Accent Expert Reviews British Accents in Movies, from 'Mrs. Doubtfire' to 'Maleficent' | Vanity Fair

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- Hello, I'm Amy Walker.
Yes, I'm Amy Walker.
Amy Walker, innit?
Take one. [claps]
Hello, I'm Amy Walker.
I'm an actress most known for me accents,
and today we're gonna look at some British accents
in films.
[lighthearted music]
- She will prick her finger
on the spindle of a spinning wheel
and fall into a sleep-like death!
- This is "Maleficent" directed by Robert Stromberg in 2014.
And we'll be looking at Angelina Jolie's English accent.
- A sleep from which she will never awaken!
- "Awaken."
That "en"
nails it.
Two things there that people often miss
when they're doing this sort of an accent.
It can be a tendency to go "awaken."
In America, we'll take that E,
and we'll just make it an "eh".
That "eh" in this accent becomes "euh".
"Awaken".
And then you had that bit of an aspiration
that's sort of an H breathy sound on the K,
and it gives it this [clicks tongue] "awaken."
- I had wings once.
They were stolen from me.
- "Stolen from me.
"From."
"Stolen from me."
You can, you can say "stolen from me."
That works or we can say "stolen from me."
- Were they big?
- So big they dragged behind me when I walked.
- When she says "walked," that's really excellent.
The A-L,
A-H,
A-W,
all those things that in American are "ah",
they're all different in English accents.
So we've got "walked,"
and it's very long.
What people have a tendency to do is go, "walked"
or something very tight and odd.
- Royalty,
nobility,
a gentry,
and
how quaint,
even the rebels.
- "Even the rebels."
Oh!
I had high expectations
for this RP
or Received Pronunciation.
It's called received because you're not born into it.
You have to learn it.
You have to be educated.
I have a few theories
as to why
so many villains
in Disney movies and beyond
have this Received Pronunciation excellent.
And for one,
the tones you get to use
and play around with are just
deliciously good fun.
It's as if you really don't care
what they think of you,
but also it sounds extremely educated
because you can't get it
unless you are educated into it.
And then the stillness
of
power.
- Good, then I'll inject them.
- Yeah, and I'll find a spot to get rid of the body.
- All valid ideas.
- This is "Ocean's 13"
directed by Steven Soderbergh in 2007.
We're looking at Don Cheadle's Cockney accent.
- That's the rules for someone who understands the rules,
which Bank don't 'cause he already broke 'em,
so he don't get the chance.
- Where to start, really?
Don Cheadle's
wonderful actor,
but this is
bit of a mess.
"Don't."
The resonance for this accent is really down in the gutter.
It's down in your mouth.
It's down up in here.
"Don't."
You're gonna take that tongue,
and the D is not going to be a D like this.
It's going to be "thee," "tho,"
and it'll be "don't."
- And this polymer reacts to ultrasonic pulses.
- When you say "ultrasonic", "ultrasonic",
that's gonna have like more of a W to it than an L.
And it's gonna be forward in the mouth.
- But it's not metallic
so the compasses on the table won't detect it.
- Sometimes when people do a glottal catch
or a glottal stop,
it's a bit extra.
So "but it's not" like it's sort of a double,
"but it's not" instead of "but it's not."
"Not" is a really open sound, "aw."
Now your Cockney accent is really a working class,
East End thing.
It's,
it's really chewy.
The resonance is still high,
but it's also really forward.
It's like it starts up here,
and then it lands down in here.
- I can't leave.
- Why are you such a-- - Sorry, ask somebody else.
Ask Livingston.
He's such a wowser.
- "Wowser."
- Look, I've done research.
Positive messages get through.
- "I've done research.
"Positive messages get through."
So "I've done,"
it's going to be that "thee," "done,"
and it's going to be resonating up in here
and landing down in here.
"Research."
Forward.
"Positive."
It's going to be "oh" instead of "positive,"
back here for the states.
"Positive messages get through."
And then you're not going to put the T-H
because why put T-H when you can just put an F?
- The tricold optimizers
that feed into the nipple sleep receivers
perforated their lubricating bladders
and began tension against the side walls.
- [Male Voice From Phone] Uh-huh.
- I think he's saying
"perforated their lubricating patterns" or something?
"Perforated."
It's just living so middle in the mouth,
and then the glottal stops are leaping out at you
and just not really doing what they're meant to do.
[Don Cheadle's character coughs]
- [Male Voice From Phone] Where's that putter?
[Don Cheadle's character coughs]
- Oh.
Uh.
Cattled.
- "Cattled" versus "cattled,"
I think this is rhyming slang,
which is a whole world of a language.
