Accents in the Show

[zacz1987]

13 hours ago, SinisterDeath said:

I read several complaints, where people claimed they couldn't understand Josha. At all... I didn't have any issue understanding him.

I had no problem understanding him but I could definitely hear the Dutch accent. It was quite strong, especially in scenes where he is emotional - like when he yells at Moiraine.

[Andra]

18 hours ago, SinisterDeath said:

I honestly don't even remember any prominent accent in the show that definitely sounded British or American.
It probably would have been more obvious had Mat & company used terms like "Wanker" and "Bloody Hell" in a stereotypical British way...

As to the topic of accents, location, etc... 

I live in the middle of nowhere Minnesota. I've never heard locals talk with the stereotypical "Fargo" Minnesotan accent. I've heard vacationers from the Cities talking with that accent, but they'll vehemently deny that the "Minnesota Accent" is an accent found in the Cities. It's only found among the "Rural Hicks".

 

One of the definite reasons that accent bled away from this area is the Interstate System that plows through Lakes Country, which create a tourism boom in this area during the 70s thru the 90s. Resorts everywhere, Vacationers from every state... snow birds buying up cabins. That changed the local accent. Only the old timers, and Farmers/homesteaders  that live in the sticks in this area really have that accent.

 

Then those up der north next to the canucks, that's were that accent is thickest, dontcha know you betcha.

 

 

I actually went to high school in Minnesota.  After moving there from Ohio.

I didn't think I had an accent, but the rest of the kids in my class swore I did.

 

They all sounded a bit different to me, but nowhere near as extreme as the stereotype.

 

Interestingly enough, I did meet a couple people who spoke with that exaggerated "Fargo" accent.  In Thief River Falls and Bemidji.  Uff da.?

[Andra]

17 hours ago, SinisterDeath said:

I read several complaints, where people claimed they couldn't understand Josha. At all... I didn't have any issue understanding him.

The only one of the protagonists I had trouble understanding was (at times) Mat.

The worst was unfortunately during what should have been one of his best scenes - singing the "Manetheren" song.

 

He sounds like he has a mouthful of gravel, and the only part of the song that are clear are from the chorus.  I had to turn on subtitles to get the words.

 

But that's not about accents so much as it is about bad sound direction.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Andra

[DaddyFinn]

1 hour ago, Andra said:

The only one of the protagonists I had trouble understanding was (at times) Mat.

Same here

[Humbugged2]

2 hours ago, DaddyFinn said:

Same here

A lot of that is OG Mat speaks Estuary English/Mockney in real life .

 

 

[Dagon Thyne]

According to RJ, Illians has a Dutch (Thought it reads more like English Westcountry) accent and Seachan are Texan.

 

I always saw Tear as Spanish accents (mostly because Spain seemed to be the primary basis for Tear...olives, wine, horses, oiled beards, nobles are above the law, commoners have no rights, even their treatment of Aes Sedai is based of how the Spanish treated anyone they feared and anything they didn't understand. 

Andor as Enlish, Western Andor as Irish, Two Rivers as Welsh, and the rest of the Midlands as various subsets of British.

[Deviations]

On 5/8/2022 at 3:06 AM, Andra said:

I actually went to high school in Minnesota.  After moving there from Ohio.

I didn't think I had an accent, but the rest of the kids in my class swore I did.

 

They all sounded a bit different to me, but nowhere near as extreme as the stereotype.

 

Interestingly enough, I did meet a couple people who spoke with that exaggerated "Fargo" accent.  In Thief River Falls and Bemidji.  Uff da.?

I have a ex-brother in law from south Minneapolis/Richfield.  He has that classic Minnesota accent.  I have some property in Ely (near the Canadian border) which is chock full of Finns.  That's another 'Minnesota' accent all by itself!

[Deviations]

On 5/8/2022 at 5:34 AM, DaddyFinn said:

Same here

Trouble understanding Mat doesn't quite describe it.  I had to turn closed caption on - which I detest.  I'm not sure why anyone was disappointed to see that actor leave.  I flat couldn't understand anything he said.

[DojoToad]

6 hours ago, Deviations said:

Trouble understanding Mat doesn't quite describe it.  I had to turn closed caption on - which I detest.  I'm not sure why anyone was disappointed to see that actor leave.  I flat couldn't understand anything he said.

I had no problem understanding Mat and thought he was one of the better actors. 

[zacz1987]

On 8/20/2022 at 10:41 AM, DojoToad said:

I had no problem understanding Mat and thought he was one of the better actors. 

I had no problem understanding Mat but did think that his accent didn't fit. The other two rivers actors where at least trying to use the same accent, even if they failed somewhat. Barney Harris wasn't even trying, which may not have been his choice to be fair, the director and/or show writers may have told him to use a Cockney type accent.

[Elgee]

On 8/20/2022 at 4:41 AM, DojoToad said:

I had no problem understanding Mat and thought he was one of the better actors. 

 

Fully agree.

[Cipher]

Imo it would have been awesome to have the Two Rivers folks to have an American southern accent.  Them being country bumpkins was a major plot point.  That would have been a style choice that would have earned ire, but could have been an out of left field choice which denotes their difference.

 

Sean Chan--Russian or German accents would be a cool choice to denote an "enemy."

[ForsakenPotato]

At points each of the actors real accents definitely did peek out. I didn't find it distracted from the story but I can understand why it did for some viewers.

 

If I had to guess the younger actors are focusing on getting the emotions right in the scenes over getting each syllable perfect, which is why their native accents showed more in emotional scenes. I think we'll see less of that as they gain more experience and work together as a group more, but it's expected for a group of younger actors from a lot of different places. I'm pretty happy with how each of them have captured the personality of their character and I'm not sure the acting would be as good if casting had to cast a narrower net over just one region to align their accents more. It's a tradeoff that feels right to me for the main characters, but fully understand how it could feel disruptive for other viewers.

 

That said...the Boarderlanders are mostly older and more experienced actors. I think they can make a bigger effort to be more cohesive in future seasons, even if most of them have smaller roles than the Two Rivers gang.