Still reserving my opinion on Dollhouse...

[deird_lj]

...but I just had to mention:

That is how one does an authentic Australian accent, people!



(I almost got all excited about a fake Aussie accent being done so well, but then looked her up and realised it's genuine. Drat.)

Comments

[neutralalienist.livejournal.com]

Well, a genuine accent can still sound ludicrous, thank you Doctor Who. ;p

[deird1]

Heh. True.


I've just never ever heard a proper Aussie accent on an American tv show before.
What I have heard, is a whole bunch of Brits and Americans try to fake Aussie accents, and fail dismally...

From Laney

[(Anonymous)]

What about House? Chase does an authentic accent.
Or do you mean an actor that fakes a good Aussie accent?

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you're watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but Stephanie Jacobsen is supposedly a real (well, from 12 years old) Aussie as well and sounds like it (at least to my ears). Which is all the more puzzling as the character's from post-apocalyptic California, so I'm not entirely sure if Jacobsen is just really bad at doing an American accent or if there's character backstory we haven't gotten yet.

[deird1]

Definitely an authentic Aussie accent.


(Of course, the actress is an Aussie... For some reason, our accent seems to be un-fakeable. I've never heard anyone do it right unless they've lived here for several years.)

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Not even these guys?

[deird1]

Heh. Definitely not.

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

I guess you missed that detail, but Jesse's supposed to be Australian on the show, too. Something about the Resistance still having a nuclear sub.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

You know, now that you mention it, it rings a bell. That was in the episode with the weird future disease, right? Lot of details to keep track of in this series...

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

LOL, I had read that she was Aussie before, so I knew.


But, OMG, whether or not you're a fan of Dollhouse, wasn't Sierra cute with the glasses and the braids? I was squeeing like mad!

[deird1]

She was so cute!

[cynicalshadows.livejournal.com]

I don't know what it is about Australian accents that is so hard for actors to copy, but it must be something because they always end up sounding horribly fake.

[kirby1024.livejournal.com]

It's the vowels. We have a quite different vowel system in Australian English compared to most American English dialects, complete with differing distinctions in words (the arch-typical cot/caught distinction, for example). Wikipedia on our vowels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_English_phonology), and Wikipedia on California English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_English_regional_phonology#California_English), which most American television shows work with.

Although, to be fair, we do appalling American Accents as well, as I was informed of by an American friend of mine after she'd stopped laughing at my 3-second impersonation. Vowels, my friend. We barely hear them, and they make all the difference!

[deird1]

Although, to be fair, we do appalling American Accents as well

Speak for yourself. :)
I managed to fool several different groups of Americans into thinking I was from the US. (But then, I've got an unusually good ear for accents.)

From Laney

[(Anonymous)]

A couple of Americans who were out here were amazed that every Aussie they met could do a passable US accent, when they couldn't even attempt an Aussie accent. But then we have it easier, given that
- we're exposed to US accents on tv constantly, and
- the general US accent is the most straightforward English accent to fake. Nicely predictable. Whereas a general Aussie accent is much more difficult and irregular.

[deird1]

They really do.

One day, someone will manage to do a convincing one...

From Laney

[(Anonymous)]

Hugh Laurie is pretty good at an Aussie accent if you ask me.
And Stephen Fry is BRILLIANT.

[ib-stormcaller.livejournal.com]

Funny, i thought it was a poor fake the first time i saw it, just saw it again with someone who started complaining about the actor when she was in neighbours (a show i won't watch). Once it was pointed out to me i guess it may have been an Aussie accent, but it kept coming through as Brit/US cross to me.

[ozwiccagal.livejournal.com]

i haven't really been listening to the accents much, but i think the show is definitely one of joss' good ones.