From “Nope” and “The Dirt”, to “Judas and the Black Messiah”, Hollywood Dialect Coach Audrey LeCrone helps actors perfect their accents and get the character right. We talk teaching actors accents, becoming a dialect coach and the best and worst movie accents. Then, we countdown the Top 5 Worst Words.
Audrey LeCrone: 02:15ish
Pointless: 42:50ish
Top 5: 01:02:00ish
nickvinzant@gmail.com (Show Email)
316-530-7719 (Show voicemail)
http://aacamericanaccentcoaching.com (Audrey LeCrone Website)
https://www.instagram.com/americanaccentcoaching (Audrey LeCrone Instagram)
Interview with Audrey LeCrone: Hollywood Dialect Coach
0:11
Welcome to Profoundly Pointless. My name is Nick VinZant. Coming up in this episode, Hollywood accents, and worst words,
0:22
it's a very difficult job. Because you have to have a patient ear, like what I do is listen to one sentence over and over and over and over and over, break it down and then teach a celebrity who may or may or may not be in the mood to learn it. In Judas and the black Messiah, he's playing a a historical figure, who it was vital that we got it perfectly. So I was giving him notes after every take. This way, we're not just stereotyping. We're not making assumptions about the way other people speak. Because the way you speak is a pretty intimate personal thing.
0:58
I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance, subscribe, leave us a rating or review. We really appreciate it, it helps out the show and more than anything, we really just like hearing from everyone. It's so interesting to hear what people think about the guests, we talk to the topics we discuss and the top fives. So if there's anything you want to say, we are all ears, leave us a comment on the app that you're listening to on social media, or we have a voicemail set up 316-519-7719. So our first guest has worked on major Hollywood movies from nope, Judas and the black Messiah, the dirt, the list just goes on and on. And what she does is teach actors how to sound more like the characters that they're playing. And she does that by teaching them specific accents. She specializes in different regional American accents, but she has taught people how to speak over 70 different accents. This is Hollywood dialect coach, Audrey LA. Crone, is this something that you set out to do? Or is this something that you kind of found yourself in?
2:19
It's kind of an amazing journey for each dialect coach, because there's no degree of a dialect coaching degree, there's, there's, you can't really study it, per se and a university or something. I was trained as an actor. And so I have an acting degree. And I was also an English tutor. So I would mostly teach. Adults are graduate students from other countries, ESL, so teach English as a second language. And I loved that. And I also loved acting, but acting wasn't paying the bills. So I started answering tutoring calls from doctors from other countries who weren't able to speak clearly enough for their patients to understand them. And so I was like, I think I could do this. And I did the whole fake it till you make it thing. So I read a bunch of books, tried out different things, and basically combined my acting experience with the tutoring with with teaching English. And so that I started out doing that maybe eight years ago,
3:27
is that the common path that other people in the industry would kind of find that this is a thing that they just found themselves in? Or is there like a dialect coaching school somewhere that most people go to?
3:41
A lot of dialect coaches are actors, actors, turn dialect coaches, and even if they're linguists, they have some sort of acting background, oftentimes, or maybe there's not, but everyone I know has some sort of basis in acting. Because it's not just linguistics. It's the study of how to put a voice in an accent how to embody it artistically.
4:06
So when you teach somebody something, like is it a muscle memory thing? Are you trying to No, put your tongue to the left side? Like is it how do you even teach somebody?
4:17
I teach with a variety of methods. Everyone learns differently. Some people do react really well with like, Okay, do this with your tongue. Other people do well with listening and repeating, imitating whoever voice model they they resonate with. Some others do well with imagery, like imagine a balloon sitting in your tongue, and we have all the space in the mouth.
4:42
That's what's so fascinating to me about it. Like I don't really think about the way that I speak or why I speak the way or what's even happening in my brain or my mouth. Is it a hard thing to teach people?
4:55
Let me ask you this. Can you do any other accents?
4:58
Governor done?
5:00
Yeah, have you ever put on a bad British accent?
5:03
I'm Yeah, I guess I've tried. I can't think of anything. That's what's weird. Like, if you hadn't asked me that question, I could probably do it. But as soon as I think about it, no idea what to do.
5:17
It's very, very difficult. So any actors that you see doing an accent and a movie, just know that their load of work has doubled? By doing an accent? It's incredible. Do you have
5:30
people like how long will it take? Right? Let's say, on average got somebody comes in, they want to do this, like how long does it take you to get somebody to be able to do it?
5:42
This is the million dollar question. Some everyone is different. Again, some people are parents, and they are the lucky ones. They're gifted a great year. And they won't take very long at all. Those are the people who you'll be like, Hey, do a British accent. Now they're suddenly talking like this. And they're like, I've never even heard a British accent. And I can do it. And it's like, wow, you you have a great ear. Those people will take a couple sessions, and they'll get it. Other people, normal people, anywhere from a month of yours. Yeah, I
6:17
would imagine it depends on it, right? Like some things are just a little bit different.
6:22
Especially if, if English is not your first language, and you're learning an American accent or whatever other accent in English, if English is your second or third or fourth language is going to take longer. Most actors
6:33
that have anything to do with the quality of the actor and the sense of like, Look, if they're a good actor, they're probably going to pick it up fast.
6:40
No, it's their ear. In some respects, it's just, you're good at some things, and you're not good at others. I mean, when you say good actor, that's also subjective. You know, some good actors are really good at transforming themselves, like Meryl Streep type, and we don't recognize her from one movie to the next. Other actors play the same person, every movie, and we'd love them.
7:07
So like, where do you? Where do you find that most people are genuinely struggling?
7:12
A lot of people can get the accent. But I think one of the hardest parts is learning how to go from make that jump from it being a technical thing, to it being embodied it being part of the character. So if you see someone doing a bad accent, or doing an accent, and it's like, oh, that I don't really believe that person doing that accent, then they haven't they haven't bridged that gap yet. They're, they're doing the accent. I don't know what accent I'm doing, but they're doing the accent. But they're not really. It hasn't become part of their character yet.
7:49
That makes sense. I guess I think about it in terms of like, you could teach someone how to shoot a basketball, but that doesn't mean they're gonna make it.
7:56
Or you could teach someone how to do some dance steps, but it may not be wonderful to watch them. They may not be an artful dancer.
8:05
Do you have people then like, Look, I know people who just you could show them stuff about dancing all their life, like do you have some people that like this? Just can't do it? Yeah. How many? Like what percentage would you say? It's like, look, it's just not happening?
8:21
Um, I am an optimist, and in every sense of the word, so I can't even my brain won't allow me to make a percentage. I'm not sure. I was like, yes, you can do it. I'm like the coach. It's like, I believe in you. We can get this it might take 10 years.
8:41
They're gonna get it. Yeah, well, I guess Okay, would it is that normal, unusual? Or, like unusual, but it does happen?
8:52
I guess that would be either. Won't be unusual. So it's
8:57
not. Not that not that I know what you mean, right? Like one out of 10 or two out of 10? Like, it doesn't happen a lot. But it does happen. Exactly. That definitely happens when somebody kind of starts like walking me through what the process would be like, you start with somebody. What do you guys kind of do?
