Hi, all.
Neil said:
> > And not a trace of an American
> > accent, which I wouldn't be surprised if Xena's got.
To which Helen responded:
> Lucy Lawless is formerly an opera singer. As a New Zealander, I doubt
> she has an American accent. To dull American ears, however, New
> Zealanders and Canadians tend to sound a lot 'like us' as opposed to
> the delicious exoticness of Australian and most British dialects.
In the show, Xena has an American accent, as did Michael Hurst
when Hercules was running, however, their real accents are quite
different. I've heard Lucy Lawless speak a few times on
Entertainment Tonight (American show hyping entertainment) and
it's certainly not the way Xena speaks. I've read that Michael Hurst
lived in England as a kid, then around age 9, his family moved to
New Zealand, and he's worked in Kiwiland and Australia, so his
accent is probably a bit different from the norm of London or New
Zealand.
Sorry, I'd never mistake a New Zealand accent for a Canadian
accent. Canadian and American accents however, depending on
one's locale, would sound astonishing similar. A New Yawker
won't be mistaken for a Torontonian, but in general, Canadian and
American accents are a lot closer, than American and New
Zealand, or Canadian and New Zealand. To a Canadian, a New
Zealand accent can easily be mistaken for a British one (I know;
my mom's from New Zealand and she's often been asked where in
Britain is she from).
Anna