STREEP TO PLAY MRS. LOVETT IN FILM!! -- I heard it from someone in LA who w — Page 5

And remember when the dingo ate her baby? We could barely understand her, her Aussie accent was THAT GOOD.

---

"She can't do acccents? I hope you're joking.

Her accents in SOPHIE'S CHOICE and ANGELS IN AMERICA were perfect"

Yes and the performance became all about the accent. Her Australian accent was dire and her English RP laughable, in that no-one has ever spoken like that. In the words of Geilgud, it was her "party-piece".

There is a difference between being able to emulate an accent or dialect and use it convincingly. I would say that Streep's ability as an American actress to do this is noteworthy because the bar is set pretty low. Whereas in the UK it's not particulary noteworthy because a wide range of accents is expected as an absolute norm in the theatre. I'm sorry she doesn't convince me. And I can wheel just as many experts to back that up.

Name three actresses who have shown as many varieties of dialect in their film careers and have done it as well as Streep and I'll be a little more convinced of your arguement.

American actreses don't seem to excel in it at all - as Robert Easton, Hollywood's leading voice and dialect coach said in conversation not so long ago, "Americans are not used to listening. When they can do it {the accent} they show it off"

It becomes like Eliza at the races, lots of style but no substance.

British actors don't get that many chances to have that sort of film career so it's difficult to give fim examples. However, I would point you at the stage career of Dench, Thompson and Mirren who have been called upon to perform various Irish accents - North Sout, Belfast, Dublin; Scottish accents - the notoriously hard Glaswegian, Fife, Edinburgh along with all the various English dialects, as well as assorted American and European accents.

Streep is great at the generic on the surface but she doesn't get convincing because the accent doesn't come from anywhere for instance her RP was perfect, except that it wasn't grounded in the reality of where the RP came from - she sounded exactly, what was a foreigner who'd learnt to speak the language. She'll undoubtedly do an Eastend accent but it won't be one that obviously comes from anywhere.

BTW - I took my Father (an American) and his new wife (an American) to see the revival of Sunday in the Park with George lately in London. And they complained about the broad and unauthentic American accent employed by one of the actors. This was also highlighted by an American reviewer of the cd. The only problem was that the actor in question was the only American in the cast...so based on that unscientific straw poll, I'm slightly dubious about American's ability to judge whether an accent "sucks" or not...

Updated On: 9/16/06 at 08:24 PM

Yes, all Americans are exactly alike. If they thought the accent was bad, I'm sure we all would have thought that.

Glenda Jackson as Patricia Neal is only one of the glaringly bad attempted performances by a Brit of an American accent. They can do Southern because that's very distinctive, but any other American dialect is generally lost on them.

---

"Angela Lansbury was doing the kind of detailed "pinpointed to a particular street in London" dialect that would have pleased a professor of phonetics like Henry Higgens, nor would I argue do some of the other brits like Julia McKenzie or Shelia Hancock who have played the role."

Angela Lansbury was certainly not doing any kind of a cockmney acent that anyone would recognize as such. Hancock and McKenzie certainly did.

"I really think you're off-base here in your assessment of her talents, skills, and dedication to perfection in performance."

I may well be but she's an actress I have little time for and it's only my opinion.

"sicetergo --- You haven't done your homework, when many others have."

I never mentioned her Polish accent in Sophie's Choice it's a film that I've neglected to see. But my Polish friends loved sending her up. As for Out of Africa - I wonder if that is how Karen Blixen would have spoken, given that she was fluent in English and so many Danes of her class have excellent English accents....


"Yes, all Americans are exactly alike. If they thought the accent was bad, I'm sure we all would have thought that. "

Of course. I wasn't suggesting that.

Updated On: 9/16/06 at 09:08 PM

OT if cindy lauper gets piked do you think she will be beter or wors at acting then madona

I think Kate Winslet's American accent is a little overdone (along with Christian Bale sometimes) to be honest. I can forgive that because she's such a tremendous actress, though.

I think Emily Watson does American accents pretty effectively.

---

Cyndi is a better actress than Madonna.

"I also would have prefered someone a little more, um blowsey"

She's pretty blowsey in Death Becomes Her.

---

Blowsey as in just out of bed, been through the mill.