9:14
Sure, absolutely. So first, I let's say let's say we're working together and we're going to change your accent and to something else. First, I would just have you imagine. Oh, actually, we're gonna think about the American accent the way you speak. Currently, you're you have like a general American accent right. Where are you from?
9:31
Kansas.
9:32
You're from Kansas. I'm from Kansas.
9:35
Are we about to be best friends? Where are you from in Kansas
9:38
near Salina?
9:40
I'm from Wichita. No way. Okay, now you got to say what book is okay for people who are listening to this like What the hell's going on here? It's a wizard of the oz reunion, which Utah and Salon are about an hour away? Yeah. So So I'm
9:55
from like, 20 minutes north of Salina in a town called Bennington, Kansas. Okay, and for everyone else who's listening, if you're from the south and you're going to Colorado, that's where you turn left. If you're from the north and you're going to Colorado, that's where you turn right? Okay.
10:13
So I grew up in 316 area code, are you 316 or 7785? changes my Oh, in that crazy.
10:23
This, this is amazing. You never meet Kansans say
10:28
stay in Kansas mostly? Most of the time, like, yeah, I have been told though at times, because I came from news and I would hear this, that I drag out my vows, it can sound southern. I don't know what that means. But okay, but like, if you were teaching me so to speak, or when are teaching somebody like, what are we
10:49
okay? Okay. So if I'm teaching you to just be aware of your voice, and maybe to change the way you're speaking, first of all, the way that you're speaking currently is with our perfect Kansas accent, obviously. But if you think of a balloon sitting on your tongue, okay. It carves out the space, and that puts the placement of your voice right in the middle. So if you were to make a thinking sound you would say probably right, how do you think? What's your sound? Take?
11:24
A bite to my mouth, it feels right.
11:30
Mm hmm. So we start with the imagination there and some awareness, some physical awareness.
11:37
i Oh, my God, like if you do it, though, like, right in the middle. If you move your tongue around, it does sound a little bit different, doesn't it?
11:46
Exactly. What if you had? What if you just brought some awareness into your lips? How would that change your sound?
11:52
Like,
11:53
I'm thinking, I don't think maybe round your lips a little bit or just tend to
11:57
hold my lips or like that tingly feeling like when you go to the dentist. And they like turn it you know what I'm talking about like that like sandpaper issue where you sit on your arm too long? Yeah. Ah, oh my god, I can feel it in my lips.
12:13
So that change of placement would be the first step to changing your accent. So if you wanted to speak with a French accent, let's say or we said British earlier, and I would think about my lips, tensing them slightly. And I would think about taking that middle placement and bringing it forward. So my would go.
12:38
I may be one of your students that could potentially just never get it.
12:42
Well, here's the thing. If you're afraid of failing, you won't get it on. It's true. If you're willing to make stupid sounds, and you're willing to just try. Great, you
12:53
can do I do. Okay, I put it in front of my mouth.
12:58
So think about it in the middle again, feel that middle. And now bring it forward. And maybe think about it on
13:12
the tight. And you feel like when I talk normally, like my tongue is very close to my top teeth. I don't know if that means anything or not. Feel like I got it right there.
13:26
There you go. And your tongue is also not going to have that carved out concave shape. But instead, it might be a little bit more forward. So even even, for instance, I've had a client before on a movie where she was British, and she was speaking in an American accent. But you could still you could still hear her forward placement. So you can kind of maybe hear how my voice has changed a bit. So it sounds less American. Maybe
14:02
it dies. A British person who's lived in time.
14:06
Yes, exactly. I'm speaking with my American accent. But with a British placement. I
14:12
always think of that line from Game of Thrones where the guy's like, oh, I recognize that accent. I've gotten rid of it. I recognize when people have tried to get rid of it too.
14:21
Let's try one that's very different from your own way of speaking. Let's try a British RP accent. Received Pronunciation that's like fancy British. So let's, let's say that you are going to speak with this British accent. Okay, we were going to try like an old school British accent. So if we think about our American being right in the middle of our mouth and we think about the British being all the way out here. So before we were talking about the lips, but What if it was here? Like, where my hand is all the way out in front of my mouth? Okay, so you're going to try something, and we're not going to be afraid to fail. It's okay to fail. So give me a British phrase. What have you heard?
15:23
cracking under pressure? All I can say is put the car in the car park.
15:32
Like the Boston Boston, that when people say, Oh no, they say the Harvard Yard.
15:39
I can't think of shrimp on the barbie cup of tea. That's Australia, New Zealand.
15:47
Say, would you like a cup of tea? Okay. Okay, so, try it thinking about all the way coming out all the way front. Would you like a cup of
16:00
would you like a cup of tea?
16:04
Cool. Okay, so right now you were like coming up here into your nose? Because you're afraid of doing it wrong. And you're trying to get it right the first time. But don't worry about it. Would you like a cup of tea? Yeah, now put your hand flat out in front of your face, and try and make the words hit that hand.
16:25
Would you like a cup of tea?
16:28
Cool. Now bring your resonance back down into your belly. Meaning we don't have to talk up here. But you can talk in your normal voice. Would you like a cup of tea? Fire? I don't know, try. Try it low again. Would you like would you like a cup of tea? There you go. That's better felt
16:53
like that was actually better. I'm just picturing my hand. But I tried to go like Barry White, like, Would you like a cup of tea?
17:03
There you go. See now from here, you've got the placement you've got, you've got the target where your voice is going. Now it's about playing around with it. Doing an accent is very, very tedious. So the more you can make it playful and fun, the better.
17:17
That's a lot like I have to think about that so hard. I don't understand how somebody could act and do that at the same time.
17:27
Yeah, now imagine having to do an emotional scene where your mother has died. And you have to have these real sad, heartbreaking emotions, and still be like, Oh, Mother, I'm so sad. Like, and not just think about the accent. Would you like a
17:47
cup of tea? That is tough. Because you're essentially like, how do I not be myself and not sound like myself at the same time?
18:00
But still have genuine emotions?
18:03
Yeah, I can see why people would struggle with that so much to really do that.
18:08
You can see why all the Oscar winners are doing accents.
18:11
Right? Right. Because you really kinda, it's a lot harder. Well, you are transforming that. I could see that be on one hand being very, very difficult. On the other hand, making it easier, because you're not being yourself anymore. You can actually be somebody completely different. So is the goal then to like get them to the point where they're not even? They're not even thinking about it? It's muscle memory.
18:35
Yes. And then sometimes, sometimes even then they'll slip into their own when they're not even realizing it. Yeah. So it's something that you just constantly have to be aware of. And that's why it is easier to have me on set as a security blanket to be like, Yeah, you got
18:52
it. Yeah. Somebody to kind of just reassure if for nothing else gonna be like, you got that one.
18:57
I tell people I have a patented thumbs up.
19:01
Where's the dialect coach? She's just sitting back there with their thumb off. I think she always
19:06
know you're gonna have a whole new.
19:07
She honestly do. Right? Like how difficult that is to kind of? Well, it's one thing I feel like I can do it when I don't think about it at all. But then as soon as you think about it, like how the hell do I do this?
19:21
Right? And so then if you have lines to say, or if you're not an actor, if you have a speech to make something like that, if you have your sales pitch to make, then you have to think about it.
