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AIBU?

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Original poster

Why don't they use actors who are native speakers?

165 replies

BlackCatShadow · 14/04/2021 06:01

I've been watching The Serpent (no spoilers please!!) on Netflix and I'm wondering why they cast actors who can't speak a language in these parts. I get Jenna Coleman looks the part but surely they could have found an actress in the whole of Quebec who would have done. The same for the Dutch guy, why cast someone who can't actually speak Dutch?

I don't speak Spanish, but the guy they cast as Fring in Breaking Bad could not speak Spanish at all. He sounded awful. Or does it just not matter? Perhaps it doesn't bother people.

I know some actors can do accents better than others but has any actor actually managed to fake speaking a language they don't actually speak well in a TV show or movie?

OP posts:
KeflavikAirport · 20/04/2021 20:46

Just watching The Serpent on Netflix. Jenna Coleman’s Quebec accent is shite on a stick.

HeyDemonsItsYaGirl · 20/04/2021 20:58

Martin Compston's London accent is great.

KeflavikAirport · 21/04/2021 07:11

The thing is no one outside the UK has a clue who Jenna Coleman is so when Netflix sells the series internationally the massive French speaking market is sitting there going what the fuck why have they chosen this woman for this role?

Crayfishforyou · 21/04/2021 07:17

@KeflavikAirport

Just watching The Serpent on Netflix. Jenna Coleman’s Quebec accent is shite on a stick.
I’ve never heard a Quebec accent, I really liked her in The Serpent BlushBlushBlush

Non Scot actors shouldn’t attempt Scottish accents. They never pull it off.

KeflavikAirport · 21/04/2021 07:28

No one has it as bad as the Russians, sorry.

Arabic has entered the chat

LesserBother · 21/04/2021 08:34

I understand in homeland that didn't even bother to get people speaking the right language nevermind the right accent

SchrodingersImmigrant · 21/04/2021 09:12

@KeflavikAirport

No one has it as bad as the Russians, sorry.

Arabic has entered the chat

😂😂😂
IbrahimaRedTwo · 21/04/2021 09:21

had no idea the actor that played Gus Fring couldn't speak Spanish. His full name is Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito so the casting team may have made an assumption

The assumption he could speak Spanish cos he has an Italian name? (And was originally from Denmark?)

TheMarzipanDildo · 21/04/2021 09:29

I have often wondered this. It seems like so much less effort just to find someone from France/the Netherlands/ Ireland/ the US than to find an Englishman who can do the accent.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 21/04/2021 09:44

@TheMarzipanDildo

I have often wondered this. It seems like so much less effort just to find someone from France/the Netherlands/ Ireland/ the US than to find an Englishman who can do the accent.
The problem is to find someone who's name will ring a bell to english speakers as well (and the world) so it brings money money money 🤑 Like we have some excellent actors where I am from. The rest of the wlrld would just do "who? Why? Where from? Ah! You mean x country which desolved decades ago lol "
SchrodingersImmigrant · 21/04/2021 09:48

I don't blame them on accents. Just look at geography in some movies 😂 That's bigger problem imo.
Just look at Transformers and their Egypt to Jordan things😂😂😂 bloody hell.

KeflavikAirport · 21/04/2021 09:48

Well, I’m not sure. It’s not like Jenna Coleman is a massive draw outside the UK.

IbrahimaRedTwo · 21/04/2021 09:54

She was in Dr Who for 4 years which has a global audience.

poppycat10 · 21/04/2021 10:00

@IbrahimaRedTwo

She was in Dr Who for 4 years which has a global audience.
I was about to say the same thing.
KeflavikAirport · 21/04/2021 10:03

Global? Not convinced. Among a very limited demographic in English, maybe. I don't know anyone who's watched it in French. Certainly not the sort of people who would choose to watch The Serpent on Netflix.

CirclesWithinCircles · 21/04/2021 10:08

I honestly found it so poorly acted that it made it unrealistic for me and I had to stop watching it. The part of the Dutch guy was so poorly acted that it wasn't just the accent, the manberisns and attitude were all wrong. The two lead actors just seemed very sanguine and typically English to me.

