Movie Accent Expert Breaks Down 28 Actors Playing Presidents | WIRED

welcome yellow good folks hi I'm Eric singer Eric is still spending his days being a dialect coach for film and television today we're gonna be going through some different portrayals of presidents I were a suit for the occasion John F Kennedy James Marsden the butler the fires a discord are burning in every city north and south where legal remedies are not at hand I think that taking on JFK is a thankless task for an actor it's a case of damned if you do damned if you don't because if you go for a really perfect kind of uncanny impersonation of that famous famous famous voice burning in every city the fires are discord or burning in every city New Orleans no how you better get it absolutely right otherwise something's gonna be a little jarring where legal remedies are not at hand where legal remedies so some of the famous bowel sounds are there some of the cadences know you son is the freedom writer great change is it a great cage I don't think much of an attempt was made to find Kennedy's vocal quality giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities but even if you're not going for very much I think there's some basic things that really kind of have to be included Kennedy was a non-rhotic speaker he didn't pronounce ours after vowel sounds almost at all weapons of war the threat of war not because they are easy but because they are hard as all Panther Marston ends up putting quite a few in sometimes they're light sometimes they're a little more pronounced but you can hear some of them here over the next four years for the past to me is changed his heart heart of course is a word that shouldn't have an R in it if you're a candidate but in addition to that the vowel that comes before the R sound which is a back vowel for me tongue is low in the back ah heart for Kennedy of course is front vowel part of the question II changed his heart and I think that again is such an incredibly famous iconic part of this accent I think it's really hard to be kennedy without it here's Marsden the thigh is a discord or burning in every city north and south and here's Kennedy the fires of discord of burning in every city north and south Don F Kennedy Greg Kinnear the Kennedys the energy the faith the devotion control he like I think he threads the needle here I think this is successful and it's hard to to candidate you know there's something really interesting I talk a lot about oral posture there's something really interesting about hesitation sounds thinking sounds that'll be something that we will love your mouth is gonna go to an easy place a comfortable place so that it can get to whatever the next sound happens to happens to end up being listen to Kinnear doing a John F Kennedy hesitation sound here III I think I know how many of you feel my he nails it that's what Kennedy sounded like listen I am a strong believer in equal pay for equal work and I think that we oughta work we I think that day that'll be something that we will love so I thought that it really would be yet work to well and there's something so valuable about getting that if you can get that shape and feel in your mouth everything else becomes easier george w bush josh brolin w we can get one democracy going in one of these places iran iraq believe me Reagan was right it's gonna spread to all these countries I think this is really amazing we're all proud of you let's talk about world posture have a look at the way those lip corners are pulled back the lips are kind of pressed in tightly of course there's that squint there's something that feels like it's set in a kind of resolution right it's a certainty it's the I'm the decider I'm the decider and he's listening through that posture the oral posture is entirely in place and I think it crystallizes something about the internal life of the character about a decision that that character has made at some point about how he wants to appear it's just right thank you for their George W Bush Connor tree near American made your pilot I've been known to flash huh me too Air National are 68-69 it's so good there's so many really great details from a kind of the way that he's looking up from you know a lowered head well to the smoothed out price valves and pilot pilot 969 to that kind of abruptness that you know I'm the designer thing I'm the decider me to beauty to that hard Bray star and Guard Air National Park ha it's really really good see you around flat boy george w bush will ferrell SNL and elsewhere I believe itself his figures may be inaccurate don't mess with Texas this is one that definitely got a lot better over time here's much more recently I had : ed Conde don't forget about my good friends Alberto Gonzales a lot more specific lot more finely observed one thing I'd like to point out look at this no use crying about it apparently it's what the American people want you can see almost the same oral posture as in Josh Brolin here doubted I won the election my judgment it's those pulled back lip corners right and those tightly held lips well Gladys it's that jaw that's just a little bit thrust forward so it's really interesting I think Will Ferrell's a talented impressionist so even though it's slightly exaggerated we see some very very fine observations just like we do in a much more straightforward and kind of uncanny a vocation of w I don't know what that means but I know it's positive Barack Obama Devin Tyrell Barry and sometimes I feel like I want to breathe in everything New York is awful all the times it all seems like one big distraction this is one of those instances in which an actor makes a choice to evoke somehow the famous voice that we are really familiar with political distraction big distraction without going for some kind of uncanny impression yeah thanks because he's playing a younger Obama an Obama before we knew him I'm supposed to speak on behalf of all black people for a lot of kids the doors that have been open to me aren't open to them so when he ends up settling on are a handful of prasat ik features to do with rhythm intonation and you can really hear that kind of evoking Obama here for instance parents are married five times between them or six and I'm not even sure about my father good morning well this is not how I expected to wake up this morning just a footnote here this is extra impressive I think what's so special about me because Devin Tyrells Australia I'm right-handed so I have to learn how to play possible that tending the right