Saturday 11 January 2020

English actors and Welsh accents

How Green was my Valley -- a Canadian actor and an Irish actress, pretending to be Welsh.......  Maybe forgivable then, but forgivable in the world of today?


Carolyn Hitt is having a good rant in the Western Mail about the continuing use of non-Welsh actors to play "Welsh" roles in TV and film dramas.  I tend to agree with her -- it is truly cringe-making when an actor who is non-Welsh tries to do the accent and fails. (Some actors can manage it, and all credit to them -- but most cannot....)

The bigger issue is that there are many Welsh actors out there (both male and female) who can do the accent without really trying, and who are absolutely good enough to cope with whatever other acting demands there may be in a role........  so why are they not used, and why do these cockups still occur?  Are Welsh actors and actresses not popular enough or known to sufficiently large audiences?  Are they too expensive?  Or are they just not on casting director's lists when roles come up for auditions? Or are actors actually only chosen if they live in London and are available for instant auditions when roles are being cast?

That is all ridiculous, given the fantastic acting talent within Wales.

Carry on, Western Mail.  You have a point......


https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/carolyn-hitt-welsh-tv-accent-17550613?fbclid=IwAR2aD2sZoA_nxmWKuew4wNV0wI55eHj4AzIZfKJ7JkKAlaX5nsryOEOF3Wg 

No comments: