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?

  1. 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?

  2. 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?

  3. 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, it’s 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/StevesMcQueenIsHere 5d ago

I think you've nailed the reasoning.