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The filmmakers could help too. I was pretty surprised that in season 1 there don't seem to be any Irish actors in the cast at all. What's up with that? If you watched John Adams on HBO you'll be aware that before unifying things like radio and TV, regional English accents were incredibly diverse. Yet in Westeros, an island 5000 miles long, there are few regional variations and no American or Irish accents. Sean Bean speaks with his own Yorkshire intonation and so does the rest of his family. I think its fair enough to give the Lannisters a Home Counties speech pattern, but surely we could have had as many accent varieties in the show as at least they have in present day Britain. And I have to say it ticks me off a little that there isn't a Belfast voice in Thrones. As a way of supporting the local film industry Peter Jackson makes a point of casting New Zealand actors when he can in his fantasy movies. Indeed with the casting of James Nesbit in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, The Hobbit is going to have more Belfast accents in it than Thrones even though it is shot in Wellington. There is some diversity in Thrones but it isn't much: I think Lady Arryn is speaking with a lowland Scots burr and I'm pretty sure Sandor Clegane (the Hound) also has some kind of Scottish accent. But we need Welsh, Irish, West Country, Brummie, East Anglia and yes American accents in Thrones to reflect the diversity of Westeros. And it would be nice if the filmmakers took a leaf out of Peter Jackson's book and cast some Irish actors in leading roles.
The filmmakers could help too. I was pretty surprised that in season 1 there don't seem to be any Irish actors in the cast at all. What's up with that? If you watched John Adams on HBO you'll be aware that before unifying things like radio and TV, regional English accents were incredibly diverse. Yet in Westeros, an island 5000 miles long, there are few regional variations and no American or Irish accents. Sean Bean speaks with his own Yorkshire intonation and so does the rest of his family. I think its fair enough to give the Lannisters a Home Counties speech pattern, but surely we could have had as many accent varieties in the show as at least they have in present day Britain. And I have to say it ticks me off a little that there isn't a Belfast voice in Thrones. As a way of supporting the local film industry Peter Jackson makes a point of casting New Zealand actors when he can in his fantasy movies. Indeed with the casting of James Nesbit in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, The Hobbit is going to have more Belfast accents in it than Thrones even though it is shot in Wellington. There is some diversity in Thrones but it isn't much: I think Lady Arryn is speaking with a lowland Scots burr and I'm pretty sure Sandor Clegane (the Hound) also has some kind of Scottish accent. But we need Welsh, Irish, West Country, Brummie, East Anglia and yes American accents in Thrones to reflect the diversity of Westeros. And it would be nice if the filmmakers took a leaf out of Peter Jackson's book and cast some Irish actors in leading roles.
23 comments:
That's a shame. I really liked James Nesbitt's accent in Bloody Sunday.
In the filmmakers' defence, it was probably all shot before the Northern Irish triple crown in golf. They are probably kicking themselves right now.
Seana
Nesbit was great in that and he'll be great in The Hobbit. Peter Jackson realises that he needs a variety of accents among the dwarves not only to separate them in the viewers minds but also to reflect the diversity of the party that went east to the Lonely Mountain.
Having worked occasionally in the Canadian film and TV business I can say that the last thing producers worry about when shooting outside of Hollywood is hiring local talent except as extras. All the important casting decisions are usually made wherever the production company is located. Peter Jackson deserves praise for hiring locally. Apropos of accents, I've noticed that UK accents are being heard more and more often on North American television in ads and on shows. One TV company I worked for 20 odd years ago was told by their producing partner (Disney) not to put any accented characters in their program because Americans wouldn't be able to understand them. I think the change may have something to do with 12 of the top 20 films of all time having wall-to-wall UK accents: Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Alice in Wonderland. All of those films have been released in the last ten years.
Cary
Sure. You're right about the casting. You've got to do what's best for the show, that has to be the priority but why tell the American actors to speak with faux English accents?
This is a fake world not medieval England. I mean I guess English accents sounds classier or something, but I can't imagine that Sean Bean's Sheffield accent is that well known in N America?
Why not just let people talk in their natural voices or at least have some interesting regional variations the way they had in John Adams and the way they are going to have in The Hobbit.
You're certainly right about Americans doing faux English accents. I think American producers worry that some regional accents will be too "odd" for their audience; look what happened to Cheryl Cole. Of course, Americans have trouble with their own regional accents. The on air voices in local TV and radio, not to mention national outlets, rarely have American regional accents. I drove from Toronto to Florida a few years ago and didn't hear one southern accent on local radio, excluding, of course, the AM band bible thumpers.