left-handed the accent that's pretty good I didn't know you could do me Barack Obama Parker Sawyer's South Side with you it's not easy to get things done the founders made it that way on purpose so that no one law no one government no one man could decide the fate of everything and everyone Sawyer's is also playing in Young Obama and he makes a similar choice except in his case I think it's even a little bit further away it's even a little bit more just evocative it's hoping you wouldn't notice again the choice seems to mostly be to focus on Obama's rhythm and prose adido in the folks downtown he had Hispanic folks we got some good folks and you got Asian folks we've got some good harder folks they need folks folks there's something about the way he cuts things off right at the end of a phrase sort of lets you know that it's final and he's moving on to the next thing you can hear that really well here in it wasn't an option wasn't an option the first stops wasn't an option it's just closing you know we got a heck of a lot of different people all of you are the backbone they are few and far between we have to move forward Barack Obama Jay Pharoah Saturday Night Live you better bring your Mormon magic Underpants and your wife's dancing horse cuz bladder would I play up late for kicks okay so this is a comedy impression it has a different purpose so it's coming from a different place oh really oh man it's always still built on certain accurate observations it's just you usually you pick one or two or three and then you kind of turn the dial up on them desperate times call for desperate measures and if it's good comedy impression you're kind of making some sort of point with it nonetheless in this case I think farro is really really really fixated on and turning the dial up on some of those same prasat ik features it's that fall American pepper it's that very clip thing coming here he does that a lot nothing is getting through we can hear that characteristic fall here in I don't know why more offices aren't oval I don't know why uh more offices Arnaudville FDR Bill Murray Hyde Park on Hudson no one ever mentions the fact that I can't use my legs it's never breathe don't do so he's dropping his arse after vowel sounds please don't do power to power I feel like a lot of it really just isn't there though I want to apologize his very dark L sounds with a bunched back of the tongue my legs legs as opposed to FDR's light ones your children later legs later legs those vowel sounds and words like honest honest honest not-not-not need to have a little bit of lip rounding because because to get FDR let's change the subject shall we let's look at three different comedians versions of Trump now we're gonna look at taran killam is Trump Darryl Hammonds Trump and Jimmy Fallon's Trump here's ten killin as the man who's almost certainly your next president I wanted to give you a chance to get to know the real Donald here's Darrell Hammond debates are stupid you should be paying me and Wolf Blitzer looks like Papa Smurf here's Palin first of all you're all fake news ain't you all very much and thank you for being you feel like taran killam is zeroed in most on oral posture especially those lip shapes it's huge huge huge problem in China somebody from China they're really really really exaggerated but that's kind of the thing he's hanging his impression on have a look again just biggest right thank you doh thank you darling I got the smartest guys but we have people that are stupid stupid I'm just like you but better Daryl heavens doing a lot I think he's got some of that posture it's a little subtler yep you're a very nice man but you're basically a little girl he's really focusing in though I think on the rhythm and inflection the way a sort of Trump will kind of draw a thing out and will possibly get a bad ruling and then drop it down and we will have a national emergency draw a thing out and drop it down you can listen to that here I'm at 43 and we will then be sued and you're at 3 in the Ninth Circuit yep you're a nice guy shouldn't be there you're a lightweight where's I think Fallon is really focused on trying to get the vocal quality right listen to that again we've made so much progress in fact if you ask any American don't say that I've managed to make the last four weeks feel like for years the extraordinary progress so much progress progress winning big li big big league big league Piggly Wiggly giggly big leagues for a subtler more multi-dimensional more accurate integrated and authentic version of Trump the human being I think we may have to wait a while George HW Bush James Cromwell W what are you cut out for party chasing tail driving drunk what do you think you are a Kennedy James Cromwell said something really interesting about his performance in this he said I came to the set hidden behind my own characterization and Oliver attacked it he made me go right to the Father and not to my caricature of Bush as an actor you can't condescend to a character it's critical I make the right call if you have a judgment about who that person is from the outside you can't really effectively play them inauthentic and I think that's what Oliver Stone was telling James Cromwell here I came to the set hidden behind my own characterization and Oliver attacked it and so when Oliver Stone said you can't play the judgment you have to play the person whose decision to make I bet that that impression had to go away with that judgment we all make mistakes and we're ending up with something that evokes him very lightly and some of the rhythms and things like that here's Cromwell our family the Bush family we honor our and here's the real-life George HW Bush and I feel so dedicated and strongly about it that I just wanted to wedge that in so it's reminiscent and it evokes it but more importantly I think that choice allowed James Cromwell to focus on playing a real round full three-dimensional person which is what's important appreciate your support Bill Clinton Dennis Quaid the special relationship don't be surprised if you feel completely totally overwhelmed when you do get into office this is surprisingly good too good to be true he has that sort of Clinton hoarseness consider our military options discuss the military options but it's not just hoarseness there's actually a kind of a pressed down quality in the larynx we all just got a chill little Joey gets to which a lot of people don't when they're doing Clinton not on my watch one of the vowel sounds are right you can listen to that