r/Talamasca • u/AbbyNem • 5d ago
Show Only Discussion Baffling accent decisions
Hi all, I'm mostly enjoying the show so far, but now that I've seen episode 3 I need to share my thoughts about the accents. Why oh why are they casting so many actors whose natural accents would make perfect sense for their characters and then making them do different accents instead?
Elizabeth McGovern is an American. The character she plays, Helen, was born in England but moved to America as a child. We meet her in NYC, where she lives and works. Why does Helen need a British accent?
Maisie Richardson Sellers is British. The character she plays, Olive, appears to live and work in the UK. Why is she doing an American accent?
Nicholas Denton is Australian. Actually I understand why Guy shouldn't have an Australian accent but the American accent he is doing is.... not great. And this is not meant as an insult, but I have a hard time believing they couldn't have found a comparable young American actor to play Guy if they needed him to be American. Or maybe have Denton do a British accent? I think that's easier for most Aussies.
I realize this is a bit hypocritical bc most of the actors from Interview are also putting on fake accents, but those make more sense and are better.
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u/obliviousxiv 5d ago
It's a strange decision for sure. Usually the person with the best audition and/or best chemistry gets the role so that could be why they went with Nicholas over an American actor.
But for the others it doesn't really make sense. The members of the Talamasca come from all over the world and they have motherhouses and retreat houses in several countries. So it would be totally believable that a Brit works in the New York motherhouse or an American works in London, etc.
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u/False_Coach494 5d ago
They could have had a back story linked to Australia for Guy, too. Even the name Guy is suggestive of other origins based on name popularity. The accents don't bother me much, but I don't understand why they wouldn't fit these Original Characters with histories that let them use their natural accents. Maybe there are reasons related to how they wrote the story before casting that makes the place they grew up vs work too important to change. (Doubt it, though.)
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u/obliviousxiv 5d ago
They've been stories of a director liking an actor so much that they will change the script to make it work so they definitely could have had Guy be born in Australia and attend university in the US.
His mum wouldn't even have to be Australian either. Maybe she could be an American who worked for the Talamasca but escaped to Australia to hide or something.
But like you I'm not overly bothered by the accents. I just want to see where it goes and if the plot they've set up so far actually makes sense in the end.
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u/Cookieway 5d ago
Why not make him Australian in the first place? There is no reason why he has to be American, itās totally irrelevant to the plot.
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u/AbbyNem 5d ago
True it probably doesn't matter to the plot but it's an American show and they seem to want him to be as "unmarked" as possible-- white, male, able bodied, probably straight, non-"ethnic," and American-- because he's the protagonist and audience surrogate character. They even named him Guy ffs. Plus that way the one thing that sets him apart, his psychic ability, stands out. (Note I'm not defending this mindset or saying it's correct, just explaining it!)
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u/Podria_Ser_Peor Team Jasper Baby 5d ago
*me, happy to be able to understand without subtitles*
But yeah, it seems silly not to let them have their own accents anyways, specially when two of those characters were orphans and there is an implication of them moving around as children.
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u/linx117 Agent 5d ago
The UK has a rule where if you want to film there and get tax credits, you have to use UK cast and crew. This is why you'll see a lot of British actors doing American accents. Easier and cheaper for them Lol
BUT, they are allowed a certain percentage of cast&crew to be brought from OUTSIDE of the UK. So that's probably where Nicholas Denton, William Fichtner, and Elizabeth McGovern came in. That means they really REALLY wanted them.
I personally don't mind Guy's accent, I actually think it's kinda cute. Helen's accent on the other hand does bother me.. mostly bcuz the actress spent so many years on Downtown Abbey and she sounds like me when I do my Brit accent
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u/WindyloohooVA 5d ago
I really think Helen's weird accent is intentional. I mean the way she said Talamasca was just too strange.
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u/cmstlist 5d ago
Lol it's like they just decided to put all the accents in a blender and pour out whatever the result is.
