Fake Irish actors/characters

Beechwoodspark · 20-11-2018 11:11pm #1

So I was flicking through the channels and happened across a cringeworthy and overall crap sitcom (although not at all funny) on sky one called

The Reluctant Landlord

It really is p1ss poor. Also It features a terrible actress with an obviously fake Irish accent. I am guessing she is southern English(Kent or Sussex or some such) but open to correction.

Is this a new thing? The English trying to ape an Irish accent rather than employing an Irish actor?

Any other examples?

JustAYoungLad · 20-11-2018 11:19pm

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

So I was flicking through the channels and happened across a cringeworthy and overall crap sitcom (although not at all funny) on sky one called

The Reluctant Landlord

It really is p1ss poor. Also It features a terrible actress with an obviously fake Irish accent. I am guessing she is southern English(Kent or Sussex or some such) but open to correction.

Is this a new thing? The English trying to ape an Irish accent rather than employing an Irish actor?

Any other examples?

Whoa. Someone pretending to be someone else? Almost like theyre acting or something...

Noveight · 20-11-2018 11:23pm

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

The English trying to ape an Irish accent

Saoirse Rónan, basically.

0lddog · 20-11-2018 11:27pm

OP, do you mean people like Micheál Mac Liammóir ?

Guy:Incognito · 20-11-2018 11:29pm

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

It really is p1ss poor. Also It features a terrible actress with an obviously fake Irish accent. I am guessing she is southern English(Kent or Sussex or some such) but open to correction.

Ah yes, that notorious southern softie Yasmine Akram https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmine_Akram

Harry Palmr · 20-11-2018 11:39pm

Daniel Day Lewis.

marcbrophy · 20-11-2018 11:54pm

Shay Cormac from the Assassin's Creed Rogue game always stood out as woeful to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBe6pRdpVh4

Your man's Canadian!

Gwynplaine · 20-11-2018 11:54pm

Aidan Gillen

AllForIt · 20-11-2018 11:57pm

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Daniel Day Lewis.

To be fair I think it is the Irish that attempt to claim him as one of 'ours'.

Roger Hassenforder · 20-11-2018 11:58pm

Have we been culturally appropriated?

21-11-2018 12:16am

The girl that played the lead character in "blood" is English and you would never guess, her accent was excellent, I assumed she was Irish

YFlyer · 21-11-2018 12:17am

Brad Pitt.

darlett · 21-11-2018 12:31am

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Ah yes, that notorious southern softie Yasmine Akram https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmine_Akram

Wow! Thats fairly embarrassing for the op!

Dominique McElligott in House of Cards.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers Henry VIII in the Tudors.
Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders.

Am i doing it right? All these featured english roles pretending to be Irish actors and actresses. Its a disgrace.

Jessie Belle · 21-11-2018 12:32am

Fair city?

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 21-11-2018 12:43am

I believe Tom Cruise in Far and Away is the current holder of the official all-tine worst Irish accent in cinematic history

StupidLikeAFox · 21-11-2018 12:47am

Remember Sean Connery in the hunt for red October? Played a Russian army general with a full on Scottish accent

Wheety · 21-11-2018 12:48am

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Ah yes, that notorious southern softie Yasmine Akram https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasmine_Akram

Guess the OP won't be back :-D

Zaph · 21-11-2018 12:56am

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

I believe Tom Cruise in Far and Away is the current holder of the official all-tine worst Irish accent in cinematic history

Nah, Julia Roberts in Michael Collins has to take that title. Her accent was never from the same part of the country in two consecutive scenes. I believe she's even worse in Mary Reilly, but I haven't seen that.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 21-11-2018 1:28am

Zaph wrote: »

Nah, Julia Roberts in Michael Collins has to take that title. Her accent was never from the same part of the country in two consecutive scenes. I believe she's even worse in Mary Reilly, but I haven't seen that.

I can accept that, but I didn't judge the competition!

zapitastas · 21-11-2018 1:34am

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

I believe Tom Cruise in Far and Away is the current holder of the official all-tine worst Irish accent in cinematic history

Tom cruise actually had a decent irish accent but was made to opt for the stage Irish one for the movie.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 21-11-2018 1:37am

The lad who played Escobar in Narcos probably has the worst accent in TV or cinema. He didn't even speak Spanish when they started making the show. It's like casting a German with poor English as Michael Collins.

Atoms for Peace · 21-11-2018 1:43am

Peirce Brosnan's Irish accent is woeful.

gormdubhgorm · 21-11-2018 1:51am

From the sons of anarchy about four years ago - Titus Welliver

gormdubhgorm · 21-11-2018 2:01am

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

Peirce Brosnan's Irish accent is woeful.

