yeah he sounded wrong. but can we take a moment to appreciate those that aren't even american and yet still pulled off convincing accents? Idris Elba is obviously worthy of praise in this regard, but so it Carcetti. and McNulty slips from time-to-time but I still think he's on point mostly considering how mcuh he talks in seasons 1-3.
Whoa, Stringer Bell is ENGLISH? That's hard to believe. I just found this on his wiki entry:
"Idris Elba (born September 6, 1972) is a British television, theatre, and film actor who has starred in both British and American productions. Elba is also a DJ under the moniker DJ Big Driis / Big Driis the Londoner, and a hip-hop soul recording artist."
I will resist the temptation to listen to his music, having learned my lesson after finding out about Lance Reddick's musical endeavors. Hoo boy.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
Damn, Carcetti isn't American? He fucking nails his accent, reigon and all. Idris did a good job and Dominick West was a little shakey on the first season but he tightened up and really gets it by season 2.
Speaking of the actors, since I've been watching The Wire these years I've noticed all the actors in other shows, bit pieces, character actors, roles on "Law & Order" etc. I often see 2 or 3 Wire characters in another show at the same time. I always do a little "hell yes" to myself when I recognize one of them, like glad to see them working and shit, even though I think they mostly must be pre-Wire.
Me & my girl like to play "spot the Wire alumnus" now and again. Clarke Peters just showed up over here in an episode of "Cape Wrath" (which is called "Meadowlands" in the US, I believe), a UK/US co-production between Channel 4 and Showtime which aims for a David Lynch vibe, but ends up coming off like a low-rent Shyamalan knock-off. Some of the American accents in that show are diabolical; right up there with Don Cheadle's London accent in the Oceans movies.
Anyway, Aiden Gillen, who plays Carcetti, is a Dubliner. I find that it often seems less of a stretch for Irish actors to pull off a convincing American accent.
They get paid time and a half for working with David Caruso.
what's the story here? is dude hard to work with supposedly? I am disconnected from CSI (saw one episode, laughed my ass off and never watched it again). I remember dude left NYPD Blue to pursue a film career that never went anywhere.
yeah he sounded wrong. but can we take a moment to appreciate those that aren't even american and yet still pulled off convincing accents? Idris Elba is obviously worthy of praise in this regard, but so it Carcetti. and McNulty slips from time-to-time but I still think he's on point mostly considering how mcuh he talks in seasons 1-3.
Whoa, Stringer Bell is ENGLISH? That's hard to believe. I just found this on his wiki entry:
"Idris Elba (born September 6, 1972) is a British television, theatre, and film actor who has starred in both British and American productions. Elba is also a DJ under the moniker DJ Big Driis / Big Driis the Londoner, and a hip-hop soul recording artist."
I will resist the temptation to listen to his music, having learned my lesson after finding out about Lance Reddick's musical endeavors. Hoo boy.
yeah he played club promoter on an SVU I saw recently, British accent and all.
someone should dig up his music just for fun.
anyone see Slim Charles in the Tabi Bonney The Pocket video? he only gets a second toward the end.
Anyway, Aiden Gillen, who plays Carcetti, is a Dubliner. I find that it often seems less of a stretch for Irish actors to pull off a convincing American accent.
You should hear some of the dudes that have never left Two Street in Philly.
if you look back at the pace of each season, the 4 is mad slow. Too slow.
Almost every season, save perhaps for Season 1, moves slow at first and then picks up momentum about 1/2 to 2/3 the way through. S4 really is not different at all in this regard and while I understand this is a matter of subjective opinion, I'm just saying: fast pacing has never been something that "The Wire" has been concerned about and, to me, it's the least valid of the criticisms one could possibly direct at it.
Furthermore, the idea that S4 is just a set-up for S5 is a crazy narrow way to look at it. It's as if the only thing that matters is Marlo's ascension. That's just one of several threads being woven. As always.
if you look back at the pace of each season, the 4 is mad slow. Too slow.
Almost every season, save perhaps for Season 1, moves slow at first and then picks up momentum about 1/2 to 2/3 the way through. S4 really is not different at all in this regard and while I understand this is a matter of subjective opinion, I'm just saying: fast pacing has never been something that "The Wire" has been concerned about and, to me, it's the least valid of the criticisms one could possibly direct at it.
Furthermore, the idea that S4 is just a set-up for S5 is a crazy narrow way to look at it. It's as if the only thing that matters is Marlo's ascension. That's just one of several threads being woven. As always.