"Cattled" would be short for cattle trucked,
which rhymes with another word you can probably guess.
- His union pay masters have called a strike deliberately
to cripple our
economy. [audience groans]
- This is "The Iron Lady"
directed by Phyllida Lloyd in 2011.
It stars Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher.
- Teachers cannot teach when there is no heating,
no lighting in their classrooms.
And I asked the Right Honorable gentleman,
whose fault is that?
- [Audience] Yours! [jeers]
- Margaret Thatcher had a lot of flack
in the beginning of her political career
about "the lady doth screech too much."
So the way that she'll "that,"
you know, really screech it a bit.
And she's up in the higher tones,
and she really gets,
there was something for Margaret Thatcher
about the way that she talked through her teeth.
But it's absolutely dead on.
- When did I lose track of everyone?
- "Where did I lose track of everyone?"
The way that the age just sits in her face.
"Track of everyone."
You still have the teeth,
and you still have the voice.
But this is after she's had vocal training
to lower her voice,
and all that is in there, plus age.
So it's gone even lower,
and you just really feel the weight of her age, yeah.
- When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor,
did America go cap in hand
and ask Tojo for a peaceful negotiation of terms?
- "Terms."
"Did America go cap in hand?"
This is after she's had that vocal training.
And she really had a lovely, warm tone
in her voice after that,
but she's also got that sharp way
that Margaret Thatcher did emphasize certain consonants
at different times.
- Did she turn her back on her own citizens there
because the islands were thousands of miles away
from the mainland United States?
No!
No, no!
- The way that she uses her voice
to carve out that grounded, powerful tone and the consonants
that make it sharp and important and listened to,
and that to me is my favorite.
And that's why Meryl Streep, [sighs]
such an inspiration.
- Hello.
Mrs. Hillard, I presume?
- This is "Mrs. Doubtfire"
directed by Chris Columbus in 2003.
We're gonna look at Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire.
He's doing kind of a slight Scottish accent,
maybe a little bit Edinburgh.
And it's not like a real Glasgow, hard Highland accent.
Pierce Brosnan even says later in the film,
it's a bit muddled.
So it's kind of set up to be its own creation,
which I think Robin does really Well.
You know, when you say "don't fail,"
it feels like it should be
in a wee bit of a Scottish accent.
So it's quite soothing,
the tones that he's chosen.
- You've a generic Doubtfire.
- "You have a generic Doubtfire."
And Scottish, you've got like this really soft flutter
of an hour you can do,
and it's really soothing the way he's got it.
It's like a wee flick.
"Doubtfire."
- Are you wearing bug spray?
- Oh.
- Nattie.
- Oh, it's quite an idea.
No offense taken.
I was a little liberal with the atomizer.
- So it's really a hybrid accent.
It's got some British in it,
like "a little liberal" rather than "a little liberal,"
and Scottish accent,
you usually take down that short "ay" sound,
"the," which we would say "eh" like "little,"
and it would become level.
- All right, everyone.
It's time to expand your minds.
It's homework time.
- "All right, everyone.
"It's time to expand your minds."
That's all great.
"It's homework time."
That "oh."
That's more Scottish than it "oh"
that you'd have in an English accent.
- How about you Mrs. Doubtfire?
- Oh, you wicked, wicked man!
Isn't there enough flesh here for you to feast your eyes on?
- There's another example of the hybrid.
"Wicked."
That's a British
"eh"
with a Scottish "ik."
So rather than "wicked," it's "wicked."
When you're doing a hybrid accent
or something that's lighter,
you really get to choose what bits feel right
for the character to hold on to.
- I'm calling in regards to the ad I read in the paper.
- That extra glottal catch, that "paper,"
that's very classic Scottish.
There are lots of glottal catches, lots of little stops
in Scottish accents.
And one of the things that can happen
for Americans trying to do British or Scottish
is they're trying to put in a few extra.
That catch that you want to put in
when you're meaning to say "paper" in English
and you say "paper,"
save it and put it in when you're doing Scottish.
- Hello.
- "Hello."
Not quite sure what that is, actually.
"Hello" would be more Scottish.
"Hello?"
Where would that be from?
"Oh."
It's from Robin Land,
and then it'll settle into its character
as the scene progresses.
- Happy birthday to me.
Happy birthday to me.
- This is "Bridget Jones's Baby"
directed by Sharon Maguire in 2016.
We're looking at Renee Zellweger's English accent.
She's originally from Texas.
- My birthday actually began the way of all my birthdays.
- One thing she's doing really well here is "actually."
So this is a little bit different to a glottal stop.
I call it a glottal catch, "actually," "actually."
