289 replies to this topic

[stormborns]

As and Australian viewer of GoT and many other BBC/iTV/Showtime productions, I would say that the default setting is the charming British accent since Britain has been the setting for many wars and period eras.  Unless it is a prominently multi cultured drama, such as the Borgias, which uses a thick Italian accent, the British Accent conquers many dramas.  Britain has a large history which has provided many backings for the production of shows such as GoT, as well as a basis for costume when the books do not fully provide in some cases.
Besides, the British accent is the best

[stormborns]

As and Australian viewer of GoT and many other BBC/iTV/Showtime productions, I would say that the default setting is the charming British accent since Britain has been the setting for many wars and period eras.  Unless it is a prominently multi cultured drama, such as the Borgias, which uses a thick Italian accent, the British Accent conquers many dramas.  Britain has a large history which has provided many backings for the production of shows such as GoT, as well as a basis for costume when the books do not fully provide in some cases.
Besides, the British accent is the best

[stormborns]

Aegnor, on 26 March 2012 - 12:17 PM, said:

Harry Potter, for instance could have been set in America, with American accents, with no issue.  What made it British, is that it was built into the story by the author.  So the British accent is story driven, where the accent in Game of Thrones is not.

IMHO, I disagree with this statement.  Harry Potter was set in Hogwarts, an ancient-ish castle.  To set Harry Potter in a place such as the USA where the country is still very young would be foolish, and fans of the novels would be probably offended if the story was all of a sudden set in some large American Manor.  America also never had royalty, and royalty generally produces castles.  America's well deserved liberty removed the oppurtunity for extreme luxuries such as castles to be built.  The accent in GoT is also story driven, as it can be related to the Cousins war of Britan which can assist readers and watchers in keeping up with the story line.

[Sword of the Morning Wood]

Also, I've been listening carefully to LF recently and there's definitely a hint of Welsh there.

[Dooogs]

I can understand GRRM and the showrunners not being too bothered about making every character's accent linked to a particular 'real world' location, but there are a couple of jarring anomalies:

1) The Mormonts - we know (book spoilers!) that Jorah and Jeor never meet within the book timeframe but Iain Glen doesn't sound like he's ever been near Bear Island;

2) The Baratheons - Stannis' accent is close enough to Robert's (less obviously northern but there's a tinge there but 'Garden of Bones' really brought home that Renly doesn't sounds like he's ever spent time with his brothers, accent-wise.

3) Not much of an issue in the TV series but it would have been nice for the Tarlys/Tyrrells to sound a little west-countryish - as it is, you'd think the Tolletts and Tarlys were neighbours (well, Alderley Edge and Moss Side, anyway).To be fair, west country accents would have been just a little too hobbitish, perhaps.

4) Thanks to Carice van Houten, I now think of 'Asshai beneath the Shadow' as next to Schipol airport, and that Goldmember and Melissandre might be related... (although surely Goldmember should be a Lannister?)


Any UK/Ireland accents under-used so far? I've not heard many Brummies yet, and very few Irish accents, despite the number of Irish actors involved. Finally, can a north-easterner identify Davos' accent - is it standard Geordie or more like Middlesbrough? Liam Cunningham's carried it off well, but I still think of Flea Bottom's finest smuggler as a Cockney...

[Dooogs]

stormborns, on 23 April 2012 - 09:39 AM, said:

IMHO, I disagree with this statement.  Harry Potter was set in Hogwarts, an ancient-ish castle.  To set Harry Potter in a place such as the USA where the country is still very young would be foolish, and fans of the novels would be probably offended if the story was all of a sudden set in some large American Manor.  America also never had royalty, and royalty generally produces castles.  America's well deserved liberty removed the oppurtunity for extreme luxuries such as castles to be built.  The accent in GoT is also story driven, as it can be related to the Cousins war of Britan which can assist readers and watchers in keeping up with the story line.

Hogwarts in America would end up looking like Xavier's X-Men academy, or Dead Poets Society, in my imagination...

[CrypticWeirwood]

I still find it constantly bizarre when siblings don’t have the same accent.  It’s  far easier to find pairs of siblings with differing accents than it is to find pairs with similar ones.

[The King of Ashes]

I can kind of understand why Renly would have a different accent to his brothers due to the fact that he was young when Robert became king so you could say that he grew up in Kings Landing and therefore developed the accent. Why people from the North and the Stormlands would have the same accent is baffling to me though.

[Drogon's Personal Trainer]

CrypticWeirwood, on 26 April 2012 - 10:03 AM, said:

I still find it constantly bizarre when siblings don’t have the same accent.  It’s  far easier to find pairs of siblings with differing accents than it is to find pairs with similar ones.