goose fowl that is fronted here right thing to do right thing to do with you and that very Arkansas o goat vowel here Global global NATO NATO NATO they told a lot of good details of smart call Bill Clinton ish John Travolta primary colors I don't have to tell you how hard it is to be looking for work hey I don't have to tell you anything about hard times so I think the choice here was probably just to suggest Clinton hmm there are some things that are there very strongly that horse vocal quality again probably the most famous thing about Clinton absolutely I am really happy to be here absolutely he does a pretty good job targeting this specifically it's got that kind of press down feel as well just right I do think he's relying on that vocal quality to do most of the work there are a lot of accent things that aren't really in place this is bad Travolta is fleece and goose vowels the vowel sounds and words like me and two just don't sound southern at all me too - me too - and I've talked a lot about the goose fronting the arts of the tongue being further forward in the mouth ooh goose yes we do so you know what I'm gonna do do do do not an exact match make it look like I'm gonna hammer talk Lyndon Baines Johnson Bryan Cranston all the way now we're making history here Everett and you have to decide how you want his to remember you and I think this is amazing it's so deep in and so particularly observed or somebody who just likes to hear himself Koch Johnson had a very bunched up back of his tongue Koch oh oh oh it's bunched and pulled back and so the tip of the tongue as in most Texas accents has to sort of curl up a little further and that means that when the tongue tip needs to touch like on a D sound shed or get close like on an s-sound blade it's not gonna make contact in exactly the same place as it might in a different American accent what happens when the Ness sound is it's further away from that gum Ridge so we got Russell O'Neill exceed come on which is lower pitched then special brush color color I call it hypo sibilant Shh you can hear that here mr. skin started started started and in Johnson members of the Congress Congress started started Congress in that cool oh hum freakin know George Washington Jeff Daniels the Crossing we became a nation on the 4th of July six months ago we held our three largest cities Boston New York and Philadelphia I don't think there's a ton here to talk about in terms of vocal and speech choices what do you think I do think he's he's bumped up his formality a little bit would you specify there's a kind of a precision of articulation and final consonants that communicates something that's formal yes superiority will be their undoing think this kind of makes sense for Washington we know it cared a lot about manners thought they were essential welcome sir have you eaten and we do have some reports from contemporaries of Washington about what his voice sounded like it is late but perhaps not too late so I think there's more that you might be able to do here have you finished FDR Jon Voight Pearl Harbor yesterday December 7th 1941 a date which will live in infamy so he doesn't really do that singing through the line that sort of sustained intonation that you can hear an FDR here a date which will live in infamy a day which will live in infamy at the same time a lot of the accent and that sort of very firm present vocal presence are really there to overcome this premeditated invasion overcome this premeditated invasion so if I could have adjusted one thing in his oral posture here I would have loved to see a little bit of FDR's jaw protrusion his jaws a little bit forward and for me that communicates something about it's kind of representative of his patrician background and even his gravitas I think it might have added something we have to do more George Washington Jon Voigt an American Carol when you meet the almighty Michael only the truth will do I think I like his FDR better I feel like this is a little bit one dimension is that what you're going to say on judgement day it's like the character is serving a very simple function in the story he's just there to be patriotic I'm here to talk to you about freedom and have gravitas and remind you of the seriousness of purpose of all of that ready for guidance and leading this nation it's kind of like the vocal delivery mirrors that without doing much else I'm afraid that won't do George Washington David Morse John Adams I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with I think it's really clear some research went into this you don't have any video or audio of George Washington speaking we do have descriptions from contemporaries of his that say that he actually had a surprisingly soft and even high voice independence from one end of the colonies to the owner and also that he tended to keep his mouth closed of course he famously had terrible terrible teeth and when you have terrible teeth and no dentistry a very bad breath forgive me so that makes a lot of sense I think we can see and hear those things in David Morse's performance have a look at this here I George Washington do solemnly swear [Music] it's a really interesting contrast to Washington was a very tall man of absolutely commanding presence and yet to have a kind of just a soft-spoken voice go along with that I think is fascinating and apparently that's what the guy was actually like David Morse is really doing that so I don't be God Theodore Roosevelt Brian Geraghty the alienist even if I wanted to I cannot allow you access to the body as it's still in police custody let's listen to a little bit of Teddy Roosevelt are the American people fit to govern themselves to rule themselves to control them I believe so here's Garrity as Roosevelt are you suggesting you should be allowed to conduct a parallel investigation now the actor didn't have a lot of time to prepare before he filmed this I still wish there was more of an attempt to go towards that kind of singsong intonation the fight would not be made at all and though clipped off endings there's a matter of it that is a Teddy Roosevelt was a non-rhotic speaker he didn't pronounce our sounds after vowel sounds you can hear that here whereas Garrety pronounces the R's a lot in words like determined or Robert you can hear that that will be determined determined by the coroner Robert Robert also Teddy Roosevelt had very lip read at vowel sounds on all thought vowels Oh Oh what I've gone well ooh goose bells to make that B who wanted to go to two very strongly