06 Feb Sounds Like
Joel Cohen directed Denzel Washington in the recent film The Tragedy of Macbeth. He harped on Washington to harden his R’s. Cohen wanted Macbeth to project power and knew that precise speech would deliver that quality. And without a regional accent, Washington’s Macbeth could be from anywhere and any era. Actors need to wrap their mouths around the way a character sounds to be convincing, and to inhabit the status, place of origin and attitude of those they portray.
Christine Baranski is in the Downtown Abbey follow-up series The Gilded Age. Baranski plays an old-money New Yorker. When asked why she consistently lands roles playing intelligent women of influence, she laughed. Baranski was born to a Polish family in Buffalo and was gap-toothed. As a young actor, she was turned down by Juilliard because of her sibilant S’s and distinctive R’s. Before re-auditioning, Baranski capped her teeth and hired a speech therapist to rid her of her regional accent.
We are judged by our diction, as well as our appearance. Clear, sharp diction allows you to engineer how you are perceived. Mostly, muscles produce speech and are trainable like biceps or quads. But changing your diction takes steady, repetitive drills and re-tuning your ears.
David came out of Oklahoma farm country and Deborah from inner-city Chicago. We had to walk the talk and become accent neutral. So, it can be done, and when you do, you’ll love your new sound.
(On the Eloqui website, following this tip, we’ve included one of our articles on the best exercises to improve diction.)
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