MovieChat Forums > Mr Selfridge (2013) Discussion > is Frank suppose to be American?

is Frank suppose to be American?

posted 9 years ago by TheyAteBobsLeg
6 replies | jump to latest

Samuel West's accent has some hard "R's" on the show or is that his natural accent?

I'm black, gay, and a nerd; just staying alive is an act of protest.

[–] randommovies2002 9 years ago

Some English accents are rhotic

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English#England

[–] amcalabrese-1 9 years ago

Frank Edwards is supposedly based on Frank Harris -- an Irish born Welsh journalist who spent a good portion of his life in the US.

[–] randommovies2002 9 years ago

And Edwards is also Irish. He tells Kitty in s2 that he got started in journalism by sweeping the floors at The Irish Times.

[–] Nomad310 9 years ago

And some American accents are non-rhotic, e.g., Bostonian accents and some Southern accents. A mistake made by some British actors is to hit the Rs too hard; a dead giveaway.

[–] Bimmy56 9 years ago

Samuel West is the son of two well known British actors, Prunella Scales (Sybil Fawlty) and Timothy West, so his natural speaking voice would be very British. He spoke differently in Howards End and Persuasion

[–] randommovies2002 9 years ago

Irish.