MTV Analyzes Rob's Spanish Accent

Okay moving on from the Dossier Pictures to saner topics 'cause we all need to preserve our mental health :))


From MTV.com's Larry Carrol:

Ever since the folks behind the upcoming film "Little Ashes" gave us a pair of exclusive clips to unveil earlier this week, the Web has been buzzing with Twilighter analysis of Robert Pattinson's Spanish accent.

But, as they'd be the first to admit, "Twilight" fans can be a bit biased when it comes to their beloved Spunk Ransom. With that in mind, we decided to take the issue straight to the professionals.

"I think it's a credible Spanish accent," praised Joel Goldes, a veteran dialect coach who has spent 18 years working with Nicolas Cage, Jim Broadbent, Jennifer Garner and other actors. Goldes said he was impressed by the London-born Pattinson. "I think if I didn't know his background, I wouldn't suspect anything."

"What I'm hearing is actually a mixture. I'm hearing a lot of his Americanisms that he learned," said accent coach Claudette Roche, saying that Pattinson's gig as Salvador Dalí is all the more difficult since co-star Javier Beltrán is from Barcelona. "Because he's working with Javier, who is Spanish, it's very contrasting. Javier has a very pure Spanish accent."

But despite the occasional encroachment of RPattz's American tendencies, acting coach Bruce Ducat (who has worked with teen idols like Alyson Michalka, Katie Cassidy and Amanda Bynes) said it shouldn't be enough to bother his core audience. "I think if I was one of the thousands of adolescent young women who are automatically his fans, I would buy it," he said, adding one caveat: "I think if he has to meet the scrutiny of people whose ears are tuned for accuracy, it may be 50/50."

"In the clip with the three guys (below) when he says, 'I expect so,' the way that he says 'so' is right on the money," Goldes said. "It's not English or American-sounding. It's not two sounds or two vowel sounds; it's just one. The 'oh' sound, that's exactly right."


"There is one thing he did that really struck me, and it is something he does as an Englishman well," said Roche, who is also British and has trained actors such as Lolita Davidovich. "I say, for example, 'I am going "ta" the store.' Like Americans, we don't say 'to,' we say 'ta.' And in one little clip, he says ['I need to go further'] without the 'ta.' People who learn English as a second language learn it properly, and a little word like 'to' is a hard thing for them not to say properly. So [someone like Salvador Dalí] would say, 'I am going "to" the store.' It's a hard thing for them to break.

"He obviously did a good job in 'Twilight,' because no one ever said anything about his American accent," Roche continued. "And he's adorable, so it doesn't matter — he could be mute, and he would still be fabulous."(Gozde: I have a feeling Roche would like our site :))

Tickets are now on sale through the "Little Ashes" Web site, so Twilighters will soon enough have their chance to check out Rob's accent in all its unedited glory. And according to Goldes, the clips show a young actor whose mastery of the international tongue could serve him well in the years to come.

"Certainly it sounds like he learned exactly what to do, and he's doing it well," the dialect coach said. "These are hard accents to get. It seems to me that he should be able to do just about whatever he wants to do in the future, in terms of accents."

24 comments:

lovindashow said...

omigod, i can't wait to see this movie!!!!!!!!!!

sigh

And I'm sure that he does a great job with the accent. I think his vocal/dialectical ability is one of the things that impresses me the most. I love how his voice changes in each role. Hearing him do a Spanish accent is probably going to put me in a very...um....awkward mood in the frickin' movie theatre.

Thanks, Goz! You are on a roll today with the RobCrack! I'm so glad I worked from home today!!!

J said...

Oh that's fantastic! Rob learn to ("ta") speak with Spanish accent ;)

Kate said...

I have a feeling accent is something Rob works very hard on in his films. I do remember him saying that he has never used his own accent in a film (yet).
I find accents fansinating and IMO he did a really good american accent in "Twilight" although I probably wouldn't be the best judge seeing as I'm not American but the accent wasn't "obvious" to me!

Oh and the pics in the post below "WOW" !

mel said...

Don't you just love Larry Carrol? He always writes stuff that really matters and speaks highly of Rob. Of course that's because he actually met Rob in person several times but he's not like all the other columnists that try to use Rob's popularity to raise their website hit counts.