19:33
Right where he's like, I can still pick it up. Do people Yeah, yeah. Now okay, is it kind of I think in terms of, you know, mathematical or physical or things like that, like is it is for most people is it generally the same like whatever accent Oh, you want to speak? German. Put your tongue to the left side. Everybody goes to the left side, like is everybody's kind of process exactly the same or do you have to like it experiment with people.
20:01
Oh, I definitely experiment. Yeah. For some people just this trick doesn't even work. So then
20:07
Okay. When? How does the kind of the process worked? Is the studio contact you? Do they usually kind of does it an individual actor usually contact you are how does this work?
20:20
It depends on my job is very random. So sometimes the studio will contact me, and I'll work with, I can work with actors remotely or on set. And then other times people will go through my website, and those often are non actors, as well. So I work with business professionals of all different industries. And then also, it'll just be word of mouth. So someone reached out to me today saying, Hey, I got your number from blah, blah, blah. Are you free?
20:50
When you get the private people like, are they just trying to be understood? Or do they feel like look, if I can sound more American, my career, my life, social life, whatever will change.
21:01
It depends. Sometimes it is that and so I always start our lessons with Listen, there's nothing wrong with the way you speak. Everyone has an accent, everyone has a way of speaking. And, and the accent that you have, whether it's American originalism of America or somewhere else, it represents the rich cultural heritage that you come from. It represents the beautiful language that is your first or second language. And that's something to be proud of. And that's something that's incredible and part of you. So I never say that we're, we're reducing an accent or taking something away, we may be adding an American accent. And then I always try to make it so that they can turn on and off an American accent or whichever accent like putting on a mask and taking it off. Can
21:45
people go back though? Like if they're on a movie set? If they've been practicing for a long time? Can they go back? Especially if it's a dramatic change?
21:54
Yeah, yeah. You can take it on and and or put it on and take it off. Now I I'm pretty adamant with that. Because actually, I kind of grew up with more of an accent. And so when I went to acting school in Oklahoma City, I got that sort of trained out of me. And so I can, I can go back to it a little bit. And I haven't spent the time honestly to analyze it and relearn it. But I can't naturally go back into my, my accent from growing up when I want to. Unless I'm drinking between us. I'm drinking.
22:35
Then it switches.
22:39
Then people are like, where are you from? Like, Midwest? The Plains. Great Plains.
22:43
Yeah, you can hear the Kansas when you get in there. But the Midwest is supposedly not the one that like I guess I always hear like, that's the one that doesn't have an accent. But I also interviewed a linguist one time who said no, Midwest does have an accent. It's just that the early famous broadcasters were all from the Midwest. So they thought that was how people spoke. Um, are you ready for some harder slash listener submitted questions? Yeah,
23:11
absolutely. Let's do it. The big
23:12
obvious one, right. Hardest accent to work with. And we're not we're not bagging on cultures or anything like that. But what country culture generally seems to have the hardest time transitioning to an American accent.
23:28
I think oftentimes, it's more of a question of exposure. So if I am, for instance, born in the UK, I'm going to grow up watching American TV and American movies, listening to American media all the time. So I'm more likely to be able to get an American accent easier, because I've heard it. If I've grown up in, in Bangkok, I may not have consumed so much American media, it may be more difficult. So I would say cultures or people who have less exposure to American accent all through growing up, it's going to be harder.
24:05
So it almost doesn't matter where they're from. It's just if they've heard it before, and kind of
24:11
Yes, yes. Because any any other answer that I'm thinking of right now. I'm thinking of exceptions, like oh, well, maybe I was like, well, maybe a Japanese accent. I'm like, No, I know someone who has a perfect American accent who lives in Japan. And then was like, oh, maybe a French accent? Nope. I can think of someone who has a perfect American accent. It lives in France. So no, it's exposure, and it's the person's ability. What's
24:35
the hardest way? Like, what's the hardest accent to teach someone? Like if you were going to teach them this one? What's kind of the hardest one like, oh, that's got a lot of intricacies to it.
24:47
I don't I also don't know if there's a hardest one because with any accent that I am teaching, I'm going to do a lot of research. And I'm going to really delve in deeply and see I'm going to try and think of it as something that I've never experienced before. Just so I don't have anything that's not covered, right? So I'm going to ask people about certain words or specific phrases, things like that. I'm going to listen to a bunch of different voice samples to make sure that my perceptions are correct. So I treat every accent as a difficult accent. Basically,
25:28
I can't I wish I was smarter. I could think of a better way to ask this question. But I'm not. So like, when you generally teach somebody the accent, are you kind of teaching them the real accent or like the stereotype of the accent? That the only thing that comes to mind right, immediately, right is like, I think of a poo from The Simpsons, which is like the stereotype of an accent is do you have to kind of make sure that you're not, you're teaching it like, like, well, that's what like, do you teach the stereotype or teach the real thing?
26:00
I think the industry standards have completely changed over the last few years. So 20 years ago, someone would be like, Yeah, I just teach like a general Indian accent. Now, it's 2022. Things are different. So there's a lot more cultural sensitivity to that. I teach specific regions, specific city areas, and specific personality types. So if I have an actor coming to me with trying to get an accent for a project, I'm going to have them work with me to figure out exactly who who works as a voice model, I like to have two or three voice models for them, so that they can have someone else other than me to model their, their character sound off of. And it's a real person. This way, we're not just stereotyping. We're not making assumptions about the way other people speak. Because the way you speak is a pretty intimate personal thing.
26:57
Like how specific then do you generally have to be like, Look, I want you to have a southern accent from the 1960s. No, that's a 1970s Southern accent, like, are they looking for that kind of specificity on things?
27:14
Sometimes, but I think it's whatever serves the story best. Sometimes it's nice to get that specific. So for instance, let's use let's use Judas in the black Messiah as an example. I coached most of the actors on that. And so, Daniel Kaluga, was playing Fred Hampton. FRED HAMPTON is a historical figure, he has this amazing booming voice and is from a specific neighborhood in Chicago. Now, I listened to so many hours of the real Fred Hampton. And sometimes his accent, and the way he speaks is so neighborhood specific that it's not digestible for the rest of the US. So we had to, we had to figure out exactly the spectrum between fact and fiction between how he actually speaks and then how, how we can form the accent to make the movie work.
28:13
It could be so neighborhood specific that nobody outside of it understands him. Right now, when you do like work on a movie like that, are you on the sad? Are you just Yeah, but
28:23
that when I was on set, then how much do they like? How,
28:26
how much? Are you working with them? Is it like after every scene, you come up? And like, Hey, you should do to do that?
28:31
Oh, it depends. It depends. So for instance, I worked on nope to I don't know, it's in theaters right now. Daniel has more of a general American accent versus such a specific sound. In Judas in the black Messiah. He's playing a a historical figure, who it was vital that we got it perfectly. So I was giving him notes after every take. I was really tough on him. And he and I work on the same same wavelength. So I was like, Yeah, we're gonna be perfect. And he's like, great. Okay, we got this on. Nope, his character doesn't speak as much. And it's more of a general American. Well, it's a it's a California accent. Again, we did get very, very specific. But I didn't have to give him as many notes because it wasn't as hard. And if he did some things that were not exactly the way we planned it out. It was okay.