He's from Meath....

Edit - I get it now

bodhrandude · 21-11-2018 2:18am

darlett wrote: »

Wow! Thats fairly embarrassing for the op!

Dominique McElligott in House of Cards.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers Henry VIII in the Tudors.
Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders.

Am i doing it right? All these featured english roles pretending to be Irish actors and actresses. Its a disgrace.

Cillian Murphy is Irish, did you never see Ken Loach's The Wind the shakes the barley.

gormdubhgorm · 21-11-2018 2:22am

bodhrandude wrote: »

Cillian Murphy is Irish, did you never see Ken Loach's The Wind the shakes the barley.

Oh I see in that wiki link the actress the OP is referring was a woman raised in Drogheda but born in the UAE...

FanadMan · 21-11-2018 3:44am

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

So I was flicking through the channels and happened across a cringeworthy and overall crap sitcom (although not at all funny) on sky one called

The Reluctant Landlord

It really is p1ss poor. Also It features a terrible actress with an obviously fake Irish accent. I am guessing she is southern English(Kent or Sussex or some such) but open to correction.

Is this a new thing? The English trying to ape an Irish accent rather than employing an Irish actor?

Any other examples?

Aww bless! The poor young'un thinks this is something new

Larbre34 · 21-11-2018 3:54am

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Remember Sean Connery in the hunt for red October? Played a Russian army general with a full on Scottish accent

Army General? Have you even seen THFRO?

Battleshtashions!

thesandeman · 21-11-2018 4:57am

Sally O'Brien and the way she might look at ya.

She didn't need an accent.

Well she did for 'Allo 'Allo.

Cookie_Monster · 21-11-2018 5:00am

Larbre34 wrote: »

Army General? Have you even seen THFRO?

and he was Lithuanian...

Tom Mann Centuria · 21-11-2018 7:42am

bodhrandude wrote: »

Cillian Murphy is Irish, did you never see Ken Loach's The Wind the shakes the barley.

All of those Irish actors listed were playing English people. The poster was saying it isn't unusual for actors to use accents of other nations.

whisky_galore · 21-11-2018 7:48am

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Remember Sean Connery in the hunt for red October? Played a Russian army general with a full on Scottish accent

He also played a faux Irishman in Darby O Gill and The Little People.

Irish Guitarist · 21-11-2018 9:29am

The Devils Own is unwatchable mainly because of Brad Pitts accent although the plot is terrible too.

Tom Mann Centuria · 21-11-2018 9:32am

90% of the cast of Murder, She Wrote where Jessica visits Ireland. Impressively bad.

Franz Von Peppercorn · 21-11-2018 9:35am

Noveight wrote: »

Saoirse Rónan, basically.

You think saorise sounds like some English woman putting on an Irish accent? That’s her real accent. It’s a pretty normal Dublin accent.

d11gunner · 21-11-2018 9:35am

Black-and-Tan-face. It’s a disgrace Joe.

TerrorFirmer · 21-11-2018 9:37am

I think because real Irish accents aren't always universally recognised as being Irish, so sometimes they tended (and still do, but definitely far less) they go for this comical leprechaun tone just to ensure everyone knows what they're supposed to be watching. Imagine being the voice coach in these situations....like, what material is the accent even based on?

The clip of your man in Sons of Anarchy is brutal.

Franz Von Peppercorn · 21-11-2018 9:40am

Larbre34 wrote: »

Army General? Have you even seen THFRO?

Battleshtashions!

I don’t see why he would bother change his accent though. He wasn’t playing a Russian who would have been speaking English but a Russian who was speaking Russian. It was just translated for us. Like say, American films set in the Roman Empire or revolutionary France have people with English or American accents.

Rawr · 21-11-2018 10:10am

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

90% 100% of the cast episode of Murder, She Wrote where Jessica visits Ireland. Impressively Incredibly bad.

...and also she used "The luck of the Irish" to describe the fate of a murder victim (!)...FFS Jessica....

(I could also on for ages how 90's US TV shows routinely pissed all over Ireland. Star Trek Voyager....I'm looking at you)

TomSweeney · 21-11-2018 10:15am

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Remember Sean Connery in the hunt for red October? Played a Russian army general with a full on Scottish accent

Yeah but even though the actors were speaking English in the film, they were speaking Russian - the english was for the benefit of the audience, there is a scene explaining this of one general reading a poem in Russian - halfway through the russian fades and english comes in.

