1.16.2006

Annoying accent

Sometimes I come across annoying accents, and this is one of those times I can't ignore it: Michele Addey on the show Double Take.

She is "Originally from England...and went on to study painting in Paris." I'm assuming she lives in L.A., since that's where a lot of HGTV shows take place.

I wonder if her accent has changed a lot since she left England. Maybe that's the source of its annoying quality--living in different places has mixed it up. But I think what makes it especially annoying is her need to sound really "up" when narrating the show, because I notice that if she's just talking with people on the show, she sounds less grating and nasal. Maybe someone told her that when she reads the script, she should be more peppy, so she's forced herself to sound really hyper. But it sounds unnatural and whiny.

Does she also talk like this when she's off camera, or is she more subdued? After all, TV requires people to be more outgoing and emotional, and maybe she's stepped out of her comfort zone. It makes it difficult to watch the show without trying to analyze her voice and wonder what's going on.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've always found the Brits and Australians to be much more adept at masking their accents when adopting a North American one. But when you get Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, etc. to take a stab at a foreign accent, it's usually obviously imperfect, flawed and inconsistent.

Anonymous said...

The actors who can't pull off foreign or southern accents should hire an accent coach. Or someone who'd help them. They certainly have the dough.