29:25
When you do something like that, is that because I don't want to use the word struggling, right? That doesn't seem to be the right word in that case, but like, do people need that much like you've got to work on this all the time, or you're going to lose it?
29:38
Sometimes I think, again, it comes down to that gift of the ear. If you're able to slip in and out of the accent easily then yeah, you can do that. If if actors are on set, it definitely behooves them to have someone there as a security blanket who's got their back, because even if they're not able to get it, I can Tell the script supervisor like hey, this, this person didn't get it this take this take this take, but they did get it this take.
30:07
That makes sense, right? Like, they just messed it up. But they can't do it as opposed to like,
30:11
Hey, you got Yeah, we made VoiceOver on writing like
30:15
he they're just they can't say the word juxtaposition. It's not. It's not happening, um, film. Now you don't have to say person unless you want to get. But see when I say people, like we'll take all the gossip that you want to give us. But what film would you say had the best accent like, oh, they did really well. Overall film or a person? Because it's best I think people like complement. Which one do you think was like, they really messed up the accents in that one? Like? Like dialect coaches or eyes are twitching over this movie?
30:50
Um,
30:52
that's that's the, the answer, but I don't want to give it to you.
30:57
Yes, that's correct. I, I'll just keep it very personal. In Judas in the black Messiah. I did those accents. And they were great. Daniel won the Oscar for it. For other ones, you know, you be the judge a lot of times does it? Does it take you out of the story? Does the accent take you out of the story? And again, it's art. So it's subjective. So my answer doesn't necessarily have to be the end all be all. Also, because I'm not going to share my answers. I'm because I'm a nice wholesome candidate. We've got manners. That's
31:33
been like, but there are some film. Okay, let me ask you, maybe you can answer it this way. For dialect coaches like yourself? Do most movies get it? Right? Or do most movies annoy you?
31:46
Um, most movies, if there's an accent, I'm watching the accent. And it takes me out of the movie, just because that's my job. A lot of them are not annoying. But I'm I'm interested in seeing how the actor is using the accent. And a lot of times, it's it's lovely. A lot of times it does work. And I'm amazed at someone's work. And I look up the dialect coach afterwards. I'm like, Oh, that's great. They did such nice things.
32:15
Nick VinZant 0:11
Welcome to Profoundly Pointless. My name is Nick VinZant. Coming up in this episode, Hollywood accents, and worst words,
Audrey LeCrone 0:22
it's a very difficult job. Because you have to have a patient ear, like what I do is listen to one sentence over and over and over and over and over, break it down and then teach a celebrity who may or may or may not be in the mood to learn it. In Judas and the black Messiah, he's playing a a historical figure, who it was vital that we got it perfectly. So I was giving him notes after every take. This way, we're not just stereotyping. We're not making assumptions about the way other people speak. Because the way you speak is a pretty intimate personal thing.
Nick VinZant 0:58
I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance, subscribe, leave us a rating or review. We really appreciate it, it helps out the show and more than anything, we really just like hearing from everyone. It's so interesting to hear what people think about the guests, we talk to the topics we discuss and the top fives. So if there's anything you want to say, we are all ears, leave us a comment on the app that you're listening to on social media, or we have a voicemail set up 316-519-7719. So our first guest has worked on major Hollywood movies from nope, Judas and the black Messiah, the dirt, the list just goes on and on. And what she does is teach actors how to sound more like the characters that they're playing. And she does that by teaching them specific accents. She specializes in different regional American accents, but she has taught people how to speak over 70 different accents. This is Hollywood dialect coach, Audrey LA. Crone, is this something that you set out to do? Or is this something that you kind of found yourself in?
Audrey LeCrone 2:19
It's kind of an amazing journey for each dialect coach, because there's no degree of a dialect coaching degree, there's, there's, you can't really study it, per se and a university or something. I was trained as an actor. And so I have an acting degree. And I was also an English tutor. So I would mostly teach. Adults are graduate students from other countries, ESL, so teach English as a second language. And I loved that. And I also loved acting, but acting wasn't paying the bills. So I started answering tutoring calls from doctors from other countries who weren't able to speak clearly enough for their patients to understand them. And so I was like, I think I could do this. And I did the whole fake it till you make it thing. So I read a bunch of books, tried out different things, and basically combined my acting experience with the tutoring with with teaching English. And so that I started out doing that maybe eight years ago,
Nick VinZant 3:27
is that the common path that other people in the industry would kind of find that this is a thing that they just found themselves in? Or is there like a dialect coaching school somewhere that most people go to?
Audrey LeCrone 3:41
A lot of dialect coaches are actors, actors, turn dialect coaches, and even if they're linguists, they have some sort of acting background, oftentimes, or maybe there's not, but everyone I know has some sort of basis in acting. Because it's not just linguistics. It's the study of how to put a voice in an accent how to embody it artistically.
Nick VinZant 4:06
So when you teach somebody something, like is it a muscle memory thing? Are you trying to No, put your tongue to the left side? Like is it how do you even teach somebody?
Audrey LeCrone 4:17
I teach with a variety of methods. Everyone learns differently. Some people do react really well with like, Okay, do this with your tongue. Other people do well with listening and repeating, imitating whoever voice model they they resonate with. Some others do well with imagery, like imagine a balloon sitting in your tongue, and we have all the space in the mouth.
Nick VinZant 4:42
That's what's so fascinating to me about it. Like I don't really think about the way that I speak or why I speak the way or what's even happening in my brain or my mouth. Is it a hard thing to teach people?
Audrey LeCrone 4:55
Let me ask you this. Can you do any other accents?
Nick VinZant 4:58
Governor done?
Audrey LeCrone 5:00
Yeah, have you ever put on a bad British accent?
Nick VinZant 5:03
I'm Yeah, I guess I've tried. I can't think of anything. That's what's weird. Like, if you hadn't asked me that question, I could probably do it. But as soon as I think about it, no idea what to do.
Audrey LeCrone 5:17
It's very, very difficult. So any actors that you see doing an accent and a movie, just know that their load of work has doubled? By doing an accent? It's incredible. Do you have
Nick VinZant 5:30
people like how long will it take? Right? Let's say, on average got somebody comes in, they want to do this, like how long does it take you to get somebody to be able to do it?
Audrey LeCrone 5:42
This is the million dollar question. Some everyone is different. Again, some people are parents, and they are the lucky ones. They're gifted a great year. And they won't take very long at all. Those are the people who you'll be like, Hey, do a British accent. Now they're suddenly talking like this. And they're like, I've never even heard a British accent. And I can do it. And it's like, wow, you you have a great ear. Those people will take a couple sessions, and they'll get it. Other people, normal people, anywhere from a month of yours. Yeah, I
Nick VinZant 6:17
would imagine it depends on it, right? Like some things are just a little bit different.
Audrey LeCrone 6:22
Especially if, if English is not your first language, and you're learning an American accent or whatever other accent in English, if English is your second or third or fourth language is going to take longer. Most actors
Nick VinZant 6:33
that have anything to do with the quality of the actor and the sense of like, Look, if they're a good actor, they're probably going to pick it up fast.