Ms. Bonderson said...

That was good to read - I always like to hear non-biased opinions that are in favor of Rob and his craft. I can't wait to see this movie ... I'll be in LA on May 8th ready and waiting! :)

And I don't mind going insane if it means I get to see Rob in pics like the ones in the post below... :D It's just like the saying "I don't suffer from insanity - I enjoy every minute of it!" :D

Divinesally said...

i thought his American accent was flawless.

From what I've heard in trailers and clips, his Spanish accent needs a tiny bit of work. Not bad, just not as great as his American. It's good, but paired next to an actual Spaniard you will hear the difference. Rob goes in and out of the accent in some of the clips I've seen.

Props to Rob for working so hard.

May said...

Wow. I feel so warm and fuzzy inside, when ppl aknowledge all the hard work Rob does. :)

"He obviously did a good job in 'Twilight,' because no one ever said anything about his American accent," Roche continued."And he's adorable, so it doesn't matter — he could be mute, and he would still be fabulous." *LMAO* I think she is partially right, cuz I think we all luv&appreciate how Rob does his job. ;p

anna F said...

The thing is that he swiches accents during the movie on purpose from what I've read. It was the intent of the director, because he thought Dali would try out different accents and work on them as well as on his outer appearence, sort of as a way to perfect his future face for the world (not sure that I've been clear... hopefully^^;;;).


So hopefully it will be seen as such in the movie and not some acting inconstency. Well, the director has said it himself in one interview from what I read on the little ashes imdb board.
But you know critics, they might see what they want.

lovindashow said...

That's fascinating, anna! I'm glad I heard that before seeing the film, because I'll be able to pay attention to that, correctly. :)

Divinesally said...

i agree lovingshadow, thanks aNNA. that clears things up.

Also, I was thinking about how Rob is always contradicting himself in interviews. and then it dawned on me. Dali did that a lot in his life and his autobiographies. He was a walking enigma. He didn't want to be labeled or defined.

Tina said...

rob is so dirty! :D I mean, covered with paint XD

anna F said...

I'll try to find where the info came from, I hate not giving sources... but I stumbled upon this info by pure chance one late night LOL

margot said...

All his life Dali was creating himself - he just became a piece of art himself by himself

I can't wait for the next Rob's role .. it's obvious that something's coming his way

Mixxy said...

I think Rob is very professional and is totally committed when he takes on his roles. I look forward to watching his future unfold.

anna F said...

well, here you go: it's a "hear say" (sadly not an article or an interview), but better than nothing to explain accent changes during the movie :

"About the accent, I remember reading on here that a fan had been liaising with the producer of the film as the comments on the accents had bugged her. He told her that it was intentional that Dali would attempt different accents when he got back to Spain including the slight English/French accents he puts on. It's not a mistake but 100% intentional, to show what an eccentric personality Dali had. He was constantly changing, evolving, and reinventing himself, so why wouldn't he use different accents?"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104083/board/thread/134678958?d=134729234&p=1#134729234

lovindashow said...

Again, anna, I find that incredibly fascinating. I REALLY can't wait for this movie!!!!

anna F said...

Well, I tried finding informations about the movie, but there weren't that many articles about it...

Maybe there are more now though, it's coming out soon in the US. I might look into it in a couple of days, I'm off for a long week end starting tomorrow.
well, goodnight everyone^^

Suz said...

@Goz "saner topics"

you are the Gozdess of all things Rob!

Elizabeth said...

Anna is right, and the director also had Rob change accents because Dali did this after living in Paris, he would try on different accents according to where he had spent time. So Rob is doing what Dali did. :-)

crazy said...

Rob is brilliant. I'm sure it wasn't an easy task pulling off this accent, considering what else he had to do to perform this complex role well.

crazy said...

Goz- love the new banner! I can stare before I have to scroll.

Anonymous said...

I actually am in a dialects class for actors and everything these people said are completely accurate. hooray

Anonymous said...

i agree he's so adorable and i'm a huge fan but i have to say it.I'm latin and for the very few words i've listenes i think his spanish accent it's so in the middle!!!i hope i'm wrong

Nicky said...

YAY...less Twilight and more Little Ashes please!!!!! :)

 
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