I could see Fred trying to tone down the accent while she was in college - anything to keep from seeming like a naive hick from the sticks. Plus they do change over time depending on surroundings. For me the curiosity about actors' voices would be what AD sounds like without the British accent. I keep expecting sort of a prissy Steven Wright kind of thing.

People DO tend tend to smooth out their accents over time when they move, and it tends to re-emerge when the person is around family or such, so I can buy that.

Or after a couple of glasses of wine, or when tired... yeah.

Paul's the only one of his family without a trace of Texas when he speaks, as he was a toddler when they left. The rest of them vary according to time of day, amount of alcohol, and location in relation to other Texans.

I'm also finding that as age dulls their hearing, my folks are sounding more and more Canadian.

For me the curiosity about actors' voices would be what AD sounds like without the British accent. I keep expecting sort of a prissy Steven Wright kind of thing.

Freaking weird and kind of fey.

It's higher, lighter, and not *quite* American. Were you there during the AD movie fest last year? Any of the stuff he did pre-AtS where he was supposed to be playing an American, he sounded like someone faking an American accent (see: KB in Dead Again).

Sort of like how Jake Weber's American sounds, as he puts it, "like an evil, wicked gay man."

I'd go with freaking weird as a good description of AD's voice, and I don't think it's just that I'm used to hearing him be British. I also agree that AA sounds more like Fred, but lower and less Texan.

The freaky thing about her interviews on the DVDs is that she says I and means Fred. I know a lot of actors do that, but it's always cognitively dissonant to me.

The freaky thing about her interviews on the DVDs is that she says I and means Fred. I know a lot of actors do that, but it's always cognitively dissonant to me.

A random snippet I remember from Rumpole of the Bailey was the claim that lawyers do (or did) that in Britain when opposing one another in a case. I believe this led to Rumpole and his friend George arguing over dinner about George's infidelity to Rumpole, or some such.

The "I" thing doesn't bother me, except in a few circumstances, like when the actor says something like, "Oh, this is where I rip out the guy's heart, beer-batter it, fry it, and eat it with a side of salt&vinegar chips (my favorite) and I'm wearing this absolutely astonishing Jimmy Choo's."

For me the curiosity about actors' voices would be what AD sounds like without the British accent. I keep expecting sort of a prissy Steven Wright kind of thing.

I'll have to agree with the "freakin' weird" assessment. He sounds so much better with a British accent.

Accent slut.

I haven't ever heard AA speak as AA, but my mother and I are guessing at which is closer to her real voice: Fred's or Illyria's.

Half and half. The VOICE is closer as Fred (timber, pitch, etc), but the ACCENT is much more Illyria.

He sounds so much better with a British accent.

Everybody (almost) sounds better with a British accent.

Accent slut.

IOW, I'll see your slut and raise you an accent nympho...