Oct242008
Who’s got an accent?
Filed under TV by Kim at 10:10 am on Oct 24 2008
Last night as the “next time on” for Grey’s Anatomy heralded the return of Kevin McKidd, I started to wonder why us Americans are big suckers for guys from other English-speaking countries strapping on an American accent and playing snarky anti-heroes.
The Moonlight guy: Australian
The Life guy: British
The Life on Mars guy: Irish
House: British
Rome guy/now on Grey’s: Scottish
Or maybe this says something about my tastes. I love each of these shows (except House but I love Hugh Laurie) and it’s based at least in the first three cases mainly on the protagonist. In the case of Moonlight, you have the sensitive vampire standard. He wears black leather, he fights bad guys, but you (supposedly) have that whole “wild animal lurking inside” business. In the case of Life, you have a previously-caged unpredictable cop who plays by his own set of rules. I’ve only seen one ep of Life on Mars, but our hero already threw down with his asshole boss (Harvey Keitel) and by definition is a fish out of water. Kevin McKidd is now playing a “bad ass” military doc who’s been to Iraq and back a few times and will trach you with a drinking straw and probably chew off his own arm if he were in a trap.
I wonder what it is that each of these actors brought to the table to get cast instead of natives. Not that I have a problem with this, lest I was not clear. I do after all have a weakness for both redheads and dudes with accents. But these guys are not sporting what from my perspective is an accent!
Can anyone out there think of other instances?