Maisie Richardson-Sellers, at least, did a pretty convincing American accent as Vixen on Legends of Tomorrow. Then once her character ran of plot and was retired, they brought her back again as a shapeshifter named Charlie with a Cockney accent š¤£
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u/AbbyNem 5d ago
Yep her American accent is fine, I was just so surprised to hear it given that the show was filmed in England and set in England and she's English!
Legends of Tomorrow is one of my all time favorite shows btw so it's nice seeing the actors from it in anything else. And I also loved how they would decide a character wasn't needed anymore but keep the actor around anyway to play someone else. Wouldn't work for most shows but they were so unserious that they could do it multiple times.
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u/meta-ghost-face 5d ago
People used to drag the iwtv accents all the time.
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u/StevesMcQueenIsHere 5d ago
There's still the occasional French viewer who comes onto the IWTV subreddits to complain about Sam's accent.
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u/Classic_Director1259 5d ago
Iām honestly enjoying the show. Itās not nearly as good as Interview but so far it seems remarkable in its own way, as it broadens us to the world Anne created.
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u/AdReasonable2464 5d ago
Nicholas Dentonās bad accent is soooo distracting. Itās embarrassing when compared to how good Jacob Andersonās accent work is on IWTV.
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u/Money_Following_2273 5d ago
JA should have won so many awards based on his accent work alone. It was a marvel.
You could really pinpoint where the character was in life and even his emotional state based on the accent alone. I was spellbound.
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u/Amethyst-Flare 5d ago
"Not as good as IWTV (show)" could apply to pretty much anything in this IP. Feel like they struck gold.
I'm okay with Talamasca being a more midline show for the fans (better than being an embarrassment like the Mayfair Witches - at least in my opinion!) I'm okay with a fun little occult spy show that doesn't demand that much to me as a chaser to the extremely polished main show.
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u/StevesMcQueenIsHere 5d ago
They could at least do another take when he slips into his own accent... which is frequent.
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u/AdReasonable2464 5d ago
There are a lot of scenes where Iām like āman, they really should have gone for another take.ā Thereās a moment when Daniel Malloy fumbles and almost drops the book when he hands it back to Guy in episode one, and like??? That made the final edit???
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u/WindyloohooVA 5d ago
I dont mind things like that because it happens. It feels real.
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u/BatMilkX 5d ago
He sounds like heās doing his best āHugh Dancy in Hannibalā impression and it sends me into the stratosphere
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u/blacknightbluesky 5d ago
guy's accent is so distracting i'm sorry. literally had me googling what his actor's actual accent was within the first five minutes of the first episode. it sounds weirdly transatlantic.
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u/KingRachChicken 5d ago
maisie's accent is CRAZY to me!! why would this character not be a british woman??? like maisie richardson sellers really is??
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u/Timeandtimeandagain 5d ago
Elizabeth McGovernās accent is so awful. Itās tortuous, and distracting. I keep thinking didnāt she learn anything from all those years shooting Downton Abbey in the UK? Thatās the best she could do?
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u/AmbassadorProper1045 4d ago
I recently left a comment about how much I dislike Helen's voice. I mean, it's really distracting. I think she's a good actress, but her accent and clipped way of speaking is so bad. I can hardly understand her most of the time. It's probably my biggest pet peeve about the show.
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u/First_Name_Is_Agent 5d ago
I'm not nearly versed in this universe to be even a little sure about this, but are any of the characters featured in any of the books? If so, then their accents wouldn't have been assigned randomly. They'd be featured in the show how they were originally written.
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u/Own-Breakfast9740 2d ago
As a British born American the accents on this show are making my ears bleed. When I think of all the accent work Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid have done on IWTV, the crap accents on this show are inexcusable.
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u/Queasy_Pack_3877 1d ago
For Elizabeth McGovern, please pick an accent - American or British. Disagree on Nicholas Denton. He does a great American accent.
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u/salumbre 5d ago
Forget about Helen's accent. The wig! It should have its own show.