From time to time you might find yourself finding roles that require an accent. Do you want to do this role? If it looks like a role you really desire to audition for then you need to do a little training. Even if you have done the accent before sometimes you need to do a little refresher.
Here are a few options on accomplishing this effort:
Watch a movie, a channel, or content where you can hear the accent and how it is being used. This way you can see if you can actually accomplish the accent.
Search for people showing you how the do the accent. For example, you can go to YouTube and search for "North Carolina accent". Watch on DLive people that have an accent you are learning.
Talk to a person that studies dialects and accents (Dialectology). There are also online courses wear you can learn more.
Record yourself speaking the accent. Then listen back in headphones to hear the purest possible accent you are creating. I also suggest you listen to the above areas using a headphone so you are clearing learning the accent correctly.
The key to all of this is be prepared. I have auditioned for roles requiring a specific southern accent. I don't naturally speak with one. So I have to retrain myself to speak with one. I live in the Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas, USA area in a city called Grapevine. I have moved around the country during my development years so I have a rather neutral accent. This may be the case for you as well. You might also be from an area that has a specific accent to your region. So for you to neutralize your accent you can also use similar accents.
To wrap up today's blog post... it may take a little to a lot of effort to have the authentic accent you need. Are you willing to do the work to make this happen? If so, have fun expanding your skillset. By the way, your acting coach probably has a class on Voiceover that would help with this very topic. They might even have additional resources for you to learn!
Until next week... Happy Accenting!
