Movie Accent Expert Breaks Down 32 Actors' Accents | WIRED 

This poor guy can’t watch movies cause his ears know too much

me: speaks with the accent i was raised with this guy: very good but....

“Brad Pitt, Inglorious Bastards” Me: “BUONGEARRRNOO!”

Just wanted to say that as a 15-year-old, this video completely blew my mind, and largely because of Erik Singer's videos, I became really interested in linguistics and am now pursuing a degree in TESOL. This video was kind of the start of it all :)

"Who the fuck let this happen" lost all of my shit at that moment😂😂

You know I thought this guy was gonna be super pretentious but he just very knowledgeable and gracious with his criticism.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, has a near perfect interpretation of Capote. One of the greatest actors ever.

Brad Pitt isn't doing a Belfast accent in Snatch, he's doing an Irish Traveller accent. This guy should really know the difference!

As a Brit I didn't realise that Kevin Costner was even attempting an English accent. I thought they just let him stick with his American accent for whatever reason lmao.

No one can defeat Brad Pitt’s *A river der chi*

Pitt: That ain't Belfast. That's Irish Traveller, and he's pretty close (in places)

Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Capote is just amazing. You can't even say anything else because he nails it so perfectly.

Very disappointed that you only did Brad Pitt's accent when speaking English in inglorious basterds. His Italian was spot on :P

Me before clicking the video: ''Damn, it's over 16 minutes long, too much, but maybe I'll check little bit.'' Me after the video: ''Wow, that was interesting, I want more''

The difference between Kate Winslet (a very good actress) and Meryl Streep's jaw placement...something I'd never noticed...blew me away when pointed out.

Brad Pitt isn't doing a Belfast accent in Snatch. He's doing a traveller accent.

Tommy Wiseau perfectly nailed alien accent.

Breakfast at Tiffany's: "Who the f*ck let this happen?" That was a beautiful examination of the accent.

There's a reason why Daniel Day-Lewis got 6 nomination of Academy Awards for Best Actor and won 3 of them.

Aaahhhahahaha! He says about Nick Cage, “I don’t know what happened here.” I do. It’s Nick Cage.

As a Japanese person, I felt in my soul his reaction to the Japanese accent 😂

"you can also hear it in a couple of high altitude fucks"

One quibble - Brad Pitt wasn't doing a Belfast accent in "Snatch" - he was doing a take on an "Irish Traveller" accent, which is very particular (and he did a decent job of it)

As an Asian, I feel very validated with your take on Mickey Rooney. Love it.

Irish and Scottish accents are hard when you aren't Irish or Scottish.. and that Japanese... "who the fuck let this happen" is a good summary

This guy impresses me so much, that he was able to imitate nearly every accent on screen in seconds, it is so neat...

11:40 i really liked Angelina’s posh english accent, it reminds me of the old Disney movies.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman - what a sad loss of an amazing, unique, outstanding actor.

The world needs a part 2 of this video. It is just so amazing, I wanna marry it.

This guy should come back and critique some foreign actors doing american accents, because as an American it’s always really surprising how good they are.

Brad Pitt was not doing a Belfast accent at all, he was not supposed do, he was doing an Irish traveller accent which is a veerrrry mixed accent, he kept his sentences short and quick and did a passable job, most Irish people can't do it properly either.

Heath Ledger was an incredible actor! I miss him. Imagine how amazing he would be now.

"Sometimes they're close....sometimes, they're Tom Cruise". I'm dying 😂😂

So basically, Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing and anything he touches turns to gold.

let's be honest here: when Erik says "it's not an imitation, it's more of an _evocation_ " what he really means is "this is an excellent performance overall, so I can't really justify nitpicking the accent"

Pitt in snatch wasn't Belfast. He was doing a "traveller" - an Irish people that sometimes choose not to live in houses - but caravans... But even to most Irish we don't even know what they are saying

So, summing it all up, Heath ledger (Rest in peace) and Daniel day lewis are(were) amazing actors.