It's a subtle thing that a lot of Americans miss
when they're doing a British accent.
If you just said "actually"
and you got all the placement right,
but you didn't do that catch,
it's just not quite there.
This is one of those things
that if you're British doing an American accent
can be a challenge to take out
and just say "actually" and not "actually."
- The truth was
that by now I thought I would have had a little baby
to love with the chisel-jawed love of my life.
- "Chisel-jawed."
That's good.
"Ohr" is a vowel that can be challenging
for Americans to do in English because we don't have it.
We don't say, "ohr."
We say, "aw."
But here you get to say, "ohr."
It's much more forward in the mouth,
and this is more of a standard British accent
you could say, sort of middle class.
- Isn't there some sort of statute of limitations
about the number of sorting candles on a cake
once you get to a certain age?
- It is possible to use the glottal catch too much.
"Sort of."
You don't need it there, just "sort of."
"Certain."
It can just be "certain."
So when you get to a "certain age,"
"some sort of a statute."
"Statute."
It would be there.
That is something that a lot of people do
is just put in a few too many British.
It's not "British."
It's just "British."
- I need you to see what Reuters is saying
about the attacks on Ramallah.
- One thing that can be challenging is the difference
between the American schwa "uh," a standard American "uh,"
and then the British "euh."
The difference between "Ramallah" and "Ramallah"
is that slight difference
or like "American" versus "American."
- The last baron husk in London.
And of the two loves of my life,
one is married, and the other is dead.
- One thing she does really well here,
there are so many different ways
to pronounce consonants,
and England loves them.
And we've got "dead,"
and that D, that's softer D, she really nails.
It's one of those subtleties that a lot of people miss.
Again, American, in a standard, we'd say "dead,"
not even finish it, "dead,"
or if we're really being emphatic, "dead,"
but here,
it's "dead."
It's just that bit softer,
which is not essential.
There might be times when you'd say "dead."
But here, it feels perfect.
- Don't you see it?
- See what?
- The resemblance between us.
- This is "The Parent Trap"
directed by Nancy Meyers in 1998.
It's about identical twins who were separated at birth.
One of them raised in England,
one raised in America.
They're both played by Lindsay Lohan.
- But it's rather picturesque.
Don't you think?
- So that's quite good.
She says "rather" instead of "rather,"
but "picturesque."
"Don't you think?"
She's got the melody right.
"Don't you think?"
That's something that's really different,
the way that questions are phrased
in England versus in America.
We'd say, "Don't you think?"
- Check for fruit.
Check for vegetables.
Go on.
- "Go on."
So the way she says that "oh,"
this really will tell you what class you're in here.
The difference between "oah," "ew," and "oh,"
somewhere in the middle.
She's like, not super duper,
ancient arrow sort of the thing,
but "oh."
American resonates right in the middle of your mouth.
It's down a little bit lower.
Now I'm talking about the resonance.
That's different to pitch.
Pitch is how actually high or low you're talking,
and regardless of pitch,
if you're placing the resonance up higher up in here,
it tends to sound more cerebral or intelligent.
- Well, I doubt it, but thanks.
Thanks for bringing me here, Martin.
- "Well, I doubt it, but thanks.
"And thanks for bringing me here, Martin."
All those sounds are really riding up in here
as opposed to when she says "doubt."
And she's doing that nice soft T instead of "doubt."
"I doubt it."
It flows so smoothly.
If I did it without the resonance,
"Well, I doubt it, but thanks."
It just doesn't quite have that edge,
and that's something that can be challenging for people.
- I'll teach you to be me and you teach me to be you.
Look, I can do you already.
Yes, you want to know the difference between us.
I have class, and you don't.
- When she says "class,"
if you say "class" without the resonance,
it sounds like K-L-O-S-S, kloss,
"aw"
versus "uh."
Almost put an R in it, "class."
- He belongs to my friend, the one I was telling you about.
I can't imagine how he got into my suitcase.
- One of the things that can be really tricky is
to get "can" and "can't" down correctly.
You have to be a bit careful with "can't" particularly
because if it's too short,
it can sound like a different word.
So here she says "can't,"
the resonance is down "can't" instead of "can't."
- Any of your pictures ruined?
- When she says "any of your pictures ruined?"
it is a British melody,
but that probably wouldn't be the one you would use.
You'd probably use "any of your pictures ruined?"
It's getting to know a lot
of different melodic patterns that help.
- Stop!
- We've got a major problem!
You're going to have to bring mother out here immediately!
- For her class, it would be more likely for her
to say "immediately," "jit" instead of "immediately."
She does get the D, "immediately"
if you were going to say it that way.
But again, I would say "immediately."