Well, I agree up to a point here, Weirwood.  But I've learned to allow some latitude.  Yep, Robb and Jon have northern accents; Sansa, Bran and Arya are 'southern' Brits.  However, we must remember that they're kids, and if they had to spend time developing their accents, we might lose out on performance.  Put it this way - I'd rather have Maisie Williams with her (to me, a Brit) vaguely West Country accent, and a kick-ass performance that captures book Arya perfectly, than a kid struggling to be northern, or a northern actress unable to handle the character portrayal.  I guess the producers have to make the best decisions with what they've got.

But I think I said upthread that I'm not that bothered about the accents.  I can tell Peter Dinklage is American, no matter what stalwart job he's doing, and Nikolaj also sounds vaguely American to me, whereas Lena Headey is spot on southern British (or 'accentless' as we would call it).  I'm more concerned that they act their roles with conviction, to make me believe in the characters.  In fact I wouldn't care if the whole cast had American accents, to be honest.  A convincing portrayal should trump an accent every time. And that's from a Brit.

[Raksha the Demon]

The King of Ashes, on 20 April 2012 - 09:33 PM, said:

I get the Richard Wilson thing but I also think Tyrion with his tansatlantic accent sounds like Kelsey Grammar in Frasier. Go hear it for yourself, it's uncanny!

I don't hear a similar accent between Richard Wilson and Peter Dinklage-as-Tyrion, but they both have resonant voices and clear diction, and vary their intonation.  I have the sense, when listening to both actors, that they would make fine orators; a sense I don't have with Kit Harrington or Jack Gleeson (who is doing a fine job as Joffrey this season, and is, I think, a slightly better actor than Harrington; but he does not put much emotion into his voice - when he did, in directing Roz to hit the other prostitute "harder", it's scary).  

I have been enjoying all the voices and accents in AGOT-TV.  I thought, in the first season, that Kit Harrington had an accent similar to Sean Bean's; and that there was a hint of Scot in Richard McFadden and a hint of Irish in Michelle Fairley.  But I have an American ear, so I could easily be mistaken.  I've often thought, in some British movies or hearing some British actors, that some British actors tend to swallow their words; so I'm pleased when they don't; Michelle Fairley has lovely diction; and it's always a pleasure to listen to Charles Dance, and I like the sound of Kit Harrington's voice even if his diction isn't always as crisp as I would like; and (?)James Cosmo as the Old Bear's voice is delightful (and very different, at least to my ears, from Iain Glen's Jorah-voice).  It would be more boring and less realistic than if all the actors/actresses had the same accents.  I confess to not being able to detect any difference between Sansa's accent and Arya's, though perhaps Sansa and Bran are a little closer in accent than Sansa and Arya?  

What kind of accent does Emilia Clarke use for Daenerys?  I think she's using Queen's English; her diction is nice, and there's a distinct upper-class accent there, at least from what I can tell.  Ditto Harry Lloyd as Viserys; their voices  match well as siblings.

[SerArthurHeath]

Emilia Clarke's accent is her natural one I think

[Currawong]

Raksha the Demon, on 27 April 2012 - 02:19 PM, said:

Peter Dinklage-as-Tyrion ...  they both have resonant voices and clear diction, and vary their intonation.  I have the sense, when listening to both actors, that they would make fine orators;

It seems to me that many of the actors who have clear diction (as distinct from their accent) have all had extensive stage and theatre experience, where diction and the ability to project voices is all important.   Certainly actors such as Peter Dinklage, Charles Dance, Ian Glen, Michelle Fairley etc all have that sort of background, in addition to their TV and film work.   I suspect this may also be a factor in why D&D have been able to find so many fine character actors for the key secondary roles.

[Skeksi]

Sword of the Morning Wood, on 26 April 2012 - 01:25 AM, said:

Also, I've been listening carefully to LF recently and there's definitely a hint of Welsh there.

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this! I didn't hear it last series, though, which makes me wonder if Aidan Gillen was ill, or simply having trouble getting back into the LF accent when they filmed series 2. It would be cool if it was an intentional change to reflect LF's Vale roots. Or perhaps I simply wasn't hearing it in series 1.

[hobbleit]

Dooogs, on 26 April 2012 - 05:50 AM, said:

Any UK/Ireland accents under-used so far? I've not heard many Brummies yet, and very few Irish accents, despite the number of Irish actors involved. Finally, can a north-easterner identify Davos' accent - is it standard Geordie or more like Middlesbrough? Liam Cunningham's carried it off well, but I still think of Flea Bottom's finest smuggler as a Cockney...

When I first heard it I immediately thought it was more Geordie, so did my brother.