I've been watching Lawrence O'Donnell's The Last Word lately, and he has that neutral TV accent that supposedly represents all of America. But every once in awhile the Boston comes out in him. It's surprising and yet endearing at the same time. He's not a fake, and he acknowledges his roots, but I think even here, if you're going to make the national news, you have to learn to moderate your voice. Which kind of surprises me when I think about it.
Cary
The worst is that bland NPR Voice people feel compelled to do. It's so boring and affected.
Re Cheryl Cole. It is weird that Cheryl Cole, a Geordie, Adele, a Cockney, Duffy, a Welsh girl all have very strong accents when they're talking but they all sing with this vague American accent.
Seana
There are some accents people deliberately try to lose. Boston is supposedly not a nice accent but I have to say I quite like it. People all diss Brummie accents (from Birmingham in England) but I like those too. Similarly people don't like West Belfast, possibly because it sounds so scary.
I'm hard pressed to think of a regional English accent that I really don't like. Maybe the way the Queen used to speak in the 50's and 60's - I dont know how many people still talk like that these days but its not pleasant on the ear.
Being a proud Brummie/Black Counrty chap I'd love to hear a Brummie accent in any US drama. Ozzy's done alright for himself in the US. Unfortunately, and Ozzy has a lot to do with it, it's still classed as the accent of the idiot in the UK. With our soften vowels and downward inflection at the end of words the accent isn't the obvious choice for the voice of a hero - but when it comes to dirty medieval types we should be making a killing.
I think the only other Brummie or Black County person I know of on US TV is John Oliver on The Daily Show. Which ay, bad - as they say around these parts.
It's funny how Americans associate British accents with some kinds of stories and settings. And I include myself in that; I tried listening to a sample of an audiobook set in ancient Rome, and the narrator's American accent put me off, even though the rational part of my brain was telling me that makes no sense.
And it's sometimes funny the way that audiobook producers will get a British narrator for a fantasy series, even though the author is American, most of the word choices are clearly American, and so on.
Gavin, that may be related to the phenomenon of American television commercials that use an actor with a British accent to pitch a product that has no discernible connection England. Advertisers clearly hope that American buyers associate "English" with "class" -- odd, at this late date.
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"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
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Roy
Well I lived in Coventry for three years so I still have a lot of affection for that accent.
Robert Plant's lost his accent a bit but it still comes out now and again.
Gav
I think we just grew up with all those sword and sandal movies where the senators were played by Charles Laughton, Olivier etc. Associating the Senate with plummy voiced Brits is going to take a long time to go away. Just as American cartoonists still draw judges wearing wigs and yet there hasnt been a wig in an American courtroom for a hundred and fifty years.
Peter
To me its funny. They're selling the shittiest product, but they've got some young good looking RADA trained woman who sells it with real authority.
Even when the product is British and expensive, a posh accent carries great weight in America. An announcer saying "JAG-yew-er" rather than "JAG-wahr" adds thousands to the sticker price.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Speaking of The Hobbit
http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/All-13-Dwarves-Peter-Jackson-THE-HOBBIT-AN-UNEXPECTED-JOURNEY.jpg
Michelle Fairley, who plays Catelyn Stark, is from Coleraine and, without giving too much away, has some major scenes in later series. Perhaps we're more refined in Coleraine.
I got very excited a couple of weeks back when the GOT signs appeared on roundabouts around the town - Stannis Baratheon was burning the seven on Downhill beach below Mussenden.
But Irish accents can be off-putting too. In his reading of Dance With Dragons, Roy Dotrice has decided that Daenerys should speak like an eighty year old Irish witch when she spoke like the teenaged princess she is in the previous books (also read by Dotrice). Unfortunately it makes it unlistenable to me.
Alan
Well Coleraine's not too shabby is it? Thats great.
I read the second book and skim read the others, so I know its not going to end that well for Caitlyn.
Beneath Michelle Fairley (N-I), also Aidan Gillen is Irish (even if his most famous role was in The Wire (US)).
Hi,
I would like to write an essay about the myth and fiction in the book "The Game of Thrones". Can you help me with some bibliography concerning the northen mythology which can be encountered in this novel?
Thank you
super late to the party, thanks for this post i agree that this was such a lost opportunity, how much more fun would have been if they'd taken advantage of the full variety of "English" accents, to really give a sense of the scope of the land.
also there are enough bad attempts by americans, that i literally might not be able to watch the thing.
Aiden Gillan is Irish and has a prominent role.
Within Westeros, you have hit the nail on the head. I would have loved to see a drastic difference between Northern and Southern, with some of the coastal cities having their own specific little nuances.
However, when it comes to the realm as a whole (Shae, Khal Drogo, people in Qarth, etc. etc.) they have done a beautiful job.
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