Learn the British Accent from these 10 Movie Stars

Learn British Accent from these 10 Movie Stars

Ah, the British accent – cool, poised charming, and elegant. Of course, there are many variations on what we know as the “British” accent just as there are with the American accent. However, what you most commonly hear in British films is a clear, crisp speaking style known as the BBC pronunciation. It’s a great style to imitate because it will allow you to be easily understood by British English speakers.

Here are some prominent British actors whose accents can help you learn how to pronounce words in the British English manner (and as a bonus their films are quite enjoyable):

Learn British Accent from these 10 Movie Stars

If you want to listen to fabulous British accents, the Harry Potter films are an excellent starting point. Ralph Fiennes voices the evil Lord Voldemort, but his career is lengthy and includes movies like The English Patient, Oscar and Lucinda, In Bruges, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. His accent is theatre-trained and perfectly clear and enunciated, making him an excellent role model for spoken English. He is also the current M in the Bond films, taking over from Judi Dench.

Alan Rickman is best-known as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films, where he generally speaks in a drab and drawling style. However, his enunciation is more modern and clear in movies like Love Actually, Galaxy Quest, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. (He’s great as the villain in Die Hard, too, but he’s playing a German there, so the accent’s a bit tweaked.)

Emma Watson will forever be known as Hermione in the eight Harry Potter movies, where she does a great deal of talking and is usually right. As a bonus, the dialogue in the earlier films is of an easier level and can be copied by children as well as adults.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sherlock Holmes in the most recent BBC adaptation of that character’s stories, but he has also been in numerous films over the past few years, including The Imitation Game, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and the Hobbit films where he provided the voice of the dragon Smaug.

Martin Freeman is Sherlock’s other half, Watson, in the BBC series, but he has an extensive filmography that includes a very funny bit in Love Actually as well as the lead role in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. However, many people probably know him best as Bilbo Baggins in the three recent Hobbit movies. He’s got a plain-spoken, unaffected accent that is very simple to understand, plus a very dry sense of humour that makes him a pleasure to listen to.

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Keira Knightley played opposite Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game, but she broke onto the scene in the excellent soccer movie Bend it Like Beckham. She is also well-known from her roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and as Elizabeth Bennet in the most recent Pride and Prejudice film.

Emma Thompson is well-known for her lovely speaking voice and elegant manner. She’s both hilarious and utterly charming. Some great films in which she has a lot of dialogue are Love Actually, Stranger Than Fiction (where she has a voiceover that runs throughout the film as well as her own scenes), Saving Mr. Banks, and the period piece Sense and Sensibility.

Helen Mirren has played Queen Elizabeth II several times on film, most notably in the film The Queen, where of course she emulates the monarch’s very mannered and formal speaking style. Her more natural, clear and lovely accent can be heard in some of her other films such as Red, Eye in the Sky, and the hilarious Calendar Girls.

Colin Firth is perhaps best known for his role as Mr. Darcy in the BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice, or as Mark Darcy in the Bridget Jones films, but to truly hear him speak beautifully you’ll want to watch the ending of The King’s Speech. Earlier in the film he has a stutter but learns to overcome it, resulting in some gorgeous dialogue between him and the equally well-spoken Helena Bonham Carter (who also pops up in the Harry Potter films).

Judi Dench played M, the woman in charge of the British spy agency MI-6 in seven of the James Bond films. As such, she has plenty of great dialogue and a bunch of arguments with Bond, of course. She can also be seen and heard in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (parts 1 and 2) and as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love.

Watching movies and listening to the dialogue is an excellent way to Learn British accent and practice British pronunciation of English words. As a bonus, movies are fun to discuss and can make a great topic of conversation with your Skype English teacher. You can learn some movie quotes and practice delivering them in a perfect British accent!

Category: Learn British accent, Learn Learn British accent

September 25, 2016