- He's always holding her hand and kissing her neck
and waiting on her hand and foot!
- "Waiting."
What we call a flat T, "waiting,"
that we do in America all the time.
In this class of England,
you would say "waiting."
Some of the traps that Americans fall into
when they're doing British accents,
are they keep the same sort of a pattern,
and then they get it a bit off, like this.
I think sometimes when people are trying
to get the resonance,
they just raise the pitch up,
and that can have the effect
of accidentally raising your resonance
because you're tighter to create that higher pitch.
But you really don't need to.
You can speak with a lovely, low voice
and still have that resonance.
- Not the artful postures of love,
but love that overthrows life.
- This is "Shakespeare in Love"
directed by John Madden in 1998.
And we're looking at Gwyneth Paltrow's English accent.
- Unbiddable, ungovernable like a riot in the heart.
Nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture.
- "Rapture."
Gwyneth is doing a marvelous job
of keeping the resonance there.
Things like "rapture" has that glottal catch.
I call it a catch.
I distinguish between them because a glottal stop,
it's so much harder,
but "rapture," it just gives it like this little nudge,
"rapture," "love."
And you hear the difference of keeping the resonance,
high "love"
versus "love."
- Not the artful postures of love.
- When she says "not the artful postures of love,"
that extra bit of breath,
it's one of those subtle things that people can often miss,
like I just said "subtle,"
that extra little puff of air.
It's not "subtle."
It's "subtle,"
and it's part of what she's chosen for this character.
It wouldn't be for every English accent,
but it's really appropriate for what she's doing here.
- Playhouses are not for wellborn ladies.
- Oh, I'm not so wellborn.
- Well, money is the same as wellborn.
- So you can see how when she says "I'm not so wellborn,"
her lips are forward,
and they need to be because this accent,
as much as it's resonating up here,
the sounds are really forward in the mouth.
In American, we pull the lips back for things like "born."
So "not so wellborn,"
it's gonna be really forward.
And you can't do that unless you're doing the posture
in that she's got.
What the director has chosen here is something
that we can understand and identify with
that just doesn't sound contemporary.
It's got a really sort of a timeless, classical field,
which is really appropriate for the piece.
- Hi, everyone.
Welcome to my wedding.
[audience laughs]
- This is "Imagine Me and You"
directed by Ol Parker in 2005.
We're looking at Piper Perabo's English accent,
- Rachel.
- I did your flowers.
- You did?
My flowers are nice.
- The way she says "Rachel."
Taking that
L out
and giving it a W
or doing a bit of both, "Rachel,"
that's really good.
She says the "flowers are nice."
"Flowers," that's really great.
And then "nice."
She drops the resonance down a little bit,
but it's pretty good.
"Nice" versus "nice."
- My ring.
I was giving some of this punch crap and--
- Your wedding ring.
- It fell off.
- It can be challenging for people
to get the "off" being very forward,
and she's really nailing it here.
"It fell off" versus "it fell off"
because in American we're used to doing your "aw" more open,
but she's really getting that "off" being forward
with the lower lip.
- Bill generally are the best, aren't they?
- I'm wrong-- - Oh, that's lovely,
the way she says "best," "the best."
With that little bit of an extra
oomph to it.
That's some of the subtle things that people often miss.
It's not, not English to say "best,"
but the way she says "the best,"
you know, just "eh" gives it a little bit of a goose to it.
- Hi.
- Um, this is Luce.
She's a florist.
- She says "florist."
You can say "florist."
You can also say "florist."
That'd be a bit more upper class.
So this works.
It's similar to "florist" in the East Coast,
"florist," "florist."
- I invited someone to dinner Friday,
that florist, Luce.
- So now we've got "florist,"
but feels a little more on.
Same word.
I would just do this one for the other one as well.
- Oh great, I'll cook.
- Please don't.
- The "please don't,"
having it live up in here,
this is more of a sort
of upper middle class resonance up here.
"Don't."
The lower the class, the more you bring it down.
But the higher, the more you smile through it.
"Please don't."
- There he goes.
Totally on.
- "There you go.
"It's totally on."
So the way she does that "go" instead of "go" in American
or "go", be more of a Cockney, really tells her class.
"There he goes.
"It's totally on."
Can do all that smiling through your teeth.
- 400!
- "400!"
That's a really particular English melody,
and it's not super common.
So she's doing a really good job here
of getting to know lots of different English melodies
so she doesn't get stuck in one pattern.
It's really connected
with all of what she's going through emotionally here.
I hope you've enjoyed this and learned something.
Maybe tried on a few British accents of your own
and maybe next time you'll look at all the detail
that goes into creating the voice of the character,
including the accent.