Now, There's an Actor Who Can Do Accents!

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I had mentioned on Facebook that Liam Neeson, while a good actor (as far as I can judge actors, which ain't too far!), is bad at accents: when he plays an American, his Irish breaks out about once per line.

Contrast that with Idris Elba: I watched several seasons of him playing Stringer Bell in The Wire, and never had the least suspicion that he wasn't a Yank. Perhaps the fact that he grew up hearing a number of accents every day helped? (His father was from Sierra Leone, his mother from Ghana, and he grew up and was schooled in London.)

Comments

  1. marris5:54 PM

    Have you seen Elba in Luther? Available on Netflix. Bad guys are very dark, definitely not a kids show. But definitely worth a look.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. gcallah5:57 PM

      I just watched all ten episodes: it's how I found out he is English!

      Delete
  2. marris7:47 PM

    Sweet. They may do a third season this fall. Fingers crossed.

    ReplyDelete

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