Accent Coaching for Actors

In my effort to perfect my British RP (Received Pronunciation), I have stumbled upon a seemingly excellent website called The Voice Cafe at www.thevoicecafe.net.

It looks like it'll be particularly useful for actors who have auditions at short notice and need quick access to recordings of English accents from Britain, America, Australia and New Zealand.

For each accent there are several monologues with phonetic breakdowns, simple vowels, diphthongs, and word linking patterns with consonants and vowel sounds. There's also a self-study e-learning zone or one to one tuition offered online via Skype video. Brilliant!

The accents include male and female recordings of:
British
- London-Cockney
- standard R.P. & conservative R.P.
- Scotland - Glasgow & Edinburgh
- London area
- Northern Irish
- Newcastle/Geordie
- Liverpool/Scouse
- Manchester/Mancunian
- South Wales
Irish
- Southern
American
- General, Midwest & West Coast
- North East Coast
- Deep South
Australian
New Zealand
South African

There are some free areas of the site, but for full access you need to pay a reasonable fee - 1 month $15 USD, 3 months $28 USD, 6 months $50 USD, 1 year $80 USD.

American or British Accent?

I received an email today from another actress who may be moving to the UK:

Q: Must American actors in London mostly use a British accent? As you know, for foreigners in the US, it is pretty much a requirement for them to have a perfect American accent in order to get work. Does the same hold true over there? I am especially curious about film and television work.

A: Keep your American accent! It's one of your most valuable assets here in the UK. It is the thing that makes you special, your USP (Unique Selling Point). Almost every TV and film role I go up for is American. In fact one of the reasons my agents took me on is because they didn't have any American actresses my age on their books. Casting directors want the real deal, so when American roles are available the breakdown usually says "Genuine Americans required". A lot of American commercials and TV pilots are cast over here, and producers specifically seek native accents. Now it's a real pain when an English person has a perfect (sometimes barely passable) American accent and gets the job over you, but that's the biz.

When British regional accents are required, they look for native speakers as well (Manchester, Scottish, Irish, Northern, Cockney, Birmingham, London etc.). As for your British RP (Received Pronunciation) accent - it's definitely worth perfecting, but you won't use it as often as your natural accent. I've only ever used it in stage productions (Macbeth, Twelfth Night the Musical, Failed States). The Actors Centre has some great accent/dialect tutors to help you on your way. They have classes and one on one sessions.

Good luck!

American Resume --> British CV

CV means “Curriculum Vitae”. Although there are some exceptions, the British use a CV, Americans use a resume.

Paper size & type
UK standard letter size is A4 (8.25”x11.75”) as opposed to the US 8.5” x 11”. Change the paper size in your word processor.

If you’ve got a long resume, you’re in luck! In the UK it’s standard to staple your A4 CV to the back of your 10x8 headshot - untrimmed.

It’s best to print on 100gsm weight paper, such as “Conqueror” brand (generic versions available at Ryman shops).

Name & vital statistics
Your name, most often at the top, must stand out in size, weight and color.

Essential: Yours or your agent’s contact details, unions, height (same as USA – feet, inches), hair Color, eye Color, Spotlight view PIN (you’ll be given this when you appear in Spotlight).

Optional: weight (in stones or kilograms not pounds) or build, nationality (e.g. “American citizen/UK Resident”), Your professional web site (e.g. www.johndoe.com), a small version of your headshot (in case your photo & CV get separated).

Credits
Format: It’s customary in the UK to list credits in this order from left to right: role, production title, director, production company or theatre

American credits: Since you want to work in the UK, put your British credits first in each category (theatre, film, TV, etc.). What if your credits are all American? For film or TV, it doesn’t really matter especially if the production company or network is known worldwide (e.g. Disney or HBO). For stage list the city after the production company (e.g. “Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, DC”).

As in the USA, feel free to change the order of your credits, either individually or by category, according to what’s appropriate for your audition.

Training
Keep it simple and pithy! It seems to be a trend in America for actors to list every course taken as part of their acting degree, every workshop they’ve ever attended, the instructor’s name, and dates for everything. Not so in the UK. Just list 1) where you got your primary acting training, 2) the type of degree you earned and 3) if you graduated with honors. It’s assumed actors perpetually improve their craft, so no need to list every workshop taken. However, if you frequently take classes at a particular place(s), list it this way: “Actors Centre, City Lit – ongoing”. Unless it’s really high profile, i.e. 1 year intensive at RADA, scrap it from your CV and leave room for work credits.

Skills
Beware of what I call “skill inflation”: excessively increasing your skill list - to impress or to seem versatile – and you end up decreasing each skill’s value. List only what you can do to a high level at the drop of a hat.

NOTE: what Americans call a “print model” (appearing in print ads for magazines, posters, etc.), Brits often call a “photographic model”.

Accents
Only list accents that are of native standard, especially UK accents! You may be able to get away with a mediocre cockney in Utah, but if you try it in London people will laugh and shout “Chim Chimney Cheroo” at you*. Your genuine American accent is an advantage here, so list “Standard American” first, then your native accent (e.g. Maryland or East Coast), other American regionals, then foreign. All must be perfect.

*Dick van Dyke had a famously bad cockney accent in the movie version of Mary Poppins. As Bert, he sang “Chim Chimney Cheroo”.