Why a British accent?

[Tinkermommy]

Why when making historical movies (ancient Rome, Egypt, etc) the characters often have a British accent?

FWIW, I love a British accent, but it seems weird that people from ancient Rome and Gaul have one.

Is is just that people wouldn't be able to understand a different accent so they have them use a British one?

 

[Sydnie]

Well are the actors British ?

 

[Jennasis]

I would imagine that people did speak with what we would consider an accent. Also, for dramatic purposes, giving them an accent would make them seem more exotic/foreign to us American viewers.

 

[Robinrs]

I remember asking that same question when I was a kid!! I remember asking since when do Italians talk like that????

 

[PlainJane]

My assumption is that they have them speak like that because we don't have a clear grasp on how people in Ancient Greece and Rome spoke, and if we did would an entire cast of actors be able to do it justice? Would the average viewing public really care either way?

 

[KristaTX]

So if American filmmakers give them British accents, do British filmmakers give them American accents ??

 

[PollyannaMom]

I just assumed the specials were made in Britain, and nobody asked for special accents from the cast.

 

[kaytieeldr]

That's it. I refuse to watch any movie or series in which the director is 'talking down' to me. Produce it in the correct language with subtitles, or the appropriate accent, or it's just not worth my time!

 

[FireDancer]

I know a lot of the programs about Rome on the History Channel were originally done for British television and are re-transmitted on History and History International. The HBO mini-series Rome (which is the best series HBA has done IMO) was also produced, directed, and cast by the BBC so most of the actors were British.

Gladiator's lead had an Australian accent so there is an alternative.

 

[Feralpeg]

In recent years, filmmakers don't seem to worry about accents. I watched Valkarie recently. The majority of the cast had Britsh accents even though they were playing Germans. The only one without a British accent was Tom Cruise. I guess they feel like the story speaks for itself and people will not worry about things like accents. It's probably easier to book British actors for a British made film than look for German actors or ask the actors to adopt a different accent. It really doesn't bother me.

 

[Tinkermommy]

Thanks everyone for your posts.

I think accents are complicated and it's just easier to make everyone British.

I don't know why it would matter if the actors are British since they are ACTORS and should be able to act with the appropriate accent.

Of course we don't know what Gauls, Romans, Greeks, etc sounded like but is seems we could make ancient Romans sound more like Italians, ancient Greeks more like modern day Greeks, etc instead of a bunch of transplants from Notting Hill.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Regardless of the accent, they speak English, which is still wrong.

Should they have Italian accents and speak English?

 

[Sydnie]

Thanks everyone for your posts.

I think accents are complicated and it's just easier to make everyone British.

I don't know why it would matter if the actors are British since they are ACTORS and should be able to act with the appropriate accent.

Of course we don't know what Gauls, Romans, Greeks, etc sounded like but is seems we could make ancient Romans sound more like Italians, ancient Greeks more like modern day Greeks, etc instead of a bunch of transplants from Notting Hill.

Yes, but while we are on the subject they should just be speaking Greek or Roman to be truly accurate. You are already suspending belief when you are watching them speak English, you know? It's kind of silly to start hypothesizing on what their accents may have sounded like and then making the actors all approximate that accent. Languages evolve so much over the years that someone speaking with a modern Greek accent is no more similar to ancient Greek than a British accent.

Of course if they are having American actors put on British accents for movies set in ancient Rome I agree it is silly (unless the vast number of actors in the piece are British and they want uniformity in accents)

 

[miralys]

For the same reason everyone in a science-fiction film or series speaks standard English even if they have no corporeal form and no contact with any outsiders ever?

 

[Imzadi]

So if American filmmakers give them British accents, do British filmmakers give them American accents ??

Gladiator's lead had an Australian accent so there is an alternative.

That's because Russell Crowe refuses to do any other accent on ANY film.

I don't know why it would matter if the actors are British since they are ACTORS and should be able to act with the appropriate accent.

Every time Meryl Streep does a movie with a flawless accent, she always gets blasted for "doing another movie with an accent." You can't win.

When Kevin Costner made Robin Hood, he got blasted because he couldn't even do a British accent. His attempt at an accent was bad.

I was told once that when Americans do a Shakespeare production, they aren't supposed to do it with a British accent. They can keep their American accents. That made NO sense to me. If you are doing a British play, written by a Brit, previously performed in Britain, and is considered a classic, why wouldn't the American actors perform it with British accents, (or the accents of the characters,) to keep the play authentic???

 

[Tinkermommy]

Yes, but while we are on the subject they should just be speaking Greek or Roman to be truly accurate. You are already suspending belief when you are watching them speak English, you know? It's kind of silly to start hypothesizing on what their accents may have sounded like and then making the actors all approximate that accent. Languages evolve so much over the years that someone speaking with a modern Greek accent is no more similar to ancient Greek than a British accent.

Of course if they are having American actors put on British accents for movies set in ancient Rome I agree it is silly (unless the vast number of actors in the piece are British and they want uniformity in accents)

Actually I would love it if they spoke in Latin/Greek etc. I wanted to be an archaeologists (still would) so the more authentic the better. I think people don't like to read subtitles though so you would greatly reduce your viewing audience.

For the same reason everyone in a science-fiction film or series speaks standard English even if they have no corporeal form and no contact with any outsiders ever?

I agree. It cracks me up as well.

 

[bumbershoot]

That's it. I refuse to watch any movie or series in which the director is 'talking down' to me. Produce it in the correct language with subtitles, or the appropriate accent, or it's just not worth my time!

Well, the appropriate accent.... If it's a movie about ancient Rome, without them speaking the original language, they are just going to speak the language of the country that's making the movie. An accent would mean that it's ancient romans speaking English with an ancient Roman accent...that would just be weird.

Of course we don't know what Gauls, Romans, Greeks, etc sounded like but is seems we could make ancient Romans sound more like Italians, ancient Greeks more like modern day Greeks, etc instead of a bunch of transplants from Notting Hill.

But if you made them sound like Italians, you'd want them to speak Italian. Otherwise it would be English with an Italian accent, and WHY would they be doing that?


Just makes more sense to me (and I think about this often LOL) to have the actors just use their voices without fuss.



On the other hand...I was watching a Shark Week episode the other evening. They were telling about shark attacks in 1957, in South Africa. And NO ONE used a South African accent. They were all just American. I simply could not help but make fun of it. Which was awful, b/c it was a horrifying episode about real people that died and were terribly injured and a real mayor that put money over safety, but it was just so distracting that it was a story about South Africa but they were just American accents....

 

[joyjoy]

I heard an interview on NPR with Antonio Banderas a few years ago... he was saying how movies in Spanish are forever messing up with the accent, too. A movie based in Argentina where everyone speaks Spanish (Castillian, actually) is very often an actor from Mexico or another Spanish language country and it's just wrong. They even did some comparisons between the Spanish spoken by by Mexican, Colombian, Argentine, Costa Rican and Spanish actors and you really can hear a distinct difference.

 

[NY Disney fan]

Also Hollywood directors think evil characters sound better in a British accent too like Scar from the Lion King. Or even Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, the actress was from New York.

 

[Imzadi]

For the same reason everyone in a science-fiction film or series speaks standard English even if they have no corporeal form and no contact with any outsiders ever?

That's because their language is being translated through the Universal Translator.