Emma Watson's accent...?

[Katie]

Did anyone else find her American accent totally inauthentic??

[Jeni]

I thought it was a lot better than most American's British accents. I didn't have much of a problem with it, personally. Occasionally, a bit of her own accent came through, but it wasn't bad, overall.

[Hannah]

I agree, I love Emma but she was the only casting choice I still feel iffy about. I just don't feel like she WAS Sam, you know? Like Ezra was Patrick or Logan was Charlie. I definitely thought there were times the accent wavered, and it was noticeable.

[Cleanova]

Her accent was totally different. I prefer her accent as Hermione Granger rather than Sam. Both were portrayed pretty well by Emma Watson. Though Sam's character did not suite Emma but she played it well.

[Holden]

Emma Watson is British through and through. she is so amazing and adorable.

[Astra]

She's amazingly talented, but then again... does it need to be said?

[Kyle]

I agree that she isn't totally Sam. I think she played the part well, but she wasn't actually the character, especially not like she is Hermione.

[Carlota]

It wasn't the worst accent ever but it wasn't the best either. She did have a lot of difficulty with it and it ended up turning out okay so I don't hate it or anything. I liked her a lot as Sam but it was definitely strange thinking of her as an American girl after so many years seeing her as Hermione.

[Madeleine]

Honestly I think she was working so hard on sounding american it overpowered her acting. She was just enunciating everything very carefully and all I could hear was "I am trying very hard right now to sound american," more than I noticed any of the emotions she was portraying. And it still wasn't the best accent. Not terrible, but there was something off to how she was speaking.

[Siobhan]

She did a much better job that Robert Pattinson did.

But equally, there are few Americans who can manage an actual, British accent, regardless of dialect. I think Anne Hathaway is the only person I've seen manage it well, and that was in Becoming Jane.

The only person who's ever had me fooled though, was Ed Westwick. Would not have noticed in Gossip Girl that he wasn't American, watched Chalet Girl and was impressed with his British accent ... until I looked it up and saw he's from Hammersmith.

That's what you should expect from Chuck Bass, I guess.

[Carlota]

@Siobhan

What about Hugh Laurie in House? The producer who cast him said it himself: "See, this is what I want; an American guy". He had no idea that he was British!

I think it's easier for Americans to fake a British accent though, because British English is much more closed in terms of the sounds you make with your mouth, compared to American English. It's much easier to go from open to closed sounds than the other way around.
I think Emma did a fine job.

[Chloe]

I honestly adored Emma as Sam I think it was so perfect for her! I think she adapted herself really well to the role and it can't be easy making yourself speak in a different accent and I think she did great considering HOW English her voice sounded in the Hermione Granger era :)

[Jeni]

John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness in Dr. Who and Torchwood) plays an American with a flawless accent and he is actually Scottish, so he would also be in the same category as Hugh Laurie for me.

As for inauthentic, there are so many American accents, it's hard to say which is really correct. I have two, myself--one from the hills of West Virginia (which is crippling, to be honest) and the one I adapted when we moved to Missouri to avoid being teased about my crippling hillbilly accent.

Even my relatives in Kansas City have a different "twang" than I do living across the state.

It's funny how my friends in Europe are surprised I don't have more of a Southern drawl when I speak, since Missouri is, of course, in the "south."

[Katie]

Siobhan wrote: "She did a much better job that Robert Pattinson did.

But equally, there are few Americans who can manage an actual, British accent, regardless of dialect. I think Anne Hathaway is the only person ..."
wooww i have to totally disagree! I thought R Pats' accent was pretty standard and when i watched Anne Hathaway in One Day i was laughing the whole way through at her awful ever switching from posh accent one minute to some different part of England entirely the next! I agree with you about Ed Westwick though!

[Siobhan]

Carlota wrote: "@Siobhan

What about Hugh Laurie in House? The producer who cast him said it himself: "See, this is what I want; an American guy". He had no idea that he was British!

I think it's easier for Ameri..."

I haven't seen house, but Hugh Laurie is amazing so this doesn't surprise me. Love the other examples too.

And I've not seen One Day Katie, but maybe the difference between the films is that in Becoming Jane she had to use a standardised, older version of speaking and One Day was more modern, so she could soften it slightly, and that's where she failed.

Jeni, that's like how England is, I went to a school 10 miles from my house, which took people from all over the county, and you could hear a difference just in our classroom from the local kids and those of us who travelled in. Even at my work, I have a different accent to most, even though it's local, because I've not really spent much time in my own town. I'm influenced too much by high school and university.

And with so many differing accents in both countries, it's got to be hard to get them right. Most of the time when I hear a fake-British accent it's standardised or slightly Liverpudlian (depending on your Beatles influence I guess) but on the flip side, the American accents you hear more are Deep South, Brooklyn or like Cher in clueless. That's not a huge sample for either country, it's going to be hard to replicate.

[Sammy]

I thought so but her acting and her portrayal of Sam totally made up for it

[Kressel]

I thought she did very well, just as she did as Nicki in "The Bling Ring." And the most impressive part of all is that she made the two characters sound different. Nicki is clearly a California girl.

[Stenedria]

In my opinion, I think Emma Watson did a good job on the American accent.

[Stenedria]

Kressel wrote: "I thought she did very well, just as she did as Nicki in "The Bling Ring." And the most impressive part of all is that she made the two characters sound different. Nicki is clearly a California girl."


I agree. I can hear her British accent a little on the Bling Ring but she still performed the role well.

[Richard]

she was great, had no problem with her or her accent and after seeing the film I honestly couldn't imagine anyone else in the role

given some of the attrocious accents done by americans trying to be british i'd say her accent was one of the better ones in cinema

[Julia]

Didn't notice her accent at all. I thought she did a great job. The only reason I wasn't convinced that she wasn't Sam is because, well, she'll always be Hermione. Nothing can be done about that.

[Abigail]

Well, she definitely didn't sound Midwestern (which is where I gathered it's set based on some references in the book)- her enunciations were just way too precise. I agree with Maddie - I found it quite distracting.

[Kressel]

Pittsburgh is more East Coast than Midwest, I'd say.

[Anna]

Yes! Halfway through the movie, i forgot that she was even supposed to be American and i bet she did too.

[Anne]

I think that part of it was just her voice; we've heard it so much with an English accent that we're going to hear it whether it's there or not. And either way, he book never specified that she had an American accent. She could have had an English accent, and it just wasn't included.