Audrey LeCrone 6:40
No, it's their ear. In some respects, it's just, you're good at some things, and you're not good at others. I mean, when you say good actor, that's also subjective. You know, some good actors are really good at transforming themselves, like Meryl Streep type, and we don't recognize her from one movie to the next. Other actors play the same person, every movie, and we'd love them.
Nick VinZant 7:07
So like, where do you? Where do you find that most people are genuinely struggling?
Audrey LeCrone 7:12
A lot of people can get the accent. But I think one of the hardest parts is learning how to go from make that jump from it being a technical thing, to it being embodied it being part of the character. So if you see someone doing a bad accent, or doing an accent, and it's like, oh, that I don't really believe that person doing that accent, then they haven't they haven't bridged that gap yet. They're, they're doing the accent. I don't know what accent I'm doing, but they're doing the accent. But they're not really. It hasn't become part of their character yet.
Nick VinZant 7:49
That makes sense. I guess I think about it in terms of like, you could teach someone how to shoot a basketball, but that doesn't mean they're gonna make it.
Audrey LeCrone 7:56
Or you could teach someone how to do some dance steps, but it may not be wonderful to watch them. They may not be an artful dancer.
Nick VinZant 8:05
Do you have people then like, Look, I know people who just you could show them stuff about dancing all their life, like do you have some people that like this? Just can't do it? Yeah. How many? Like what percentage would you say? It's like, look, it's just not happening?
Audrey LeCrone 8:21
Um, I am an optimist, and in every sense of the word, so I can't even my brain won't allow me to make a percentage. I'm not sure. I was like, yes, you can do it. I'm like the coach. It's like, I believe in you. We can get this it might take 10 years.
Nick VinZant 8:41
They're gonna get it. Yeah, well, I guess Okay, would it is that normal, unusual? Or, like unusual, but it does happen?
Audrey LeCrone 8:52
I guess that would be either. Won't be unusual. So it's
Nick VinZant 8:57
not. Not that not that I know what you mean, right? Like one out of 10 or two out of 10? Like, it doesn't happen a lot. But it does happen. Exactly. That definitely happens when somebody kind of starts like walking me through what the process would be like, you start with somebody. What do you guys kind of do?
Audrey LeCrone 9:14
Sure, absolutely. So first, I let's say let's say we're working together and we're going to change your accent and to something else. First, I would just have you imagine. Oh, actually, we're gonna think about the American accent the way you speak. Currently, you're you have like a general American accent right. Where are you from?
Nick VinZant 9:31
Kansas.
Audrey LeCrone 9:32
You're from Kansas. I'm from Kansas.
Nick VinZant 9:35
Are we about to be best friends? Where are you from in Kansas
Audrey LeCrone 9:38
near Salina?
Nick VinZant 9:40
I'm from Wichita. No way. Okay, now you got to say what book is okay for people who are listening to this like What the hell's going on here? It's a wizard of the oz reunion, which Utah and Salon are about an hour away? Yeah. So So I'm
Audrey LeCrone 9:55
from like, 20 minutes north of Salina in a town called Bennington, Kansas. Okay, and for everyone else who's listening, if you're from the south and you're going to Colorado, that's where you turn left. If you're from the north and you're going to Colorado, that's where you turn right? Okay.
Nick VinZant 10:13
So I grew up in 316 area code, are you 316 or 7785? changes my Oh, in that crazy.
Audrey LeCrone 10:23
This, this is amazing. You never meet Kansans say
Nick VinZant 10:28
stay in Kansas mostly? Most of the time, like, yeah, I have been told though at times, because I came from news and I would hear this, that I drag out my vows, it can sound southern. I don't know what that means. But okay, but like, if you were teaching me so to speak, or when are teaching somebody like, what are we
Audrey LeCrone 10:49
okay? Okay. So if I'm teaching you to just be aware of your voice, and maybe to change the way you're speaking, first of all, the way that you're speaking currently is with our perfect Kansas accent, obviously. But if you think of a balloon sitting on your tongue, okay. It carves out the space, and that puts the placement of your voice right in the middle. So if you were to make a thinking sound you would say probably right, how do you think? What's your sound? Take?
Nick VinZant 11:24
A bite to my mouth, it feels right.
Audrey LeCrone 11:30
Mm hmm. So we start with the imagination there and some awareness, some physical awareness.
Nick VinZant 11:37
i Oh, my God, like if you do it, though, like, right in the middle. If you move your tongue around, it does sound a little bit different, doesn't it?
Audrey LeCrone 11:46
Exactly. What if you had? What if you just brought some awareness into your lips? How would that change your sound?
Nick VinZant 11:52
Like,
Audrey LeCrone 11:53
I'm thinking, I don't think maybe round your lips a little bit or just tend to
Nick VinZant 11:57
hold my lips or like that tingly feeling like when you go to the dentist. And they like turn it you know what I'm talking about like that like sandpaper issue where you sit on your arm too long? Yeah. Ah, oh my god, I can feel it in my lips.
Audrey LeCrone 12:13
So that change of placement would be the first step to changing your accent. So if you wanted to speak with a French accent, let's say or we said British earlier, and I would think about my lips, tensing them slightly. And I would think about taking that middle placement and bringing it forward. So my would go.
Nick VinZant 12:38
I may be one of your students that could potentially just never get it.
Audrey LeCrone 12:42
Well, here's the thing. If you're afraid of failing, you won't get it on. It's true. If you're willing to make stupid sounds, and you're willing to just try. Great, you
Nick VinZant 12:53
can do I do. Okay, I put it in front of my mouth.
Audrey LeCrone 12:58
So think about it in the middle again, feel that middle. And now bring it forward. And maybe think about it on
Nick VinZant 13:12
the tight. And you feel like when I talk normally, like my tongue is very close to my top teeth. I don't know if that means anything or not. Feel like I got it right there.
Audrey LeCrone 13:26
There you go. And your tongue is also not going to have that carved out concave shape. But instead, it might be a little bit more forward. So even even, for instance, I've had a client before on a movie where she was British, and she was speaking in an American accent. But you could still you could still hear her forward placement. So you can kind of maybe hear how my voice has changed a bit. So it sounds less American. Maybe
Nick VinZant 14:02
it dies. A British person who's lived in time.
Audrey LeCrone 14:06
Yes, exactly. I'm speaking with my American accent. But with a British placement. I
Nick VinZant 14:12
always think of that line from Game of Thrones where the guy's like, oh, I recognize that accent. I've gotten rid of it. I recognize when people have tried to get rid of it too.
Audrey LeCrone 14:21
Let's try one that's very different from your own way of speaking. Let's try a British RP accent. Received Pronunciation that's like fancy British. So let's, let's say that you are going to speak with this British accent. Okay, we were going to try like an old school British accent. So if we think about our American being right in the middle of our mouth and we think about the British being all the way out here. So before we were talking about the lips, but What if it was here? Like, where my hand is all the way out in front of my mouth? Okay, so you're going to try something, and we're not going to be afraid to fail. It's okay to fail. So give me a British phrase. What have you heard?
Nick VinZant 15:23
cracking under pressure? All I can say is put the car in the car park.