It was the same with The Terror on BBC too. I found it so fake and over acted (with the exception of the Inuit actors) that I stopped watching it. It was more about style than substance. The set was so limited that the whole thing had to be shot in a sort of dusky half light so you didnt notice the baffling decision to film it in the middle of Sumner at an Eastern European beach resort!

Usual BBC fare these days.

IbrahimaRedTwo · 21/04/2021 10:11

Among a very limited demographic in English, maybe. I don't know anyone who's watched it in French

You don't personally know anyone so it didn't happen? Dr Who is shown in 65 countries with an audience of 110 MILLION. The 50th anniversary ep was shown in cinemas around the world and holds the world record for the scope of it.
So yes, a huge global audience.

Certainly not the sort of people who would choose to watch The Serpent on Netflix
Hmm What "sort of people" would that be then?

Yogatomorrow · 21/04/2021 10:11

This thread reminds me of some god awful film with pierce brosnan. He had to pretend to be irish - which shouldn't have been a problem considering he is irish! Oh dear...really bad, inconsistent accent. I think he moved to the uk when a teenager and must have lost the accent forever.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 21/04/2021 10:13

@KeflavikAirport

Global? Not convinced. Among a very limited demographic in English, maybe. I don't know anyone who's watched it in French. Certainly not the sort of people who would choose to watch The Serpent on Netflix.
I would say global. I know people from quite a few countries who were/are Dr Who fans.
MaizeBlouse · 21/04/2021 10:17

Its the same answer as most things: MONEY.

They'll make more money selling a TV show with X, X and X name in it compared to 'very able but totally unheard of local actor'. Get a name in to do it, more people tune in, more money made on the back of promoting it, more money in the producers pocket.

KeflavikAirport · 21/04/2021 10:29

Yes lots of people watch Dr Who. But even more people don't watch it. It's not shown on the main channels in France, for instance, it's shown on the equivalent of like BBC 4 and it's seen as a kid's show. It might be watched by adult geeks as well in a cult TV kind of way, I don't know, that's not my scene. But no, I don't think there's a huge crossover between sci-fi geekdom and the true crime documentary demographic among French adult TV audiences.

KeflavikAirport · 21/04/2021 10:35

According to Wiki, Dr Who was moved to the 6.30 on Sunday morning slot in France because so few people were watching it.

VisitingtheInfidel · 21/04/2021 10:50

Someone mentioned Karl Urban in The Boys. Not only is his accent terrible but so is the ‘French’ accent of the lad playing Frenchie. I just looked him up and he seems to be Israeli so that might explain it. 🤣
Billy’s whole family had the weirdest mix of accents too though.

QwertyGirly · 21/04/2021 10:56

I liked Jenna Coleman in The Serpent. And I'm from Quebec. Her accent wasn't great, but I could tell they made a proper effort on the intonation. My teenage kids (who didn't watch the whole show!) commented that she spoke like me. And her mannerism was good, and sense of style (love the 70s outfits)!

I think that sometimes they take a British actor as a main character to secure a wider audience here. What I don't like are British actors with American actors. that does get on my nerves.

Linning · 21/04/2021 10:57

As a French individual YANBU, I have yet to see a native English speaker speak proper French and do the accent correctly. I had to rewind the parts in French in Bridgerton too many times because it’s so miss-pronounced I find it ridiculous they even try to pretend they are French and fluent and Ratatouille was unbearable to watch in English due to the awful fake French accents.

Honestly I find it offensive, and as if they are making a mockery of specific accents. If you want an actor with a French accent hire a French actor that’s bilingual in English so you actually have the accent, don’t hire a British actor and ask him to fake to be French so he can put on the worst French accent and have a laugh.

I couldn’t even watch Ratatouille in English and had to switch it to French as honestly I found it unbearable and extremely hard to understand the English with those fake accents. Also they are rarely consistent so will say the main lines in very strong distorted French accent and then finish the sentence with a perfect British/US pronounciation. The inconsistency makes me laugh but how infuriating that they can’t at least pick actors who can pronounce the language they are supposed to be native in in the movie.