How To Nail An Accent While Acting

In today’s world with the explosive growth of YouTube, accents are easily recognizable. From the highly desirable New York accent to the dull South Indian one, accents are out there for most people to look up and master. Speaking of which, there is a guy on the local radio show that is able to speak in different accents in an effortless manner for a certain segment.

When it comes to acting, there are stories of actors doing different things to get into character. Actors with accent skills will command a premium in the marketplace. For all those aspiring actors out there, there have been several instances of actors doing a part really well in an accent that differs from their own. This trend for production to make use of actors that can do different accents is a global thing. As far as Hollywood is concerned, look no further than Gary Oldman. Oldman has used a ton of accents in his movie roles which include a Russian terrorist in Air Force One and Commissioner Gordon in the Dark Knight series. If you look at Bollywood, superstar Aamir Khan worked hard on his Bhojpuri accent in the comedy-drama film PK and nailed it as far as critics were concerned.

Start with mouth exercises

It is about getting your muscles to take shapes. These are tiny muscles in the mouth and lips. However, you’ll want to have some knowledge of the language that allows for flexibility when looking to acquire an accent. All in all, it requires a lot of work on the muscles in your mouth and jaw.

Dialect coaches can help

If you’re lucky, you’ll have a dialect coach. It definitely takes the pressure off. Someone with the knowledge of an accent or multiple ones is the best help for your ability to nail an accent while acting. The drills that dialect or accent coaches are able to put together will be of great assistance in this endeavor. When you are short on time to prepare, getting hold of a dialect coach can go a long way.

Head to YouTube

Sometimes there is nothing greater than observing a person whose accent is one that you desire to learn. Or you can just look to actors like Cate Blanchett who is an Australian, but plays American, British and French characters. If you watch her closely, you can see that in these performances such as Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator she never betrays her down under roots.