Realistic accents

[Bungle Jerry]

Lots of actors in the Buffyverse are required to put on accents that aren't their own - it's fun watching the DVD extras to hear them speaking with their own voices.

Which actors do you think put on accents the best, and which ones the worst?

Alexis Denisof I think does great. I never have any problems seeing him as British. James Marsters does a great job too - to the point that when he's hiding from the Initiative, he actually puts on a Brit putting on an American accent... impressive.

David Boreanaz obviously has huge problems with the Irish accent. And I've never been convinced by Juliet Landau either ('moi Spoike'). What do you think?

 

[GrrArghx]

I never knew that Alexis had an American accent until a few months ago, lol.
Especially after I had saw an interview with Aly and she talked about going over to England with him.
Then I saw a video of Alexis and I was like "He's not British!?!??!!?!?!?!??!!!??!" :lmao:

As for the rest, I don't know. I don't know any British people or Irish people so David's, James', etc - their accents never bothered me 😛 I couldn't really tell either way, lol.

However, I did sort of think Juliet was british, but it wasn't like a total surprise when I found out she wasn't.

 

[Vengeance]

There was a potential somewhere in S7, I don't remember her name, but she did the most horrible british accent I've ever heard. My ears started bleeding. And yeah, David does a terrible Irish accent, they really should've made him from somewhere else. James and Alexis do great Brits but I personally think Alexis is a little better at it. I do laugh every time though of James impersonating a Brit impersonating an American.

 

[Bungle Jerry]

There was a potential somewhere in S7, I don't remember her name, but she did the most horrible british accent I've ever heard. My ears started bleeding. And yeah, David does a terrible Irish accent, they really should've made him from somewhere else. James and Alexis do great Brits but I personally think Alexis is a little better at it. I do laugh every time though of James impersonating a Brit impersonating an American.

Yeah I think the two Brits were Molly and Anabelle - both played by Americans, of course. Molly is probably my favourite potential - no good reason why; she just is. And I have no idea how I've failed to notice until now (looking at the actors on Wikipedia) that the actor who played Molly, Clare Bryant, appeared on an episode of Roseanne as - you betcha - Glenn Quinn's little sister. How cool is that?

Speaking of accents, should we mention Kendra?

 

[Vengeance]

I have no idea what kind of accent they were going for with Kendra so it's kind of hard to judge whether it was any good. I will say though, I thought it sounded lame. I would've rather had a slayer from a different region.

 

[NY State of Mind]

Spike does a good accent but Wesley is better...Dru not as much

Angel has a bad accent and i'm not even familiar with Irish accents but Kendra was the worst with that Carribean accent

What i don't get is was Darla from the U.S. cause out the group she didn't have an accent

 

[Buffy Summers]

lol yes, she's from my home town.

 

[Beaumonde]

Kendra was supposed to have an accent from a very small distinct region where not many people have it. Something like that anyway. She apparently does a really good job, but I have nothing to compare it to.

 

[Taake]

The only accent that ever annoyed me was DB's Irish, that was really... well dreadful. The others did a good job I think, well James' British falls flat every now and then but as a whole he's excellent

 

[MinwaraYana]

I think Alexis is the best. I've just known he's not Brittish a year ago too. And his American accent in Dollhouse was kinda cool. But his real accent is like, half-American, half-Brittish, lol.

And James did a great job too. But in Pangs, it's a little out of track.

Kendra is from Jamaica. Bianca did a believable accent, but it annoyed me a little. 😛 About David, I don't know what's Irish accent like so I don't know if it's bad.

 

[Bungle Jerry]

Spike does a good accent but Wesley is better...Dru not as much

Angel has a bad accent and i'm not even familiar with Irish accents but Kendra was the worst with that Carribean accent

What i don't get is was Darla from the U.S. cause out the group she didn't have an accent

Yeah having her be born in colonial Virginia was presumably a way to avoid making her put on an accent - either because Julie Benz couldn't or because in S1 they didn't ask her to. Of course 17th century Americans didn't talk like modern Americans, but I guess her speech patterns adjusted, like Angel after 100 years in the USA (he spent 100 years in Hell too, but either there's no Hell accent, or people in Hell have American accents...)

 

[Chris2]

I thought Alexis Denisof's accent was great, to the point where I find it odd to hear him speaking in his real American accent, because it actually sounds less authentic than his fake British one. I'm not actually English, though, so I could be off on this one. Harris Yulin (the guy who played Quentin Travers) was good as well.