The fact that you actually hit the click sound in “Xhosa” when describing Mandela’s accent impressed me so much.

Ledger & Gyllenhaal gave us 2 of the most perfect performances ever on film in Brokeback Mountain. I still wish Ledger had been able to win for this one instead of his posthumous win for The Dark Knight. He deserved to have his moment in LIFE for his performance as Ennis!

Eric: I don’t know what happened to the actor’s prep here. Nicolas Cage: What’s actors prep??

"Who the f*ck let this happen" Yeah, pretty much XD

Idris Elba is a brilliant actor. Glad to see him featured.

The tongue flicking gesture in Dark Night by Heath Ledger most people misunderstand. It’s a characteristic seen in people who have been on the early generation of antipsychotics as a side effect - tardive dyskinesia I think though don’t quote me. Just another brilliant bit by Ledger to establish the back story of the Joker. He would have been institutionalized and given lots of antipsychotic to have those side effects. Shows he’s not just nuts but the dangerous kind of nuts. I know little of the comic book story so can’t comment if that’s consistent or not.

Ok, Brad Pitt in Snatch is an Irish traveler accent , not a Belfast accent. Nor was Tom Cruise's. And for the record, Pitt's traveler accent was, even though a little exaggerated at times, spot on. Remarkable achievement for an American A lister.

Hope they make a series out of this, maby go a little more in depth on the comparisons

Hoffman was such a fucking legend. I seriously get frustrated every time I think about him being dead.

I would love to see Erik critique voice actors for video games, especially Laura Bailey

I like how the clips of the actors are edited so as to look like they are responding to his comments. Didn't notice it the first time I watched but Idk I found it hilarious

When the fuck did Dennis from It's Always Sunny know so much about accents?

"Sometimes they're close. Sometimes they're just Tom Cruise." 😂

I can watch "Who the f*ck let this happen?" on a loop.

Brad Pitt isn't doing a Belfast accent in Snatch, it's that of a Irish traveller which has some very different characteristics to Belfast

I have a feeling that Brad Pitt's accent was intentionally ridiculous and bad. Seems like a Tarantino thing

"Tongue flicky outy thing" Even the professionals struggle with words.

i absolutely love the smiles on his face whenever Heath and Daniel come on screen, he knows it's going to be spot on.

Eric Singer is great. I have been watching his videos for 3 hours and am still enjoying him. I have learned so much about speech patterns and the way people talk as well as actors imitating politicians and other celebrities in films..

I need so much more of this

I could have watched this for an hour! Quite disappointed when it ended!

"This is really good for the most part." Kate Winslet: "Thank you."

I absolutely love this series and the insights Erik Singer gives. As someone who is interested in accents, these videos are a goldmine. One thing i would like to see mentioned more though is that there isn‘t one kind of accent for any nationality. Just like there isn‘t one ‘American’ or ‘British’ accent, there isn’t one ‘German’ accent. I especially noticed this with the Seven Years in Tibet clip. Being German myself, i couldn’t tell you Brad Pitt’s character was supposed to be German. And i wouldn’t say that’s the fault of a lacklustre performance but more because - especially nowadays - people just sound different than they did decades ago. I learned British English in school and because i like the sound of it, that’s how i talk most of the time (of course i’ll still sound German to most native speakers). But i also have friends that are influenced a lot by American TV so they sound much more ‘American on a basis of German inflexions’ than just plain ‘Oh that’s a German accent.’

First time I saw the film Capote I was like, "There is no way Truman Capote really talked like that." Then I saw some interviews of Capote in real life and I was like, "Holy shit Phillip Seymour Hoffman is an acting God"

“Who the f*ck let this happen?!” OMG, the comic relief I did not expect! I laughed way too hard 🤣😂🤣😂

I absolutely love his reactions to bad accents. "I don't know what happened to the prep here....". Hahaha His face before the Costner scene was gold!

i love the way the editing makes a convcersation back and forth. very creative.

