deputydog » 13 of the worst fake accents in film

13 of the worst fake accents in film

Add to the list: Alan Cumming in Goldeneye: "I am inwincible."

The fundamental problem with Cumming's rendering is that the very definition of an accent is a collection of sounds carried over from one's own language into a second language. But Russians have no "w" sound in their own language! (Despite Chekhov on Star Trek.) My entire family consists of native Russian speakers I have never once heard any of them add an extra "w" sound to an English word. They would not pronounce "venus," as "wenus," like the Star Trek guy, because they they pronounce the initial sound of that Russian word the same way we do in English. Their problem is the opposite. When they see a "w," they pronouce it like a "v." "Where is your vallet?"

In essence, Cumming was not doing a Russian accent, but an imitation of the Star Trek dude, perhaps to conform to our Trek-based expectations of what the accent should sound like.