DT's American Accent

[hezikiah]

Below is the released trailed for Gracepoint and you can hear DT's American accent. My first reaction was, "That. Is. Bizarre." It was so weird hearing him with an American accent when I'm used to his Scottish or English one. He sort of reminded me a little of Misha Collins, for some reason. My husband thinks he sounds like Martin Sheen. The

Comments

[dm12]

It is so weird hearing him with an American accent. It's certainly better than his last attempt, but I still expect the Scottish accent.

Yes, you really need to catch up and watch Broadchurch season 1. Can't wait to see this and then find out what they are doing for season 2 of Broadchurch!

[noteissignedlc]

My exact quote in Tumblr was, "That is a bucketful of fail." Still, it's much better than the accent from "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer." His vowels still sound slightly Scottish. It'll grow on me, though, even though this is looking exactly like Broadchurch.

[dm12]

That's what it is! The vowels are a dead give away that he's not American. My husband recognized his voice immediately and said it sounded like a foreigner attempting to sound like an American. You're right, though; it's not nearly as bad as the other....

They were making a big deal about a plot twist, so we'll see. So far, it does look like an almost exact remake, even down to the words in the press conference. His hair is too neat, though....

[noteissignedlc]

I forget what word it was that triggered the vowels thing with me. It was in the first line he said. I hope it does get better. I'm leery of the so-called plot twist. I'm pretty sure we'll all have it figured out by the end of the first episode. I don't want to see Gracepoint fail, but I know I'm more excited over series 2 of Broadchurch.

[dm12]

I think it was the word "child" that was a big hint. Instead of the long i sound, it was almost more like "choild," distinctly with a slight Scottish lilt. Oh, even Broadchurch I had it figured out way less than halfway through. The point of it wasn't really who did it, but what the effect on the people in the town was, the innuendos, the secrets everyone kept, and then the aftermath and the healing that needed to be done.

I am also leery of the plot twist.... not sure if they are going to try to tie everything together in a nice sweet package because we Americans supposedly can't stand a mess. That would ruin the whole thing.

[morganfm]

that. is. so. WEIRD.
::pause::
not sure how I feel about this, other than "yay more Tennant on my tv!".......

oh and btw, I LOVE that song.

[cannibalilly]

Okay, I know I'm in the lucky position of being unable to tell the difference between a real American accent and a faked one, but I still think it's great that he's doing/trying it.
They could have come up with a lame excuse for why his role's British and let him keep his accent, but he's actually going through all the training to sound American. That itself is pretty impressive if you ask me :)

I just remember the one time I found a clip of David speaking German. It was difficult to even understand him, but everything I thought was "Omg, David's trying to wrap his tongue around my language. Thank you! *faints" :D

Thanks for sharing the trailer! I was surprised to see how similar this looks to Broadchurch. I mean, of course it's a remake, but the parts they showed us were almost perfect copies... don't know if I should like or dislike that, but I'm gonna watch it anyway~

[dm12]

Wrap his tongue around your language... nice!

As for American.... there was absolutely no reason he couldn't have retained his native accent. America, after all, is a nation of immigrants! Police, in particular, have a history. Many of them at one point were Irish, for example. No reason we couldn't have a Scottish officer... except that he is at a higher level of officer and maybe that's it.

[cannibalilly]

;)

Yeah, that'd have worked, so maybe he wanted to give the challenge of doing another accent a try... or maybe it wasn't his decision at all. Who knows who's really pulling the strings when it comes to things like that.

[dm12]

Possibly a combination. Some Americans have a hard time following him when he speaks with his native accent, especially when he speaks quickly (as he often does). The other thing is that, if he's trying to break into the American acting scene, an American accent is probably something he would need to do passably well, even if he is an English speaker. Lastly, he probably did enjoy the challenge.

[hezikiah]

I'm thinking this might help him break into American audiences. I think most Americans don't know who he is (don't seem to when I mention his name). I know he filmed a pilot about three years ago in LA that wound up not getting picked up and he's auditioned for American shows from time to time. Broadchurch isn't popularly known over here (did it show on BBC America? I don't have cable), so even if Gracepoint is a retelling, it will be new to American audiences. And who knows? If Gracepoint takes off, it could mean a new chapter for DT and we'll see him more on this side of the Pond. I can't complain about that

[dm12]

Yup, I think it's kind of amusing that something supposedly set in California was filmed in Canada. All of those US flags....

I agree, the American accent might help him break into the American scene. How many Americans do you think will recognize him from "Goblet of Fire?" Not many... even after Dr. Who, it took me a bit to realize it! Funny thing is, I played this last night and my husband (not a huge Who fan, but has seen some) immediately recognized the voice and said, "That's David Tennant, isn't it?" It is laudable that he is attempting to expand his skill set with the new accent, and it is passable, even if some of us can pick up the nuances of another accent embedded in it.

No, we can't complain if we see more of him here! He is one brilliant actor....not to mention very easy on the eyes!