James Marsters' accent was over the top initially (though it never annoyed me), but it got better for most of the show's run. Juliet Landau's accent doesn't sound like any real English accent I've encountered, but I thought it worked well for her character.

Angel's accent was pretty bad, and the English potentials were worse. Some of the Watcher's Council people weren't that great either.

And then there's Keith Szarabajka (Holtz), who didn't seem to even try and affect an English accent.

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

([...] either there's no Hell accent, or people in Hell have American accents...)

Haha, I love the idea that people in Hell have American accents, but I think it's more likely that they just don't get much chit-chat in between the bloodcurdling screams. 😉

About Darla, I think that really was just a problem of their thinking she was completely unimportant when she was introduced. Why have an actress who's already struggling with the prosthetics put on an accent? Julie is very competent, and I'm sure if she was asked to use one she'd learn how...but there was no real reason for them to do that. They kind of had to write the backstory around that, but I never even thought about it until now, so it obviously worked out ok!

I get the Drusilla criticisms, but I get the impression that it was a deliberate over-exaggeration. Kind of like Frank in Rocky Horror, you know? She's crazy, her speech patterns are weird, and her vowels are funky. I liked it.

 

[GrrArghx]

(he spent 100 years in Hell too, but either there's no Hell accent, or people in Hell have American accents...)

This is off-topic (sorry) but I've always wondered why the people/demons in the other dimensions spoke English? 😛 I just found it odd.

 

[dan k]

James and Alexis's accents were top notch. For a long time i thought James was English. In regard to David Boreanaz's Irish it isn't great but i think people are being a bit harsh when they label it as being terrible. It isn't great though.

 

[Buffy Summers]

Hey, do YOU know how the Irish accent sounded hundreds of years ago?

😛

 

[AndrewCrossett]

I always preferred to think of Kendra as being from East Africa, rather than Jamaica. She mentioned how her home community had such a deep respect and reverence for the Slayer mythos. That wouldn't make much sense for Jamaica, but would make sense for Africa, where the Slayers originated. Also, her Watcher had an African-sounding name. The surname "Young" indicates she came from somewhere English names were used, so Kenya would be the most likely.

I think Alexis had the best accent on the show... good enough to fool a lot of native British people I've talked to. James Marsters' was pretty good, if you remember he's basically doing a Billy Idol impression. Juliet's was kind of over-the-top, but then so was Dru. David's Irish accent was pretty comically bad... IIRC, the last time he played Liam he didn't even bother with the accent.

I think British actors are generally better at doing American accents than American actors are at doing British ones. I don't know why that is.

 

[Bungle Jerry]

I forgot my least favourite English accent on the show: Weatherby, from the Watchers' Council's "Wet Works" team. He of the classic "Ya JAAAAB 'er with it, DONcha?" I just checked to be sure, and his name is Jeff Ricketts, and he's from Maryland. But the actor who played Collins really was Scottish, as it turns out.

 

[Buffy Summers]

I think British actors are generally better at doing American accents than American actors are at doing British ones. I don't know why that is.

(Not meaning offense) Probably because American tv/movies are so widely available - British actors have heard it more.

 

[Kana]

I always preferred to think of Kendra as being from East Africa, rather than Jamaica. She mentioned how her home community had such a deep respect and reverence for the Slayer mythos. That wouldn't make much sense for Jamaica, but would make sense for Africa, where the Slayers originated. Also, her Watcher had an African-sounding name. The surname "Young" indicates she came from somewhere English names were used, so Kenya would be the most likely.

I think Alexis had the best accent on the show... good enough to fool a lot of native British people I've talked to. James Marsters' was pretty good, if you remember he's basically doing a Billy Idol impression. Juliet's was kind of over-the-top, but then so was Dru. David's Irish accent was pretty comically bad... IIRC, the last time he played Liam he didn't even bother with the accent.

I think British actors are generally better at doing American accents than American actors are at doing British ones. I don't know why that is.

My parents are from East Africa and my mother said Kendra's accent is so far from any East African accent. It's most likely a (really, really bad) West Indian accent.

Any, yes David should have got a stunt double to do his Irish accent , because it's quite precarious for him to attempt it by himself.

Alexis' time in England obviously helped but Marsters, apart from a couple of slips did also do a good job.