loop around it very strongly defined its accent for me it sounds contemporary it not only doesn't conjure up the time and the place it actually takes me out of the time in the place a bit John F Kennedy Michael C Hall the crown it is time for a renewal a new generation of leadership so Michael C Hall is a really talented accent performer what are me a rum and coke I'll be there in ten I think he's one of the few Americans we can see in a high-profile show doing an English accent and doing it pretty well in safe Jenna its dad again here I'm not sure he quite has it again I think he falls into the Kennedy trap sorry and trying to put my finger on it I think a lot of it actually has to do with physical tension the quality of opportunity so many great opportunity Kennedy we now know was in a lot of pain all the time I think we can see that in Michael C Hall's performance I look forward to a full report but it goes along with a real stiffness he's kind of hyper extending his neck and there's a lot of tension in the face and around the lips and John F Kennedy maybe because he worked really hard at it didn't seem to have that he seemed to have a kind of an ease an easy grace and style it is time for a new generation of leadership have a look at Michael C Hall here and especially in the line we cannot go it alone you can see all that tension and work we cannot do it alone whereas here's Kennedy look at the ease give me your help and your boy Gerald Ford Chevy Chase Saturday Night Live the pay off bill now before the House of Representatives does not address the current situation and I would veto it this is one of my very favorite impressions of all time but he's smart it's not an impression he's doing literally nothing Joey he's just using physical comedy to make the point that Ford was clumsy I guess not that intelligent yellow I'm girl bored and you're not doing nothing else there's something absurd about it alright hello no I don't know it just makes me giggle thank you Abraham Lincoln Kris Kristofferson tad that's cheap Snow's Apple can't say had one since New Salem days feller sent me a barrel of yesterday I don't think there's any real voice or accent work taking place here I believe it is I think Kris Kristofferson is really just doing himself out there you have a sound argument what are the interesting things about Lincoln of course we don't have any audio recordings but we have descriptions from contemporaries and they describe them as having had a surprisingly high and sort of even Reedy voice which is a fascinating contrast with the sort of the gravitas and the seriousness of the pictures that we have in the image that we have of this guy God knows most of us our carriage at some time or another Abraham Lincoln Gilbert Gottfried a million ways to die in the West hiya shmucks four score and seven years ago I once broke just like you it's perfect Dwight the Eisenhower Robert Duvall hike now there are still French battleships RN Casablanca and Algiers I think Duvall has a kind of a a staccato delivery that's very forceful thing communicates something very no-nonsense a year eight years and Algiers years listen to that staccato delivery and we're planning to land in Algeria and Morocco you're planning to land in Algeria and Morocco where's I think the real eisenhower had some of that kind of punch but it was also counter poised against a sort of a flow and ease you can hear that here we must find some way we need to gain an eternal peace for this world Ronald Reagan Alan Rickman the butler if Congress passes sanctions against South Africa I will be forced to veto those sanctions rythms the Great Communicator Ronald Reagan I know how to hold the floor he knew how to hold his audience's attention just to show you how youthful I am I intend to campaign in all 13 states there's a kind of a trick it came incredibly naturally to him which was he would finish one sentence and then start the next sentence straight away I will not make age an issue of this campaign I am NOT going to exploit and then he would pause for political purposes my opponents youth and inexperience gathering for thought there's a taking of breath I can still remember my first Republican convention so it involves the whole being Abraham Lincoln giving a speech that and you can hear Alan Rickman doing this as Reagan right here in this scene if Congress passes this bill I will veto it listen to the way he splits up for thoughts here when he says my staff has been trying to get me to a nice staff who's been trying to get me to stop you think you could help me I think you could help me to write the pauses the breaks don't come at the end of the sentence they come in the middle of the thought so it almost brings you forward in anticipation listen it reminds me of a story I in case you were wondering this is my way of sliding into a story I think a lot of what Alan Rickman's doing for Reagan here is pinned on this one thing I think it's incredibly successful though our procedure over this Ronald Reagan Tim Matheson killing Reagan tell them of your support for this bipartisan proposal tell them you believe this is an unequalled opportunity to make government again the servant of the people so I think this is another performance where the actors may be over relying a little bit on just a vocal quality and trying to let that do all the work to him a lot of vowel sounds that really aren't working right is about in out I would like to walk back down his vowel in you you you are very much his own goose and mouth bowels and very different from Reagan's versions of those vowels locked out back locked out back you you what are you you feels a little bit like a missed opportunity about conclusion so I just have a final thought you might have noticed as we went some of these there's been a change movies and TV shows that were done a couple of decades ago tended not to put much attention on the voice and speech work the actors didn't even necessarily try and that's really changed so I think it's a really really really good thing that this is something we're paying more attention to I think we can do more but the direction is right [Music] hi it's Eric singer again from on location in Budapest Hungary if you love technique critique you can get an early look at some of the next episodes in our series where in addition to me talking about accents and idiolect you can hear other experts looking at medicine law and spy craft in movies and TV all you have to do is download wired on your streaming device now [Music]

