MovieChat Forums > Thirteen Days (2001) Discussion > This is why casting by origin might be a...

This is why casting by origin might be a good thing

posted 15 years ago by vulcantrekkie45
3 replies | jump to latest

The film, overall, is very good. But it was absolutely marred for me by the fact that all the accents were horribly wrong. One must wonder if there was even a single Massachusettian anywhere near the set. I personally don't think so, as the accents that wound up in the final film just wouldn't fly.

Costner's character is supposed to be from Worcester. Costner sounds like a bad exaggeration of a MetroNorth accent. It probably would've been better if he didn't try an accent at all. Worcester people, compared with the stereotypical "Boston" accent (which, might I say, is not actually spoken within Boston proper), do not have much of an accent at all. Just an occasional swallowed vowel.

Greenwood's and Culp's accents, though better than Costner's, were marginal at best. Yes, the Kennedy boys were born in Brookline, but they moved in 1927. By 1962, there's no way their accents would be that thick. And we've got audio evidence to prove it.

[–] McStallen 15 years ago

I don't know why people from Boston care so much about this crap, but just so you know, most people outside of Boston don't care about stuff like this or Boston in general, and that's why the accents appear the way they do-
you may think the world revolves around all things Boston, but if you leave the Boston-area for a little bit you will see what an after-thought the place is to the rest of the country.

[–] BrotherZed 15 years ago

McStallen makes a good point. I didn't notice anything wrong with the accents and I work with a bunch of Bostoners. You know why? Cause unless you are from Boston you really don't give a damn, and most people in the US aren't from Boston.

[–] malonedave-1 15 years ago

IMHO, both Greenwood and Culp were spot on in their accents. They had the "Kennedy accent", which is NOT the quinsentential "Boston accent." The Kennedys sound like the Kennedys, and I don't know of anyone else who talks like that... in or outside of Boston. As for Costner's accent, it sounded to me like he was trying to do a Kennedy accent. As you pointed out, Kenny O'Donnell was from Worcester. I've known many people from Worcester, and my mother lived their for a time as a child. Worcesterians do have that eastern Massachusetts accent, and it does sound similar to a Boston accent... but it's different as you pointed out. Hell... even Boston itself as variants on it's accent, depending on where in the ciy you live as you also pointed out.

As for the question about anyone from Massachusetts being in the film... there was at least one actor. Christopher Lawford who played CDR Ecker, who's recon plane got shot to hell (bird strikes... LOL!) taking low level photos of missile sites in Cuba. The actor Christopher Lawford is the son of Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy... making him JFK and RFK's nephew!