Nah, it can definitely be masked. I doubt many people pick up that Stephen Colbert is from South Carolina. I had a coworker whose native accent was a southern

Nah, it can definitely be masked. I doubt many people pick up that Stephen Colbert is from South Carolina. I had a coworker whose native accent was a southern one, out of Missouri, but he'd disguised it very effectively, if you met him you'd assume just another California techie.