If you watch 'House'

[Laura Corin]

Just curious: tell me how good you think Hugh Laurie's accent is. He talked recently about still struggling with the American accent, even after all these years: the word 'coronary' is a particular problem, apparently. Does it come across as a put-on accent? I could ask American husband, but he's hung around me for so long that he's no longer a reliable witness.

 

Laura

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

Um. No, it doesn't come out as a "put-on" accent, at least to my American ears.

 

I was amazed when I learned he was British and it still freaks me out to see him in interviews and hear his British accent.

[KJsMom]

Um. No' date=' it doesn't come out as a "put-on" accent, at least to my American ears.

 

I was amazed when I learned he was British and it still freaks me out to see him in interviews and hear his British accent.[/quote']

 

Me too!

[elegantlion]

I've actually read a fair amount of criticism around the internet about his accent. However, I think he plays it very well.

[Ellie]

No, he sounds quite American to me. :-)

 

Seems to me that the English and Australians do far American accents than we Yanks do *their* accents. I wonder why that is?? I cringe every time I watch "The Time Machine" with Rod Taylor or "Journey to the Center of the Earth" with Pat Boone.:glare:

[Annie]

I think he does a great job. I didn't know he was British until after I had seen a full season of the show, and I was very surprised! It's one of our favorite shows, and the fact that he's changing his accent is never on my radar. He makes it seem quite natural.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think his accent sounds American in 'House'.

 

It definitely sounds British in 'Jeeves and Wooster'!

[Melinda in VT]

I stopped watching House after the second season or so, but I thought his accent rang true.

 

Now, the guy who played Lee on Battlestar sounded a false note or two.

[RoughCollie]

I didn't know the guy was British. He sounds like he is an American to me.

[KarenNC]

I haven't noticed anything wrong with it (we've watched the first season on dvd now and loved it), but then, I'm Southern American so I might not pick up on any missing nuances of the sort of American accent he is supposed to have (assuming it is supposed to be at all regional). ;)

[Laura Corin]

This is his audition tape. You can see exactly why he got the part.

 

Laura

[DarlaS]

I didn't know the guy was British. He sounds like he is an American to me.

 

:iagree:

 

I didn't know either. I did see him in another movie once and thought "What's with the British accent?". :lol:

[Laura Corin]

No, he sounds quite American to me. :-)

 

Seems to me that the English and Australians do far American accents than we Yanks do *their* accents. I wonder why that is?? I cringe every time I watch "The Time Machine" with Rod Taylor or "Journey to the Center of the Earth" with Pat Boone.:glare:

 

Is Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

 

I suspect that most Brits grow up hearing more American accents than vice versa, just because of the power of Hollywood. Perhaps that makes it easier for those Brits who have a gift to get the American accent right. Despite celebrating 22 years together with my husband, however, I still do a useless American accent.

 

I've always thought that acting with 'Chase' in House must be harder for Laurie, as the Australian accent would knock him back closer to Brit.

 

Laura

[Sarah CB]

I stopped watching House after the second season or so, but I thought his accent rang true.

 

Now, the guy who played Lee on Battlestar sounded a false note or two.

 

Lee wasn't American? I didn't pick up on that at all.

[Melinda in VT]

Lee wasn't American? I didn't pick up on that at all.

 

Nope, he's British. For the most part I think he did a great job with the accent, but there were a couple of times, especially in the first two seasons, where he had a bit of trouble.

[Sarah CB]

Nope, he's British. For the most part I think he did a great job with the accent, but there were a couple of times, especially in the first two seasons, where he had a bit of trouble.

 

Maybe that's enough of an excuse to start watching the series over again. I really miss BG.

[Impish]

Hugh Laurie, from what I understand is a huge perfectionist. He would notice something nobody else would.

 

And for a complete 'mess with your mind' moment, I suggest Black Adder, where he plays a complete foppish idiot whilst Mr. Bean plays the brains :lol:

 

Heck, I even have a hard time watching him as the dad in Stewart Little!

[MyBlueLobsters]

I didn't know he was British either until I saw him on a late night talk show. I thought he was being goofy! :lol: I think he does it very well!

[EmilyK]

I knew he was British from seeing him in Peter's Friends and Sense and Sensibility, but I've never seen a problem with his accent.

 

What bugs me is why the show runners make actors drop their accents. When I watched House, I always thought it would have worked fine with House being from the UK. And The Mentalist would work with Patrick Jane being from Australia. I'm kind of insulted that they think American audiences can't handle it.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I think there are so many influences on the American accent that he would have to have an obvious speech pattern in order to sound 'un-American'.

[daisychics]

Um. No' date=' it doesn't come out as a "put-on" accent, at least to my American ears.

 

I was amazed when I learned he was British and it still freaks me out to see him in interviews and hear his British accent.[/quote']

 

:iagree: I freaked out when I watched Stuart Little! I love watching House. Dh (not a doctor) wishes he can talk to people the way House does :lol:.

[Prudent]

I think his accent sounds very authentic.

 

Now the actors who play Olivia & Walter on Fringe have very bad fake American accents. But I still enjoy the show :)

[Terabith]

It's great. I didn't know he wasn't American for a season..... (I don't keep up with actors at ALL.)

[Tap]

I didn't know until I saw an interview with him.

 

There are so many regional dialects within the American language, that I think we are less likely to pick up on someone faking our accent. Unless someone was faking a heavy regional accent like Southern or Bostonian I don't think a few off notes would be caught but most laymen.

[Ellie]

Is Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

Oh, yes, I forgot about that.:glare: Yes, that's pretty dreadful, too.