Audrey LeCrone 15:32
Like the Boston Boston, that when people say, Oh no, they say the Harvard Yard.
Nick VinZant 15:39
I can't think of shrimp on the barbie cup of tea. That's Australia, New Zealand.
Audrey LeCrone 15:47
Say, would you like a cup of tea? Okay. Okay, so, try it thinking about all the way coming out all the way front. Would you like a cup of
Nick VinZant 16:00
would you like a cup of tea?
Audrey LeCrone 16:04
Cool. Okay, so right now you were like coming up here into your nose? Because you're afraid of doing it wrong. And you're trying to get it right the first time. But don't worry about it. Would you like a cup of tea? Yeah, now put your hand flat out in front of your face, and try and make the words hit that hand.
Nick VinZant 16:25
Would you like a cup of tea?
Audrey LeCrone 16:28
Cool. Now bring your resonance back down into your belly. Meaning we don't have to talk up here. But you can talk in your normal voice. Would you like a cup of tea? Fire? I don't know, try. Try it low again. Would you like would you like a cup of tea? There you go. That's better felt
Nick VinZant 16:53
like that was actually better. I'm just picturing my hand. But I tried to go like Barry White, like, Would you like a cup of tea?
Audrey LeCrone 17:03
There you go. See now from here, you've got the placement you've got, you've got the target where your voice is going. Now it's about playing around with it. Doing an accent is very, very tedious. So the more you can make it playful and fun, the better.
Nick VinZant 17:17
That's a lot like I have to think about that so hard. I don't understand how somebody could act and do that at the same time.
Audrey LeCrone 17:27
Yeah, now imagine having to do an emotional scene where your mother has died. And you have to have these real sad, heartbreaking emotions, and still be like, Oh, Mother, I'm so sad. Like, and not just think about the accent. Would you like a
Nick VinZant 17:47
cup of tea? That is tough. Because you're essentially like, how do I not be myself and not sound like myself at the same time?
Audrey LeCrone 18:00
But still have genuine emotions?
Nick VinZant 18:03
Yeah, I can see why people would struggle with that so much to really do that.
Audrey LeCrone 18:08
You can see why all the Oscar winners are doing accents.
Nick VinZant 18:11
Right? Right. Because you really kinda, it's a lot harder. Well, you are transforming that. I could see that be on one hand being very, very difficult. On the other hand, making it easier, because you're not being yourself anymore. You can actually be somebody completely different. So is the goal then to like get them to the point where they're not even? They're not even thinking about it? It's muscle memory.
Audrey LeCrone 18:35
Yes. And then sometimes, sometimes even then they'll slip into their own when they're not even realizing it. Yeah. So it's something that you just constantly have to be aware of. And that's why it is easier to have me on set as a security blanket to be like, Yeah, you got
Nick VinZant 18:52
it. Yeah. Somebody to kind of just reassure if for nothing else gonna be like, you got that one.
Audrey LeCrone 18:57
I tell people I have a patented thumbs up.
Nick VinZant 19:01
Where's the dialect coach? She's just sitting back there with their thumb off. I think she always
Audrey LeCrone 19:06
know you're gonna have a whole new.
Nick VinZant 19:07
She honestly do. Right? Like how difficult that is to kind of? Well, it's one thing I feel like I can do it when I don't think about it at all. But then as soon as you think about it, like how the hell do I do this?
Audrey LeCrone 19:21
Right? And so then if you have lines to say, or if you're not an actor, if you have a speech to make something like that, if you have your sales pitch to make, then you have to think about it.
Nick VinZant 19:33
Right where he's like, I can still pick it up. Do people Yeah, yeah. Now okay, is it kind of I think in terms of, you know, mathematical or physical or things like that, like is it is for most people is it generally the same like whatever accent Oh, you want to speak? German. Put your tongue to the left side. Everybody goes to the left side, like is everybody's kind of process exactly the same or do you have to like it experiment with people.
Audrey LeCrone 20:01
Oh, I definitely experiment. Yeah. For some people just this trick doesn't even work. So then
Nick VinZant 20:07
Okay. When? How does the kind of the process worked? Is the studio contact you? Do they usually kind of does it an individual actor usually contact you are how does this work?
Audrey LeCrone 20:20
It depends on my job is very random. So sometimes the studio will contact me, and I'll work with, I can work with actors remotely or on set. And then other times people will go through my website, and those often are non actors, as well. So I work with business professionals of all different industries. And then also, it'll just be word of mouth. So someone reached out to me today saying, Hey, I got your number from blah, blah, blah. Are you free?
Nick VinZant 20:50
When you get the private people like, are they just trying to be understood? Or do they feel like look, if I can sound more American, my career, my life, social life, whatever will change.
Audrey LeCrone 21:01
It depends. Sometimes it is that and so I always start our lessons with Listen, there's nothing wrong with the way you speak. Everyone has an accent, everyone has a way of speaking. And, and the accent that you have, whether it's American originalism of America or somewhere else, it represents the rich cultural heritage that you come from. It represents the beautiful language that is your first or second language. And that's something to be proud of. And that's something that's incredible and part of you. So I never say that we're, we're reducing an accent or taking something away, we may be adding an American accent. And then I always try to make it so that they can turn on and off an American accent or whichever accent like putting on a mask and taking it off. Can
Nick VinZant 21:45
people go back though? Like if they're on a movie set? If they've been practicing for a long time? Can they go back? Especially if it's a dramatic change?
Audrey LeCrone 21:54
Yeah, yeah. You can take it on and and or put it on and take it off. Now I I'm pretty adamant with that. Because actually, I kind of grew up with more of an accent. And so when I went to acting school in Oklahoma City, I got that sort of trained out of me. And so I can, I can go back to it a little bit. And I haven't spent the time honestly to analyze it and relearn it. But I can't naturally go back into my, my accent from growing up when I want to. Unless I'm drinking between us. I'm drinking.
Nick VinZant 22:35
Then it switches.
Audrey LeCrone 22:39
Then people are like, where are you from? Like, Midwest? The Plains. Great Plains.
Nick VinZant 22:43
Yeah, you can hear the Kansas when you get in there. But the Midwest is supposedly not the one that like I guess I always hear like, that's the one that doesn't have an accent. But I also interviewed a linguist one time who said no, Midwest does have an accent. It's just that the early famous broadcasters were all from the Midwest. So they thought that was how people spoke. Um, are you ready for some harder slash listener submitted questions? Yeah,
Audrey LeCrone 23:11
absolutely. Let's do it. The big
Nick VinZant 23:12
obvious one, right. Hardest accent to work with. And we're not we're not bagging on cultures or anything like that. But what country culture generally seems to have the hardest time transitioning to an American accent.
Audrey LeCrone 23:28
I think oftentimes, it's more of a question of exposure. So if I am, for instance, born in the UK, I'm going to grow up watching American TV and American movies, listening to American media all the time. So I'm more likely to be able to get an American accent easier, because I've heard it. If I've grown up in, in Bangkok, I may not have consumed so much American media, it may be more difficult. So I would say cultures or people who have less exposure to American accent all through growing up, it's going to be harder.