O, the dude that wrote that comment has apparently not seen the Wire; I wouldn't bother explaining it to him.
The actor that played Ziggy tried really way too hard to nail the accent but it came out as some sort of perverted Boston twang. I just think that the actor just never heard it before, because anyone who grew up in the area between Northern Virginia and South Jersey knows, and probably speaks with to a degree, that accent.
Someone told me he actually grew up around here, but if he's from Bmore he must be a rich kid or a transplant or both to overdo it so bad. He was also in the (godawful) John Waters movie that came out about 2 years back. The only other credit I know of for him offhand is Larry Clark's movie Ken Park.
I'm going to look into this character on IMDB... okay, his name's James Ransone and he grew up in Towson and went to the arts magnet school there. That makes sense.
yea i went to school with ziggy's little bro. he wasnt scrawny tho. mcnulty is british. thats the extra layer of humor in season two when he is the british john.
in terms of pacing, i always find that i think the current season that i am watching is slow but then once i go back and watch the older seasons, they are paced the same, i just get caught up in the moment in the last episodes of the season.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
Whoa, Stringer Bell is ENGLISH? That's hard to believe. I just found this on his wiki entry:
"Idris Elba (born September 6, 1972) is a British television, theatre, and film actor who has starred in both British and American productions. Elba is also a DJ under the moniker DJ Big Driis / Big Driis the Londoner, and a hip-hop soul recording artist."
Yeah, he's from Hackney, about a mile down the road from where I live. I checked his myspace once - the music ain't great, but it's OK.
It's funny to me how so many Americans are surprised that a Brit could do a convincing American accent, though. We've been exposed to American accents, speech patterns and slang of all descriptions for decades through TV, movies and music, so any halfway-decent British actor ought to have at least a couple of good US accents in his/her toolbox, so to speak.
I remember visiting my girl when she worked in Nashville, and we'd gone to Memphis for the weekend. We stopped at a branch of Walgreens, and one of the counterstaff overheard my girl talking to me. She's black, and her parents are from the Caribbean, but her accent is straight-up East London. The girl at Walgreens, who's also black, says to my girl, "Excuse me, but I hope you don't mind me asking; do you have black people in England?" Funny thing is, this wasn't the first time she'd been asked that question. She wasn't offended or anything, but she was still a little bewildered. We concluded that it was probably because Americans have largely grown up hearing black people speak American English on TV or in movies, rather than any other form. With the exception of Don Cheadle in the Oceans movies, Forrest Whittaker in The Crying Game, and Denzel's ropey South London accent in For Queen And Country, I can't think of any significant instances where a black character in a US movie or TV show has had a British accent. You just don't hear it.
When McNulty slips up, it never bugs me, as he IS playing an Irish cop...
right but dude is Australian right?
No, he's English, from Sheffield. Went to Eton as well.
my bad someone said he was australian. never heard him talk normal otherwise I would prolly be able to tell the difference. I seldom confuse an aussie with a brit. I can even ID a south african from the accent
Marianne Jean Baptiste - from Without a Trace - also British and was voted for an Oscar for Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies (a movie everyone should see).
One of my favorite actors, Ray Winstone, also from the UK, turned down a starring role in the Wire cuz he didn't want to move to Baltimore.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
Marianne Jean Baptiste - from Without a Trace - also British and was voted for an Oscar for Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies (a movie everyone should see).
Does she play a Brit in that show, then? I've never seen it.
Comments
"YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH[/b]
Whoa, Stringer Bell is ENGLISH? That's hard to believe. I just found this on his wiki entry:
"Idris Elba (born September 6, 1972) is a British television, theatre, and film actor who has starred in both British and American productions. Elba is also a DJ under the moniker DJ Big Driis / Big Driis the Londoner, and a hip-hop soul recording artist."
I will resist the temptation to listen to his music, having learned my lesson after finding out about Lance Reddick's musical endeavors. Hoo boy.
Me & my girl like to play "spot the Wire alumnus" now and again. Clarke Peters just showed up over here in an episode of "Cape Wrath" (which is called "Meadowlands" in the US, I believe), a UK/US co-production between Channel 4 and Showtime which aims for a David Lynch vibe, but ends up coming off like a low-rent Shyamalan knock-off. Some of the American accents in that show are diabolical; right up there with Don Cheadle's London accent in the Oceans movies.
