The above clip is from the movie "The Luck of the Irish" that premiered on Disney Channel. Pay attention to the dark haired man that barges in on the bus as well as the grandpa. Both are speaking with an irish accent. Now these two men don't necessarily seem like the typical irish characters that would be cast (they're missing the red hair, light skin and freckles) but hair and makeup has made them look the part. Looking the part is only half the battle, though, when auditioning.
Gareth Jameson, an actor and voice coach, has made several YouTube videos to teach you certain accents. Check out this video where he teaches the basics of an Irish accent:
Give yourself the "Luck of the Irish"! Listen, imitate, and practice your Irish accent to nail your next big audition! Have you been passed over because you didn't have Irish Accent listed on your resume?
Nothing beats actually visiting Ireland. There are more regional inflections than I had imagined while visiting the Emerald Isle and speaking with my distant kin. We rarely heard what would be considered back street Irish, which seems to be the preferred accent by many American producers. The average modern Irish accent is more subtle and educated sounding. And, some English spoken accents are so Irish Gaelic sounding (the official language), it takes a very patient western ear to understand what is being said, if you can understand it at all. My favorite aspect of the language is that it sounds so musical or lyrical. A good motion picture containing several accent examples would be "The Quiet Man."
Posted by: Jack Cook | 08/07/2012 at 02:02 PM