Nick VinZant 24:05
So it almost doesn't matter where they're from. It's just if they've heard it before, and kind of
Audrey LeCrone 24:11
Yes, yes. Because any any other answer that I'm thinking of right now. I'm thinking of exceptions, like oh, well, maybe I was like, well, maybe a Japanese accent. I'm like, No, I know someone who has a perfect American accent who lives in Japan. And then was like, oh, maybe a French accent? Nope. I can think of someone who has a perfect American accent. It lives in France. So no, it's exposure, and it's the person's ability. What's
Nick VinZant 24:35
the hardest way? Like, what's the hardest accent to teach someone? Like if you were going to teach them this one? What's kind of the hardest one like, oh, that's got a lot of intricacies to it.
Audrey LeCrone 24:47
I don't I also don't know if there's a hardest one because with any accent that I am teaching, I'm going to do a lot of research. And I'm going to really delve in deeply and see I'm going to try and think of it as something that I've never experienced before. Just so I don't have anything that's not covered, right? So I'm going to ask people about certain words or specific phrases, things like that. I'm going to listen to a bunch of different voice samples to make sure that my perceptions are correct. So I treat every accent as a difficult accent. Basically,
Nick VinZant 25:28
I can't I wish I was smarter. I could think of a better way to ask this question. But I'm not. So like, when you generally teach somebody the accent, are you kind of teaching them the real accent or like the stereotype of the accent? That the only thing that comes to mind right, immediately, right is like, I think of a poo from The Simpsons, which is like the stereotype of an accent is do you have to kind of make sure that you're not, you're teaching it like, like, well, that's what like, do you teach the stereotype or teach the real thing?
Audrey LeCrone 26:00
I think the industry standards have completely changed over the last few years. So 20 years ago, someone would be like, Yeah, I just teach like a general Indian accent. Now, it's 2022. Things are different. So there's a lot more cultural sensitivity to that. I teach specific regions, specific city areas, and specific personality types. So if I have an actor coming to me with trying to get an accent for a project, I'm going to have them work with me to figure out exactly who who works as a voice model, I like to have two or three voice models for them, so that they can have someone else other than me to model their, their character sound off of. And it's a real person. This way, we're not just stereotyping. We're not making assumptions about the way other people speak. Because the way you speak is a pretty intimate personal thing.
Nick VinZant 26:57
Like how specific then do you generally have to be like, Look, I want you to have a southern accent from the 1960s. No, that's a 1970s Southern accent, like, are they looking for that kind of specificity on things?
Audrey LeCrone 27:14
Sometimes, but I think it's whatever serves the story best. Sometimes it's nice to get that specific. So for instance, let's use let's use Judas in the black Messiah as an example. I coached most of the actors on that. And so, Daniel Kaluga, was playing Fred Hampton. FRED HAMPTON is a historical figure, he has this amazing booming voice and is from a specific neighborhood in Chicago. Now, I listened to so many hours of the real Fred Hampton. And sometimes his accent, and the way he speaks is so neighborhood specific that it's not digestible for the rest of the US. So we had to, we had to figure out exactly the spectrum between fact and fiction between how he actually speaks and then how, how we can form the accent to make the movie work.
Nick VinZant 28:13
It could be so neighborhood specific that nobody outside of it understands him. Right now, when you do like work on a movie like that, are you on the sad? Are you just Yeah, but
Audrey LeCrone 28:23
that when I was on set, then how much do they like? How,
Nick VinZant 28:26
how much? Are you working with them? Is it like after every scene, you come up? And like, Hey, you should do to do that?
Audrey LeCrone 28:31
Oh, it depends. It depends. So for instance, I worked on nope to I don't know, it's in theaters right now. Daniel has more of a general American accent versus such a specific sound. In Judas in the black Messiah. He's playing a a historical figure, who it was vital that we got it perfectly. So I was giving him notes after every take. I was really tough on him. And he and I work on the same same wavelength. So I was like, Yeah, we're gonna be perfect. And he's like, great. Okay, we got this on. Nope, his character doesn't speak as much. And it's more of a general American. Well, it's a it's a California accent. Again, we did get very, very specific. But I didn't have to give him as many notes because it wasn't as hard. And if he did some things that were not exactly the way we planned it out. It was okay.
Nick VinZant 29:25
When you do something like that, is that because I don't want to use the word struggling, right? That doesn't seem to be the right word in that case, but like, do people need that much like you've got to work on this all the time, or you're going to lose it?
Audrey LeCrone 29:38
Sometimes I think, again, it comes down to that gift of the ear. If you're able to slip in and out of the accent easily then yeah, you can do that. If if actors are on set, it definitely behooves them to have someone there as a security blanket who's got their back, because even if they're not able to get it, I can Tell the script supervisor like hey, this, this person didn't get it this take this take this take, but they did get it this take.
Nick VinZant 30:07
That makes sense, right? Like, they just messed it up. But they can't do it as opposed to like,
Audrey LeCrone 30:11
Hey, you got Yeah, we made VoiceOver on writing like
Nick VinZant 30:15
he they're just they can't say the word juxtaposition. It's not. It's not happening, um, film. Now you don't have to say person unless you want to get. But see when I say people, like we'll take all the gossip that you want to give us. But what film would you say had the best accent like, oh, they did really well. Overall film or a person? Because it's best I think people like complement. Which one do you think was like, they really messed up the accents in that one? Like? Like dialect coaches or eyes are twitching over this movie?
Audrey LeCrone 30:50
Um,
Nick VinZant 30:52
that's that's the, the answer, but I don't want to give it to you.
Audrey LeCrone 30:57
Yes, that's correct. I, I'll just keep it very personal. In Judas in the black Messiah. I did those accents. And they were great. Daniel won the Oscar for it. For other ones, you know, you be the judge a lot of times does it? Does it take you out of the story? Does the accent take you out of the story? And again, it's art. So it's subjective. So my answer doesn't necessarily have to be the end all be all. Also, because I'm not going to share my answers. I'm because I'm a nice wholesome candidate. We've got manners. That's
Nick VinZant 31:33
been like, but there are some film. Okay, let me ask you, maybe you can answer it this way. For dialect coaches like yourself? Do most movies get it? Right? Or do most movies annoy you?
Audrey LeCrone 31:46
Um, most movies, if there's an accent, I'm watching the accent. And it takes me out of the movie, just because that's my job. A lot of them are not annoying. But I'm I'm interested in seeing how the actor is using the accent. And a lot of times, it's it's lovely. A lot of times it does work. And I'm amazed at someone's work. And I look up the dialect coach afterwards. I'm like, Oh, that's great. They did such nice things.
Nick VinZant 32:15
Are there a lot of dialect coaches are there like, there aren't,
Audrey LeCrone 32:19
there aren't and sometimes they're not gonna be listed after in the credits as well. There are probably more now than there used to be there used to be like this core group of dialect coaches there the the OGs. And I was not part of that, unfortunately. But they they worked on every single movie. Now, there's more of us.
Nick VinZant 32:41
Is that because this is more popular, or this more people have kind of figured out like, oh, I can do this. Like, maybe more needed and maybe both are doing it.
