Yeah, but Billie Piper started out as a pop star, not an actor, so she probably doesn't have the full-on training that Tennant or Eccleston does. I STILL wish they'd used Tennant's real accent, dammit.
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she probably doesn't have the full-on training that Tennant or Eccleston does
I don't know how much training either of them do have, but if it takes training, judging by my experience watching British TV in the 80s, there must be a lot of schools out there full to the brim. It's not something that ever stuck out as uncommon.
Tennant went to the Scottish equivalent of RADA and has worked with the RSC; Eccleston went to the Central School of Speech and Drama. So, yes, trained actors both.
One of the things I love about British actors is that they are expected to be able to do accents. (Except American, which they are as bad at as Americans are at British.)
So, yes, trained actors both.
I'm not comparing her directly to them, though. Never was.
For all I know, she's crap at accents. My point is merely that being a British actor able to shift accents isn't, as far as I can tell, dependent on being trained.
Except American, which they are as bad at as Americans are at British.
I think there are more British actors who can do a generic American accent decently than there are American actors who can pass in the other direction.
Well, I can count (off the top of my head) two British actors who can do a generic American accent correctly and no Americans, so you win.
(Off the top of my head: Miranda Richardson, Hugh Laurie.) No, Alexis Denisov doesn't count, because he trained in England.
Is there a generic British accent, in the way that there is (you know, Des Moines) in the States?
How could you forget Dick Van Dyke!!?!
t ducks
Off the top of my head I add Colin Farrell on the faking Brit side, and know there are others but my mind is completely blank right now. I think I've heard Liam Neeson be decent too.
Is there a generic British accent, in the way that there is (you know, Des Moines) in the States?
There's the old school BBC accent (received pronunciation, I think), but British TV uses a wider range of accents than US TV does.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Renee Zellweger both got props from the British for their accents, as I recall.
I don't think I've heard Colin Farrell do a great US accent yet.