5 ms·

Lots of people have already commented on the accuracy of the content, but, as a life long resident of Baltimore, what struck me was the dead on accents. Baltim

by vkjv 9y ago

Lots of people have already commented on the accuracy of the content, but, as a life long resident of Baltimore, what struck me was the dead on accents. Baltimore has a very distinct, but evolving sound and vocabulary. Cinema usually can't seem to escape the 1960s "hon" cliche. I was certain that Idris Elba had to be from Baltimore until I learned otherwise.

m0nty 9y ago
Idris Elba and Dominic West both caught me by surprise, given that I'm English and I was convinced they were both American. Then I heard Idris in another production talking proper London ... Discussion of his accent here from a dialect coach, "This is amazing": https://youtu.be/NvDvESEXcgE?t=473 https://youtu.be/NvDvESEXcgE?t=473
- monochromatic 9y ago
  I always thought West's accent was a little... odd. I agree that Elba nailed it though.
  - m0nty 9y ago
    I'm not a native so can't tell about West. I admire Elba more as an actor though, maybe it's that authenticity thing.
- Anthony-G 9y ago
  Having never seen either actor in anything else before The Wire, I too was convinced that they were American. While watching the scene where McNulty went undercover to play an English visitor to Baltimore, I thought his accent was laughably bad – and that it was intentionally bad to add even more humour to that scene. I was doubly impressed when I later found out Dominic West actually is English and had even studied in Trinity College, Dublin (my adopted home).
  - therealdrag0 9y ago
    I had to look that scene up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBL2Wq5YjSw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBL2Wq5YjSw Compared to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdbWsX6h4eo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdbWsX6h4eo
lostlogin 9y ago
I'm sure you're already aware, but the way they got some of the characters helped with authenticity. Felicia Pearson ("Snoop") was found in a club by Michael Williams ("Omar") and her life to date was rather close to those portrayed in the show. Crack baby, killing someone as a kid, prison time etc. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicia_Pearson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicia_Pearson

by vkjv 9y ago

m0nty 9y ago

Idris Elba and Dominic West both caught me by surprise, given that I'm English and I was convinced they were both American. Then I heard Idris in another production talking proper London ... Discussion of his accent here from a dialect coach, "This is amazing": https://youtu.be/NvDvESEXcgE?t=473 https://youtu.be/NvDvESEXcgE?t=473

monochromatic 9y ago
I always thought West's accent was a little... odd. I agree that Elba nailed it though.
- m0nty 9y ago
  I'm not a native so can't tell about West. I admire Elba more as an actor though, maybe it's that authenticity thing.
Anthony-G 9y ago
Having never seen either actor in anything else before The Wire, I too was convinced that they were American. While watching the scene where McNulty went undercover to play an English visitor to Baltimore, I thought his accent was laughably bad – and that it was intentionally bad to add even more humour to that scene. I was doubly impressed when I later found out Dominic West actually is English and had even studied in Trinity College, Dublin (my adopted home).
- therealdrag0 9y ago
  I had to look that scene up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBL2Wq5YjSw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBL2Wq5YjSw Compared to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdbWsX6h4eo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdbWsX6h4eo

lostlogin 9y ago

I'm sure you're already aware, but the way they got some of the characters helped with authenticity. Felicia Pearson ("Snoop") was found in a club by Michael Williams ("Omar") and her life to date was rather close to those portrayed in the show. Crack baby, killing someone as a kid, prison time etc. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicia_Pearson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicia_Pearson