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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Donna Lu

Are actors getting better (and ‘bett-ah’) at Australian accents?

From left to right: Cosmo Jarvis in Inside, Dev Patel in Lion, Kaitlyn Dever in Apple Cider Vinegar and Kate Winslet in the Dressmaker.
From left to right: Cosmo Jarvis in Inside, Dev Patel in Lion, Kaitlyn Dever in Apple Cider Vinegar and Kate Winslet in The Dressmaker. Composite: Mathew Lynn/ Screen Australia/Allstar/AP/Universal Pictures

Australian actors have been putting on different accents for so long, and so undetectably, that one often stumbles upon surprise Aussies in films and shows. Sarah Snook was not the only Australian in Succession, for example; Nate Sofrelli, the political strategist and Shiv’s erstwhile lover, was played by compatriot Ashley Zukerman. Then there’s Geraldine Viswanathan (Thunderbolts*, Drive-Away Dolls), Dichen Lachman (Severance), Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things), Yvonne Strahovski (The Handmaid’s Tale) – the list goes on.

But the reverse – foreign actors convincingly portraying Australians – has been rare; quite often attempts have ended up a jarring melange of cockney, South African and New Zealand English.

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