Channel: WIRED

Views: 2,986,337

Rating: 4.9529552 out of 5

Keywords: erik singer, dialects, dialect, accent expert, movie accent expert, movies accents, movie accents, idiolects, idiolect, president dialects, president dialect, wired accents, wired accent, wired accent expert, movies, president accent, president impressions, us presidents, donald trump impression, barack obama impression, obama accent, obama voice, actors accents, actor accent, jay pharoah obama, george w bush impression, george bush, josh brolin w, dialect coach, wired

Id: A-3yN2ePJwk

Length: 27min 28sec (1648 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 25 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/WallopyJoe]

Love these videos every time they pop up, they're fascinating. I've watched his other 4 more than a few times, I just wish they were slightly more regular.

Also, I think it's fantastic when he has these little moments, after he's assessed the actor's done a good job, when he sort of gushes or drops how serious he is and expresses how much he likes it. Like after Bryan Cranston's Lyndon B. Johnson.

[u/elegantjihad]

Gilbert Gottfried as Lincoln was pretty much perfect, and I am glad he recognized it as such.

[u/komacki]

I was confused at the absence of DDL in Lincoln, but then I remembered he already covered that.

[u/ThatColossalWreck]

Oh no...he grew a beard and now he's even MORE charming.

[u/MadFlorist]

Quasi-Dennis Reynolds strikes again!

[u/TheLifeYouSave]

I have a deep, unexplainable love for this man someone help me

[u/keitarofujiwara]

The Gilbert Gottfried part was hilarious. Love these videos.

[u/Worthyness]

Yay they did another one! I love these videos. Linguistic analysis is really interesting

[u/sbb618]

Man The Butler made such weird choices with its presidents