 

I suspect that most Brits grow up hearing more American accents than vice versa, just because of the power of Hollywood. Perhaps that makes it easier for those Brits who have a gift to get the American accent right. Despite celebrating 22 years together with my husband, however, I still do a useless American accent.

That could be it, but golly, I should get some sort of certificate for the number of hours I've watched BBCAmerica's Changing Rooms and Robin Hood and other shows, and without professional coaching, I would NEVER be able to sound better than Van Dyke, lol (which begs the question as to why HE didn't have coaching?!)

 

I've always thought that acting with 'Chase' in House must be harder for Laurie, as the Australian accent would knock him back closer to Brit.

Yes, that must be a challenge.

 

What about the Australians who do an English accent, like Claudia Black's Aeryn Sun on Farscape? Ok, I don't know what my point is, exactly, it's just interesting to me that they aren't allowed to do Aussie.

[mommylawyer]

I think his American English is fabulous, but I LOVE his British accent. It was odd the first time I heard him "speak British."

[Impish]

Ok, I'll be completely honest.

 

Hugh Laurie, either speaking with an American accent or British, is a hottie. :001_wub: I don't know if its his eyes, or his House attitude, but oh my! :drool::svengo:

[MamaSheep]

No, he sounds quite American to me. :-)

 

Seems to me that the English and Australians do far American accents than we Yanks do *their* accents. I wonder why that is?? I cringe every time I watch "The Time Machine" with Rod Taylor or "Journey to the Center of the Earth" with Pat Boone.:glare:

 

The one I absolutely cannot even think about watching is Kevin Costner's butchery of Robin Hood. Oh, it makes me shudder just to think of it.

 

I think Hugh Laurie does fine. I agree with some other posters who pointed out that there are so many influences on American English, and so many variations of regional dialects that most of us wouldn't pick up on, or care about slight variations. Although, I did live in Georgia long enough that fake Southern accents rub me all wrong, and there seem to be very few Hollywood types who can pull it off at all convincingly. We watched Gettysburg the other day and I found the mishmash very distracting.

[pooh bear]

Being English I grew up watching Hugh Laurie and it does tickle me when people don't realise that he is English not American.

 

Ds has watched lots of English TV. He saw a preview for House the other day and asked why Bertie Wooster was talking with an American accent. He can't remember Hugh Laurie's name, so he calls him Bertie. And Stephen Fry he calls Jeeves.

[Mejane]

I notice he speaks in a very clipped manner, but it's certainly in keeping with his character. My daughter and I love him... I mean the show. :001_smile:

[Charles Wallace]

Um. No' date=' it doesn't come out as a "put-on" accent, at least to my American ears.

 

I was amazed when I learned he was British and it still freaks me out to see him in interviews and hear his British accent.[/quote']

 

I feel the same way about him and about Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck).

[ereks mom]

....fake Southern accents rub me all wrong, and there seem to be very few Hollywood types who can pull it off at all convincingly.

 

 

YES!!! I can spot a fake Southern accent miles and miles away. I've never heard it done "right" except by true Southerners.

Edited April 9, 2010 by ereks mom

[Melinda in VT]

YES!!! I can spot a fake Southern accent miles and miles away. I've never heard it done "right" except by us true Southerners.

 

People used to criticize Emily Proctor's Southern accent when she was on the West Wing. She said in an interview that it was her real accent. :lol:

[cjbeach]

I didn't know until I saw an interview with him.

 

There are so many regional dialects within the American language, that I think we are less likely to pick up on someone faking our accent. Unless someone was faking a heavy regional accent like Southern or Bostonian I don't think a few off notes would be caught but most laymen.

Spot on.

I remember watching the Departed thinking how bad some of the Boston accents -- from American actors. Tough accent to do.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I didn't know he was British, either. He sounds just like my brother (who's a bit of a curmudgeon, himself). :D

[OnTheBrink]

Um. No' date=' it doesn't come out as a "put-on" accent, at least to my American ears.

 

I was amazed when I learned he was British and it still freaks me out to see him in interviews and hear his British accent.[/quote']

 

:iagree::iagree:

 

I have the same issue with Toni Colette, who is Australian but speaks with an American accent on "The United States of Tara."

[nmoira]

Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

I think his accent grates on everyone, not just Brits. *shudder*

 

FWIW, I find Laurie's American accent to be much more convincing than Kenneth Branaugh's. :tongue_smilie: Though I'm hardly a reliable judge... I thought Rich Fulcher's accent was one of the worst I'd ever heard... and am still in denial that he's actually American. :lol:

[sassenach]

I think he does a great American accent. I didn't realize he was English until he presented at an award ceremony. I was shocked.

 

Ok, I'll be completely honest.

 

Hugh Laurie, either speaking with an American accent or British, is a hottie. :001_wub: I don't know if its his eyes, or his House attitude, but oh my! :drool::svengo:

 

Yeah, there's that too.

[OnTheBrink]

 

Yeah, there's that too.

 

There certainly is. :drool5:

[Laura Corin]

Hugh Laurie, either speaking with an American accent or British, is a hottie. :001_wub: I don't know if its his eyes, or his House attitude, but oh my! :drool::svengo:

 

 

Emma Thompson, who went out with him at university, supposedly said the following:

 

"He is very very lovable. He is one of those rare people who manages to be lugubriously sexy, like a well-hung eel."

 

Laura

[ChristusG]

I think his accent sounds very real. It totally freaks me out when I hear him talk in a British accent. It sounds like he's faking that one LOL! And yes, Dr House is quite the hottie.