I'm from the North East and I'm not even completely sure what a Middlesbrough accent sounds like *hangs head in shame*

[Neds Head]

Independent George, on 26 March 2012 - 09:31 AM, said:

I'm not an expert by any means, but what I find interesting is that they sound to my American ears to be not only British accents, but regional British accents. The North sounds vaguely Scottish to me, Robert sounded like he was from Northern England, I know the DVD commentary track to episode 6 said that the Vale was cast as predominantly Welsh (though I couldn't identify a Welsh accent if my life depended on it). I believe (someone please confirm) that Liz Dickie is herself Scottish, but Lysa Arryn seemed to have an English accent to match her sister. Obviously for casting purposes, it's impossible to be completely consistent, but my general impression is that there was a distinct effort to maintain regional accents.

Then again, I could be completely talking out my ass; hopefully one of our British readers can set me straight. For natives, it could be as jarring as watching a western where everybody's speaking Italian. Oh, wait...

I'm from Scotland myself mate. You're right, Mark Addy (robert) is from Yorkshire in northern England. There's a few Scottish actors and actresses in the series playing their characters with English accents such as the people who play Jorah Mormont, Jeor Mormont, Lysa Arryn and of course Robb Stark.
The regional accents in the show are by and large very good but then again they are being played by mostly British actors. The only one I have a very slight issue with is Tyrion, who sounds for obvious reasons like an american trying to do an upper class English accent (albeit a very good one).

As for the welsh accent, people in eastern Wales can sound English, so maybe they took that as general Welsh!

[Neds Head]

Dooogs, on 26 April 2012 - 05:50 AM, said:

I can understand GRRM and the showrunners not being too bothered about making every character's accent linked to a particular 'real world' location, but there are a couple of jarring anomalies:

1) The Mormonts - we know (book spoilers!) that Jorah and Jeor never meet within the book timeframe but Iain Glen doesn't sound like he's ever been near Bear Island;

2) The Baratheons - Stannis' accent is close enough to Robert's (less obviously northern but there's a tinge there but 'Garden of Bones' really brought home that Renly doesn't sounds like he's ever spent time with his brothers, accent-wise.

3) Not much of an issue in the TV series but it would have been nice for the Tarlys/Tyrrells to sound a little west-countryish - as it is, you'd think the Tolletts and Tarlys were neighbours (well, Alderley Edge and Moss Side, anyway).To be fair, west country accents would have been just a little too hobbitish, perhaps.

4) Thanks to Carice van Houten, I now think of 'Asshai beneath the Shadow' as next to Schipol airport, and that Goldmember and Melissandre might be related... (although surely Goldmember should be a Lannister?)


Any UK/Ireland accents under-used so far? I've not heard many Brummies yet, and very few Irish accents, despite the number of Irish actors involved. Finally, can a north-easterner identify Davos' accent - is it standard Geordie or more like Middlesbrough? Liam Cunningham's carried it off well, but I still think of Flea Bottom's finest smuggler as a Cockney...

Iain Glen doesn't hide his own Scottish accent very well

[Alia of the knife]

Dolorous Eddie, on 26 March 2012 - 10:16 AM, said:

Well I don't know about other fantasy shows, but seeing as Westeros is based on Britain, I think it makes sense to have the actors speak with a British Accent. As for the American/non-British actors, they're probably masking their accents simply because the majority of the cast is British and it would be odd having only 3 or 4 characters speaking with a completely different accent. Furthermore, I think people tend to associate European accents with the "old world" and American ones with the "new". And that goes for all languages, not just English.

I realise this is off-topic, but what do you Brits thinks of the accents in the show? English is not my native language, so I really can't tell, but do Peter Dinklage and Nikolaj Coster Waldau, for instance, have a good accent?

Edit:


I completely agree.

I think that is the best summation, because you just would not expect to hear American English spoken in this time period.
(But, I do wonder how many people believe the Romans spoke with a British accent)?  


I also think all langauages are different than what they were 700 years ago.
Would the modern British person understand the English spoken then?

Edited by Alia of the knife, 28 April 2012 - 07:54 PM.

[SerArthurHeath]

If you've tried reading the original Canterbury's Tales, the answer is "kind of. But barely". But the same applies for some British regional dialects with accents now days

[*expletivedeleted*]

I always expected it, given that the source material uses a lot of English history, especially the War of the Roses.

[Alia of the knife]

SerArthurHeath, on 28 April 2012 - 09:05 PM, said:

If you've tried reading the original Canterbury's Tales, the answer is "kind of. But barely". But the same applies for some British regional dialects with accents now days

My High School English Teacher made us start out with the original text, as well as Beowulf, and I was almost in tears until she relented and gave us the translated version.

But, if you look at today and the impact of texting and "computer speak" abbreviations, and such is having on the language, it will probably be unreconizable in twenty years.

My own handwriting has suffered to the point I write like a Pharmacist, (no offense to Pharmacists), when it had been pretty.