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Sep. 30th, 2009 08:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shapinglightLink here to a slightly tongue-in-cheek article in today's Guardian about Brit actors being cast in American TV shows, as Americans.
I'd been going to make some facetious comparison with American GIs coming to Britain during WW2 (overpaid, oversexed and over here), but in fact the Brit actors are not like the GIs. They are more like the influx of Polish plumbers to the UK back in pre-credit crunch days, in that they are not only very good at their job and very hard workers, but they also come very cheap.
Apparently, they are also getting better at doing the accent, though even those who aren't so good, like Dominic West, seem to get away with it. Certainly, two of the three Brit actors (Joseph Fiennes and Sonia Walger) in the first episode of Flash Forward, which was shown here on Monday night, could have fooled anyone this side of the Pond that they were really American (if they didn't know who they were already) and possibly on the other side as well.
Speaking of Flash Forward (spoilers for ep 1 within)
I've only seen one person on my flist mention it. Did no one else like it, or even watch it? Must admit, I'm not sure I can be bothered with any more of it. It comes from the makers of Lost and you can tell. Ep 1 featured lots of rather dull characters we're evidently supposed to care about, plus a lot of explosions and mysterious goings on - not to mention a brief appearance by an incongruous animal (a kangaroo rather than a polar bear, in this instance). However, since it's obvious already who the villain is, and since I'm pretty sure they're basically making it up as they go along (like Lost), I'm not sure I have the patience for any more.
If you're wondering how I've fingered the villain already, it's easy. It has to be Jack Davenport, yet another British thesp (though presumably a little better known in the US, thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies). How do I know he's the villain? It's simple. Because he's been allowed to keep his own accent of course.
I'd been going to make some facetious comparison with American GIs coming to Britain during WW2 (overpaid, oversexed and over here), but in fact the Brit actors are not like the GIs. They are more like the influx of Polish plumbers to the UK back in pre-credit crunch days, in that they are not only very good at their job and very hard workers, but they also come very cheap.
Apparently, they are also getting better at doing the accent, though even those who aren't so good, like Dominic West, seem to get away with it. Certainly, two of the three Brit actors (Joseph Fiennes and Sonia Walger) in the first episode of Flash Forward, which was shown here on Monday night, could have fooled anyone this side of the Pond that they were really American (if they didn't know who they were already) and possibly on the other side as well.
Speaking of Flash Forward (spoilers for ep 1 within)
I've only seen one person on my flist mention it. Did no one else like it, or even watch it? Must admit, I'm not sure I can be bothered with any more of it. It comes from the makers of Lost and you can tell. Ep 1 featured lots of rather dull characters we're evidently supposed to care about, plus a lot of explosions and mysterious goings on - not to mention a brief appearance by an incongruous animal (a kangaroo rather than a polar bear, in this instance). However, since it's obvious already who the villain is, and since I'm pretty sure they're basically making it up as they go along (like Lost), I'm not sure I have the patience for any more.
If you're wondering how I've fingered the villain already, it's easy. It has to be Jack Davenport, yet another British thesp (though presumably a little better known in the US, thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies). How do I know he's the villain? It's simple. Because he's been allowed to keep his own accent of course.
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 07:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 07:48 pm (UTC)Haven't even seen it, but I'd bet money that's true.
(I wonder if American accents are going to become anglicised like how ours were australiated (I can't think of a decent word for that) by Neighbours and everything else in the 90s?!)
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 07:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:01 pm (UTC)P.S. Re: Idris Elba: he's going to be in a BBC series called "Luther" that sounds really good, so I look forward to reading what you have to say about it!
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:06 pm (UTC)Why is the hospital not overflowing with injured people? How are the roads already safe to drive on? How are people with professions like doctor and FBI agent able to go home at the end of the day instead of being overwhelmed with crises? That doesn't make any sense. But the premise and the reveal at the end with the one conscious guy were intriguing enough that I'll tune in again.
Which one was Jack Davenport? I've seen Pirates, but I must've totally not recognized him.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:07 pm (UTC)(Well - not actually my accent. TV accents are different to mine, but still, Neighbours is filmed five minutes from my house, so there's bound to be some overlap there...)
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:08 pm (UTC)You're welcome.
:)
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:15 pm (UTC)Hee - I have a friend who would think that's the best thing evah. (She went to Australia on her gap year and was particularly excited about seeing the Neighbours set...)
Though, alas, I fear it might have gone out of fashion (or at least morphed into something new)...
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:17 pm (UTC)We regularly get tour buses covered in Neighbours-themed paintings driving round the area seeing all the sets.
Usually 95% British people...
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:24 pm (UTC)though I have no idea who he is.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:25 pm (UTC)I still think one of the funniest things in the world was when the US media (I forget which part specifically) asked Jesse Spencer what it was like to come over for House and become a global/household name.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:30 pm (UTC)It's funny how popular Neighbours is over there. Here, it's really not.
(Mind you - one of the producers once said that every time he told someone what his job was, they'd instantly say two things: "Oh, I don't watch that." and "When are Karl and Susan getting back together?")
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:45 pm (UTC)Hee! Well, you can't break Karl and Susan up and not expect consequences.
It always seems a little odd that we're so into Aussie daytime soaps when US ones (I'm pretty sure) aren't even a blip on satellite TV's radar. You can probably find them somewhere, but I've never seen a single minute of Passions or whatever. I can't imagine there's that much different in levels of silliness...
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 08:52 pm (UTC)(I...like his fake accent better than his real American one.)
Could we please have Gillian Anderson back in the US sometime? :)
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 09:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 09:04 pm (UTC)Go on, then. I bet you 5p. Except that doesn't work, because we both think the same. :)
(I wonder if American accents are going to become anglicised like how ours were australiated
Aargh! What a horrible thought! We'd all end up sounding like Alexis Denisof when he's being silly and pretending to be American.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 09:05 pm (UTC)You're not. God, my kids loved Neighbours until the move to Channel 5 killed it.
And to me, Alan Thing-y will forever be Jim Robinson.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 09:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 09:08 pm (UTC)I blame Channel 5.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 09:10 pm (UTC)We'd all end up sounding like Alexis Denisof when he's being silly and pretending to be American.
That would be silly. But what if everyone in the US starts talking like him??
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 09:10 pm (UTC)