So, in short, Day-Lewis and Seymour Hoffman are on another level completely.

"When an accent doesn't go right, it's usually not the actors fault." Not in Nicholas Cage's case.

Damson Idris and Nicholas Pinnock are both unbelievable. Their American accents are nuanced and so great. They are truly gifted actors. Can’t credit them enough

Wired, please bring Erik back for more. I've watched his videos three times now, and I'm ready for something fresh!

Mickey Rooney, Breakfast at Tiffany's "Japanese" Who the fuck let this happen? HAHAHA

What about Gary Oldman who is the KING of accents?? I can't believe he wasn't mentioned.

I am an Afrikaans South African and I totally bought the Invictus Afrikaans accent. South Africa has so many accents and so many gradients of the "same" accents....especially in Gauteng, the financial hub. Excellent job on the accent in that clip, Matt Damon!

The best one for personal challenge is without a doubt Brad Pitt in Snatch. Holy Toledo, he nailed that Traveller accent. He was magnificant. ''I throw in a dahg.'' Hahaha! Even the Irish were in awe of him in this movie. A different movie and he'd have won an Oscar for his portrayal/accent.

I just can't stop imagining him pretending to be a bunch of different nationalities, while messing people up and just getting their accent right everytime.

Make this a series

THIS IS GOLD To language learning, HIS GIVING THE CLUES to understand in what details to focus when practicing PRONUNCIACION

This is absolutely brilliant definitely gave me more of an appreciation for movies

Idris Elba's accent in The Wire had me convinced he was a native Baltimore resident, and nearly fell over when I heard he was a fellow Brit

Gotta miss Philip Seymour Hoffman. What a legendary actor.

Always learns lot watching these breakdowns.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman was such an Awesome actor. Daniel Day Lewis IS an awesome actor. Both did intense prep

RU-vid has been recommending me some weird ass shit lately and this was one of them, but it's actually really cool

Tom Cruises Irish accent is an inside joke among everyone in Ireland.

Eric Singer vids are my comfort vids. I come back to them when I need some familiar and wholesome content.

I was today years old when I realised Kevin Costner was attempting an English accent in prince of thieves 😲😲😲 I’m English & I couldn’t hear anything but American 😂

This guy is really good. Very specific and constructive criticism.

Wired is like BuzzFeed except with much more educational content

Daniel Day Lewis walks the line brilliantly thru everything he does😍 Jake Gyllenhaal is one actor that I feel isn't praised on the level of wish I feel he deserves. Trans Atlantic accents are my favorite in old movies😍

Erik Singer does really know his craft. Great breakdown.

Heath Ledger was truly legendary.

Expert: "So this is Philip Seymour Hoffman" *Speaks* Me: "Wtf is this?" Expert: "This is perfect. Absolutely fantastic"

My dad grew up in Baltimore in the 50’s and he would speak several dialects. The city is made up of 20 some villages and each one is unique, like saying Po-lice if they were around or P-lice if it was time to run.

I love these breakdowns

My thoughts as we got to Mickey Rooney's Japanese dialect: "Oh shit"

"Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Capote: this is just amazing in every way" EVERY performance that PHS gave was just amazing. Sad that he died so young.

Looove Erik but as an Irish person would like to point out that Brad Pitt’s accent in Snatch is not supposed to be (nor does it sound like) a Belfast accent. It’s meant to be (and sounds slightly more like) an Irish Traveller accent, which are an ethnic minority group in Ireland with their own distinct identity and accent.

I wanna say with Idris Elba's American accents, my dad met him and thought he was faking his natural British accent 😂 we're literally American. Mr. Elba is unreal

Philip Seymour Hoffman, in my opinion, was one of the greatest actors that have ever lived. We lost him much too soon. :(

5:05 did he just imply that Nick Cage preps for his roles?

Rick nailing southern accent being a natural British sounding was the most iconic and amazing