Audrey LeCrone 32:53
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I think again, with it being 2022. There is more cultural sensitivity. And so when a character is written to be from a certain place, they are going to probably invest in a dialect coach,
Nick VinZant 33:04
how many? Oh, how many different dialects? Have you taught people?
Audrey LeCrone 33:10
Oh, I don't know. That's a great question. I don't know. Because my method is doing more research. I don't make a list of like, I teach this accident. This accent did this accent. i If anyone comes to me and says, Hey, can we learn this accent? I say? Maybe yes, possibly. But tell me more about what exactly you're wanting to do. And if you have any ideas about the dialect already are like voice models
Nick VinZant 33:39
favorite film you've ever worked on? Or
Audrey LeCrone 33:43
Nope. When I did Nope. That was not the most challenging film. But I had my own trailer in the desert with my own bathroom. And Daniel didn't have that many lines. So I was honestly I was like hanging out in my AC trailer by myself.
Nick VinZant 34:01
Just surfing the internet.
Audrey LeCrone 34:04
It was awesome. won't have the time the Internet didn't work. So it was like all right, what am I going to do with this? This is like, life. Catch. Yeah, it was it came at a particularly hard time in my life. It was such a gift from the universe. I just had time to read and digest big life issues. It was it was beautiful.
Nick VinZant 34:27
Now is this is this financially rewarding? The way that I usually ask people this is like are you closer to ramen noodles or mansions?
Audrey LeCrone 34:36
Huh? No, I don't have ramen noodles. No. So yes, it is financially rewarding. It may not be mansion inducing, but it's a very comfortable lifestyle and comfortable living.
Nick VinZant 34:54
Like I figured you'd be doing kind of well, but it sounds like you might be doing better than I thought. Ah, is that because there's just not that many people are like, No, this pays if you could do it.
Audrey LeCrone 35:05
Um, it's a specialty position. It's a, it's a very difficult job. Because you have to have a patient ear, like what I do is listen to one sentence over and over and over and over and over, break it down and then teach a celebrity who may not may or may not be in the mood to learn it. So it requires a great sensitivity to the subject matter and to the subject you're teaching.
Nick VinZant 35:32
How close to they get in the sense of like, I guess I'll Can I speak dramatically? Because I can't like find the right word. So like, How can I ask this question without potentially pissing somebody off? Right? Forgive me for the choice of words. Like, are you nitpicky? Or like, no, that's really not good enough? Like, look, I know you're trying to get to 100%. But this is only 99. Are you like, alright, you know, you got 40% of the way there. It's close enough.
Audrey LeCrone 36:00
I don't think that was really dramatic or offensive the way you asked that question to be honest. Good job. It depends on the client. So some people don't care that much. And some people do. I'm going to I mean, I'm not performing it. So I'm not in control. I will help them the best, am I the best of my ability, but if it's also impeding their ability to act, or if they're not an actor to run a meeting or something, then yeah, don't lose your job over it. It's, if they're an actor, we can redo it and voiceover like, do your acting job. Make sure it looks good, because it is a visual art form. And we can redo it later. We've done lots of voiceover some movies are completely voiceover. I've always
Nick VinZant 36:56
been fascinated by that. You can almost kind of tell a little bit like, oh, I can kind of tell not completely. Yeah, I'm actor you didn't know was it actually America? Like, oh, because I can think of some people were, for example. The guy from the wire, Dominic West, no idea that he was British. Is there anybody that jumps out at you like, Oh, why didn't they were gay. Like, I didn't even know that they weren't.
Audrey LeCrone 37:24
The last one. The last one was not an actor. And I didn't know Drake was Canadian. And I know Canadian Canadians don't really have that much of an accent difference. That's just what comes to mind. Did you know Drake was Canadian?
Nick VinZant 37:38
Get him out of here. Do you know Ryan Reynolds was Canadian, Canadian. I feel like it doesn't count. Right?
Audrey LeCrone 37:46
As American it is. But that was that's the first thing that
Nick VinZant 37:49
comes to unless they say like a or a boot. Then I Canadian is basically the United States. That's really all the questions that I have. Is there anything that you think that we masters like your Sunday night like, Ooh, you should know this about Hollywood dialect coaches.
Audrey LeCrone 38:07
I don't know. I really love what I do. It's it's such a cool job, I would imagine and also to listen to help people speak. It's amazing. It's I feel very, very fortunate.
Nick VinZant 38:22
It is fascinating, right? Like we have all of these differences in the cadence, patterns, the words, everything.
Audrey LeCrone 38:32
It's something to celebrate. And I think also in this world where everything is becoming a little bit more homogenous, just because we all have access to the same media. I think it's something to celebrate the different way we speak. And I live in New Orleans now the I was at the courthouse this morning for something and I went through the little metal detector and they were like spell your last name I was like LEC RT o n e and the sheriff was like you're not from here you have an accent Where are you from? And I was like, God that's awesome.
Nick VinZant 39:07
You notice it right away with people don't you can really notice quickly. Yeah, well,
Audrey LeCrone 39:12
because here it's all I was in Chalmette, Louisiana, which has a very specific yet accent they call it but to them, it's not an accent. That's the way they speak. So me as a northerner I come in, and they're like, Well, you're not from around here. You speak really? Clearly. Not not clearly to them. It's it's an accent.
Nick VinZant 39:30
Oh, I missed this one. What is your personal favorite accent?
Audrey LeCrone 39:34
Oh, probably some of them in Louisiana. In Louisiana here southern Louisiana. There's like a different accent every 10 miles. And it is so fun to listen to people speak.
Nick VinZant 39:46
That's true. It's, it's incredible. What's your least favorite accent?
Audrey LeCrone 39:52
As as a dialect coach when I listened to an accent I listened so intently that you almost start to fall in love with it. What ever it is so even if you have a perception beforehand of like, I don't really like this. By the end of listening to it, you're like, Wow, I love the way they're like, oh, oh, instead of Oh. So I'm, again kind of bright eyed, bushy tailed. I'm like, Oh, I love this. If someone if the subject matter is gross, or bad or ugly, then I think the tendency is to not like that accent. Right? So if that's true, there's a Southerner saying something racist and awful. You're like, oh, I don't like that. But it's more the content. You're not liking not the accent. That's
Nick VinZant 40:37
true. I guess if somebody asked me I feel like my least and most favorite are both Boston like, like, I like it, and I don't like it.
Audrey LeCrone 40:46
Yeah, what don't you like about it, though?
Nick VinZant 40:50
He that's, I don't know. It depends on the movie. It's weird. Like, I've liked the accent.
Audrey LeCrone 40:57
You know, like, because it's a bad guy playing with that's exactly
Nick VinZant 41:01
what it is. Actually, I can think of exactly what it is. I don't like one of the actors who played a Boston character. And I do like another actor that played the Boston character. And I like hearing him speak it but not hearing the other guy speaking. It's totally person. It's just the person.
Audrey LeCrone 41:16
Yeah, and that's why this accent work is so. So personal. And that's why I think it's really important to get it right. Because you are representing a whole city or a whole culture.
Nick VinZant 41:30
How can people get a hold of you? All that kind of stuff.
Audrey LeCrone 41:35
Call my mom. So I have a website. You can follow me on Instagram at American accent coaching. And then my website is AAC American accent coaching.