Even when the Americans board they are asking each other in English (the actor) "Does anyone speak english?" - in Russian (the character).

Kintarō Hattori · 21-11-2018 10:21am

Rawr wrote: »

...and also she used "The luck of the Irish" to describe the fate of a murder victim (!)...FFS Jessica....

(I could also on for ages how 90's US TV shows routinely pissed all over Ireland. Star Trek Voyager....I'm looking at you)

What happened with Voyager?

LirW · 21-11-2018 10:24am

There's that one episode of American Gods where Emily Browning plays an Irish immigrant. Her accent is right up there in the worst of the worst-charts.

Rawr · 21-11-2018 10:36am

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

What happened with Voyager?

They spend 2 whole episodes of the show set in "Fair Haven", a holographic copy of an Irish village from the 19th Century (Set somewhere in Kerry I guess...some Americans seem to only be aware of that County)

Beyond the inevitable fake Irish accents used in the episodes, the entire odeal was crammed full of every cringeworthy steriotype you can imagine...including having the local drunk popping up often to beg the crew for drinking money (and this was one of the first things to happen in the episode too!)

This was the closest I've ever been to flinging a TV out of the window...which at the time was a CRT...I was that angry!

Wibbs · 21-11-2018 10:37am

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

I think because real Irish accents aren't always universally recognised as being Irish, so sometimes they tended (and still do, but definitely far less) they go for this comical leprechaun tone just to ensure everyone knows what they're supposed to be watching. Imagine being the voice coach in these situations....like, what material is the accent even based on?

Many moons ago I had a conversation with of all people a voice coach for films, TV and the like and they told me the Irish accent was one of the hardest for non natives to get. From what I remember they said that part of it was down to non natives rarely hearing an authentic Irish accent in films or TV. And when they did they were rarely consistent with each other. They might hear a south county Dublin type one and then one from Cork and more recently there's the faux "American" inflection coming in. Another was something about though we speak English the underlying vocal structure isn't as Germanic. Plus as they said, the audience for such projects is going to be overwhelmingly non Irish so the diddly aye accent will pass.

We as a nation generally have a good ear for our own accents, so spot when something is off. Even with someone who lives in the States or the UK for a while we can spot non local intonations. Compare that to American accents. A load of Canadian actors work in the US and pass as "locals", even if they still have a Canuck lilt. Look at Hugh Laurie's accent for House. Apparently his American accent was praised for its authenticity, with many surprised to find out he was English, but for me though I liked the show, I found his accent extremely hard going and distracting because it sounded so "stage American" to my ears.

whisky_galore · 21-11-2018 11:05am

The 1800s McFlys in Back to the Future pt 3.

'Mr Aaaystwood...'

valoren · 21-11-2018 11:08am

Remember Jon Voight making a fool of himself pretending to be a Guard in 'The General'?

ohnonotgmail · 21-11-2018 11:10am

Rawr wrote: »

They spend 2 whole episodes of the show set in "Fair Haven", a holographic copy of an Irish village from the 19th Century (Set somewhere in Kerry I guess...some Americans seem to only be aware of that County)

Beyond the inevitable fake Irish accents used in the episodes, the entire odeal was crammed full of every cringeworthy steriotype you can imagine...including having the local drunk popping up often to beg the crew for drinking money (and this was one of the first things to happen in the episode too!)

This was the closest I've ever been to flinging a TV out of the window...which at the time was a CRT...I was that angry!

ST:TNG had something similar with a colony they rescued that was full of irish stereotypes.

ohnonotgmail · 21-11-2018 11:11am

valoren wrote: »

Remember Jon Voight making a fool of himself pretending to be a Guard in 'The General'?

How can you mention a movie about Martin Cahill without mentioning Kevin Spaceys attempt at an irish accent?

Hurrache · 21-11-2018 11:18am

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

I believe Tom Cruise in Far and Away is the current holder of the official all-tine worst Irish accent in cinematic history

Pearse Brosnan is a close runner

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

Peirce Brosnan's Irish accent is woeful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXcgt6l_LcA

Wheety · 21-11-2018 11:27am

whisky_galore wrote: »

He also played a faux Irishman in Darby O Gill and The Little People.

And an Irish policeman in The Untouchables.

mr_edge_to_you · 21-11-2018 12:01pm

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

You think saorise sounds like some English woman putting on an Irish accent? That’s her real accent. It’s a pretty normal Dublin accent.

She has multiple accents. Depends on who her target market is!

Fake Irish actors/characters

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