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