Fake accents, well-done, can make all the difference

When it comes to accents, they paint a picture in people's mind. And they can make or break the character. That's born out in real life and on the silver screen. Renée Zellweger was widely praised for her English accent in Bridget Jones’s Diary -- and Radovan Karadžić managed to evade authorities for years, in part through a fake accent.

Accents are strange things. By the time we become teenagers we’re all pretty much stuck with the accents with we have, unless we consciously decide to change them.

And that takes a lot of effort.

What makes a fake or unnaturally acquired accent convincing?

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The way we sound when we speak is closely connected to our self-image. Actors, however, often need to change the accent they use in order to create characters. Here we get some tips about how they retrain their mouths and shape new identities.