Can the Harry Potter cast speak with American accents? MTV finds out

Posted Tuesday, November 23, 2010 at 9:28 AM Central
Last updated Tuesday, November 23, 2010 at 9:32 AM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Actors often use a voice accent that is not their own to create a convincing performance. As an American I don't think much about American-born actors speaking with a British accent for a film. Pretty much everyone born in the U.S. can speak, at least crudely, like someone from England.

On the other hand, when a Brit speaks "American" it blows my mind. Sure it's a simple concept but hard to grasp for those of us who talk that way every day.

Here's something more to my point. Remember the CBS TV show Without a Trace? Besides being a great show, it featured great performances by Anthony LaPaglia, Poppy Montgomery, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. They all played New York FBI agents. Little did you know that when the cameras were off, they spoke with different accents. LaPaglia and Montgomery were born and raised in Australia while Jean-Baptiste is British. They were so convincing and natural it's hard to imagine them as not American.

Now consider the #1 movie in America right now, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. We're well acquainted with the cast. They've grow up before our eyes. Of course they're all British as are the famous characters they play. But can they speak American?

That's what Josh Horowitz and MTV wanted to find out when they interviewed the cast. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Tom Felton tried on their best American accents. The results are hilarious. No, no. Check that. It's bloody hilarious. Watch here: