendetta", but it was dialogue coach Barbara Berkery. She didn't coach on "Hysteria", but just for clarity's sake, I wanted to point it out. Not to say that Lee Herrick's work isn't excellent because I have no doubt that it was, but it's simply nothing to do with accents and his reappearance is simply a coincidence, I should imagine.
"You people. If there isn't a movie about it, it's not worth knowing, is it" - Dogma
Maggie's accent was certainly the best I've ever heard from an American. I was really impressed.
*Those without a sense of humour are at the mercy of the rest of us*
I agree completely with you and BoothandBones: Emma Thompson to a T. (I'm American.) Interesting that the Brits here don't agree!
shareI thought she sounded exactly like Emma too! The mannerisms were very similar. I think it's in the tendency to laugh as she talks. They're both brilliant and very expressive!
They were both in Stranger Than Fiction, perhaps they're friends...
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Maggie is good friends with Emma Thompson after they worked together on the 2nd Nanny McPhee film. It could be Emma taught Maggie the posh English accent. I would love to drop my Essex my accent for one like theirs.
shareHUgh Laurie does a very convincing American accent on "House." You almost forget that he is very British.
shareI just watched this movie and was thinking the exact same thing, she totally sounds like Emma Thompson to me. (I'm an ESL btw)
shareMaggie seems to use the same English accent whenever she's playing a British woman. She had the same accent in "The Honourable Woman" too, very Emma Thompson and impeccable.
It's really good but let's hope she uses other English accents from time to time, and not just the Emma Thompson one.