Sometimes the trickiest part of an actor’s job is capturing a character’s voice—literally. Accents, especially the iconic one “New Yawkers” are known for, can come off as caricature. Not to mention there are actually lots of distinct dialects echoing through the five boroughs. Still, it’s the stereotypical delivery—multi-syllabic words (“fuhgeddaboudit”) dropped “r”s (“watuh” for “water”), “d”s instead of “t”s (“dese” not “these”)—we tend to think of in movie classics like Saturday Night Fever, Moonstruck, and A Bronx Tale. So which actors’ accents truly capture the city?
We chatted up sought-after voice coach Bob Corff, who’s worked with Hollywood heavyweights like Cate Blanchett, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, and James Franco, to get his take on some of the best and worst efforts. A new entry to the club, who didn’t work with Corff, arrives this week with Deliver Us from Evil, in which Eric Bana plays Bronx detective Ralph Sarchie. Corff says the Aussie actor sounds more standard American than Bronx-born. “Accents are like juggling,” he explains. “The right pronunciation, words stressed, attitude, and energy all have to sync up and be consistent.” We compiled a by-no-means-complete list of New York-centric films to find out who Corff thinks delivered pitch-perfect performances and who missed the mark.
THE GOOD
Margot Robbie
Twenty-four-year-old Australian newcomer Margot Robbie’s turn as Long Islander Naomi Lapaglia, the promiscuous second wife of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, really impressed Corff. Highly emotional scenes—like Robbie’s throwing-water fight and ‘What's wrong, daddy?’ seduction—are the easiest place to make mistakes, he says. But she doesn’t. “She’s operating on such a high level and she’s consistent.”
Meryl Streep
It’s 1964 and Sister Aloysius, the principal of Bronx Catholic grade school St. Nicholas, has iron-fisted control over her students and fellow nuns in writer/director John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt. Streep also has complete command of the period accent. “She’s specific with all of the sounds and placement right where you want them,” Corff says. Of course the three-time Oscar winner speaks like a native.
Rosie Perez
Rosie Perez’s breakout role in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, about 1980s race relations in Brooklyn, made the former choreographer an instant star. As Tina, Mookie’s (Spike Lee) gloriously self-confident girlfriend, one might think the Bushwick native simply phoned in her Puerto Rican accent. But Corff recognizes Perez wasn’t that woman and appreciates the “thick accent that sounds just like the girls you’d hear on the subway in those days.” (The film marks its 25th anniversary this week.)
THE UNCONViNCING
Christian Bale
As flamboyant Bronx-born con man Irving Rosenfeld in American Hustle, Christian Bale is a hoot to watch. The way he talks, however, is another story. Corff says when New Yorkers speak, their lips move forward, as if giving a kiss. But Bale’s mouth is flat. “It’s like he’s driving with the emergency brake on. He’s driving, but the car drags.”
FUHGEDDABOUTIT
Anna Paquin
In the little-seen 2011 Margaret, directed by Kenneth Lonergan, True Blood’s Anna Paquin is an Upper West Side high-school student who catches the eye of bus driver Mark Ruffalo, causing him to have a fatal accident. “She certainly isn’t playing at the highest level,” Corff says of the New Zealand-raised actress, who trots out a Southern accent each week on True Blood. “New Yorkers speak from the front of their mouths, but she talks sideways.”
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