MovieChat Forums > J. Edgar (2011) Discussion > Dicaprio/Hoover's accent

Dicaprio/Hoover's accent

posted 12 years ago by BulletHeadedSaxonMothersSon
13 replies | jump to latest

What kind of accent did he have? Never heard it before in my life, and for that matter, the real J. Edgar Hoover never had that accent--whatever it was--going by footage I've scene of the real man.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] BulletHeadedSaxonMothersSon 12 years ago

Regardless, what accent was it?

[–] rgibson-20 12 years ago

I have seen hours of Hoover talking, and I thought DiCaprio's voice was uneven - sometimes, it sounded almost exactly like Hoover ("the commonists") and other times sounded like a Kennedy (exaggerated Boston accent).

[–] BulletHeadedSaxonMothersSon 12 years ago

DiCaprio's voice... sometimes... sounded almost exactly like Hoover ("the commonists")

Again, what accent would that be?

[–] WingsOfWax 12 years ago

The dialect is called "Terrible Actor's dialect". DiCaprio uses it for most of his character pieces.

[–] gcarras 12 years ago

Mid-New England . ALmost every old-time actor had it.:)

[–] DonMachiavelli 12 years ago

Old Washingtonian.

Personally I find the accent fascinating, not really Southern or Northern. Washington, DC is notorious for having no "local culture", as it is a city made up of transient government workers from everywhere.

But apparently Edgar was a full-blown Washingtonian, one of the few.

[–] TheCineSinge 12 years ago

Whether it was spot on or not, I don't know but it did become rather annoying.

[–] xxscottybxx 12 years ago

I just watched it for the first time tonight and I came here to find this exact topic, he sounded like Darth Vader without the James Earl Jones filter on

[–] ttaskmaster 12 years ago

I would have guessed some weird blend of Bostonian and Texan/general Southern, but since I'm not a US native I haven't really a clue!!
As mentioned, I've heard a lot of people in older media speak kinda the same way, especially narrators in American WW2 training films and public broadcasts.

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[–] plushgus 11 years ago

Was it the same one he used in Gatsby? For the life of me, I can't remember what he sounded like In J. Edgar.

[–] archer6749 11 years ago

Almost exactly like it yes. Here is two clips below to help you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKs6tUxVC7M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfVU4ijSt0U

[–] plushgus 11 years ago

Thanks. (old sport)