Anyway, Aiden Gillen, who plays Carcetti, is a Dubliner. I find that it often seems less of a stretch for Irish actors to pull off a convincing American accent.
what's the story here? is dude hard to work with supposedly? I am disconnected from CSI (saw one episode, laughed my ass off and never watched it again). I remember dude left NYPD Blue to pursue a film career that never went anywhere.
On the CSI:MIA topic, wow. Caruso hurts to watch.
yeah he played club promoter on an SVU I saw recently, British accent and all.
someone should dig up his music just for fun.
anyone see Slim Charles in the Tabi Bonney The Pocket video? he only gets a second toward the end.
You should hear some of the dudes that have never left Two Street in Philly.
right but dude is Australian right?
dunno...but, if he gets a little brogueish, it don't bug me.
quick to add, though: og CSI is some great TV.
Slim Charles is the lead singer for The Backyard Band.
Dude is hard to watch definitely.
Yes. The miniatures story was great. Sarah Sidle (sp?) is super hot - Gorja Fox indeed!
yeah I know. are they on the Tabi Bonney album or something or this just some DC-Bmore love being shown?
and omar is in trapped in the closet
The last two seasons hadn't been my favorite work- the resolution with the daughter of the dude who buried Nick alive was :cringeworthybad:
But, that last season finale was
Almost every season, save perhaps for Season 1, moves slow at first and then picks up momentum about 1/2 to 2/3 the way through. S4 really is not different at all in this regard and while I understand this is a matter of subjective opinion, I'm just saying: fast pacing has never been something that "The Wire" has been concerned about and, to me, it's the least valid of the criticisms one could possibly direct at it.
Furthermore, the idea that S4 is just a set-up for S5 is a crazy narrow way to look at it. It's as if the only thing that matters is Marlo's ascension. That's just one of several threads being woven. As always.
I actually missed a lot of this storyline, or maybe it was too spread out for me to retain.
The whole Grissom/Sarah romance thing makes me want to see a little more action, but it creeps me out a little as well.
I hope that S&M lady storyline is over - I can't really stand the woman who plays that role.
I gotta check this out after work - banned sites and all.
O, the dude that wrote that comment has apparently not seen the Wire; I wouldn't bother explaining it to him.
yea i went to school with ziggy's little bro. he wasnt scrawny tho. mcnulty is british. thats the extra layer of humor in season two when he is the british john.
in terms of pacing, i always find that i think the current season that i am watching is slow but then once i go back and watch the older seasons, they are paced the same, i just get caught up in the moment in the last episodes of the season.
Yeah, he's from Hackney, about a mile down the road from where I live. I checked his myspace once - the music ain't great, but it's OK.
It's funny to me how so many Americans are surprised that a Brit could do a convincing American accent, though. We've been exposed to American accents, speech patterns and slang of all descriptions for decades through TV, movies and music, so any halfway-decent British actor ought to have at least a couple of good US accents in his/her toolbox, so to speak.
I remember visiting my girl when she worked in Nashville, and we'd gone to Memphis for the weekend. We stopped at a branch of Walgreens, and one of the counterstaff overheard my girl talking to me. She's black, and her parents are from the Caribbean, but her accent is straight-up East London. The girl at Walgreens, who's also black, says to my girl, "Excuse me, but I hope you don't mind me asking; do you have black people in England?" Funny thing is, this wasn't the first time she'd been asked that question. She wasn't offended or anything, but she was still a little bewildered. We concluded that it was probably because Americans have largely grown up hearing black people speak American English on TV or in movies, rather than any other form. With the exception of Don Cheadle in the Oceans movies, Forrest Whittaker in The Crying Game, and Denzel's ropey South London accent in For Queen And Country, I can't think of any significant instances where a black character in a US movie or TV show has had a British accent. You just don't hear it.
http://narrowcast.blogspot.com/2006/08/hip-hoprb-videos-featuring-cast.html
No, he's English, from Sheffield. Went to Eton as well.
hahaha Diddy and Jeezy n' em team up with Cutty to save the children from Slim Charles.
my bad someone said he was australian. never heard him talk normal otherwise I would prolly be able to tell the difference. I seldom confuse an aussie with a brit. I can even ID a south african from the accent
I'd much rather see British actors playing Americans than the other way around (Anne Hathaway, I'm looking at you.)
Marianne Jean Baptiste - from Without a Trace - also British and was voted for an Oscar for Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies (a movie everyone should see).
Does she play a Brit in that show, then? I've never seen it.