Lots of celebrities have done it: Madonna, when she was married to Guy Ritchie; Austin Butler because he played Elvis; and Hilaria Baldwin, just because.
Changing the way you talk after being immersed in a movie for weeks or months or because a new partner speaks with an accent is not uncommon.
But for some celebrities, when they seem to pick up a new accent or way of speaking, it’s hard not to wonder if they’re faking it?
Fake it till you make it! Netizens call out Dianna Agron’s possibly fake new accent
The most recent celebrity to have possibly changed her accent is former Glee star Dianna Agron.
Originally from Texas and California, the 39-year-old made her Hollywood debut as Quinn Fabray in the wildly popular musical-dramedy series Glee from 2009 to 2015.
Since then, she’s been in a handful of projects, including a guest appearance in an episode of Doctor Odyssey that aired in April.
@vanityfair Bonjour, #DiannaAgron! VF joined the actor as she got ready for Miu Miu’s lunch in Cannes. #glee #shivababy #quinnfabray #france #cannes #cannesfilmfestival ♬ original sound – Vanity Fair
And during the Cannes Film Festival, Argon was in France to support the director Catherine Martin.
Martin’s new movie, Grane Envie, is a short film for the fashion brand Miu Miu. The short film celebrates the Miu Miu Upcycled collection with a cast that includes heavyweight Willem Dafoe as a widowed Count.
Dianna Argon shows off new Transatlantic accent in VF interview
@iamabicorn She could’ve had a better storyline #gleek #glee #quinnfabray #diannaagron #funnylines #DisneyPlusVoices #foryou #fyp ♬ original sound – not brittany
Ahead of the event, Dianna did a quick interview with Vanity Fair while she was getting ready and putting on her makeup. And that’s where the latest “accent accident” happens.
She appears to have adopted what’s called a transatlantic accent, which sounds a bit like a mix of American and British English.
Experts say that in a transatlantic accent, the R sound is softer, the vowels are more open and rounded, and the T sound is more pronounced than it is in British English.
Netizens have picked up on the subtle change in her voice and are beginning to ask questions
Those rounded vowels were on full display in her interview, and people online were quick to notice that her voice did not sound like it normally does.
“She literally just invented a new voice. I’m so confused”
“But… why… does she suddenly have a transatlantic accent…?”
@lorenzoespinosa_ #stitch with @Vanity Fair, what episode of Glee is this? #diannaagron #foryou #fyp ♬ original sound – Lorenzo
“Her partner has a London accent, so naturally, she picks up some of that transatlantic tone. It’s adorable.”
“What in the Madonna is going on here? 😭😂”
“Y’all, just let people disappear and then reappear with inexplicable accents!! We are dealing with so much just let this one slide ok honestly.”“Ah yes, I believe this is a graduate from the Hilaria School of acting 😂”
Not the first celebrity to make waves with a seemingly new accent or voice
You may remember when Madonna moved to the U.K. to be with her then-husband, film director Guy Ritchie. In a few interviews, Madonna appeared to speak with a British accent, which seemed strange to some people since she is from the U.S.
Slipping into an accent because you’re surrounded by people who speak that way is a real phenomenon.
Dianna’s current partner, Harold Ancart, is a photographer originally from Belgium. And unless Dianna speaks French, Dutch, or Flemish (she doesn’t), she is hearing him speak English with an accent. Plus, her ex-husband, Mumford & Sons guitarist Winston Marshall, is English. So, Dianna has been surrounded by people whose English does not sound like her own.
According to Horizon, the EU Innovation and Research magazine, when you move to a foreign country and converse with the locals, you tend to absorb the attributes of people’s speech, which can “have a subtle effect on the way we speak. Over time, this can also lead to entirely new accents developing.”
Some actors from England have even had to relearn their native British accent because they’d been speaking with an American accent for so long, and they forgot!
Hilaria has been the focus of online scrutiny for seeming to fake her Spanish accent
One of the most recent and headline-grabbing examples of a celebrity changing their accent is the case of Hilaria Baldwin, the 41-year-old yoga instructor and wife of actor Alec Baldwin.
Over the past five years or so, social media has been pouring over Hilaria’s accent because of her supposed upbringing in Spain. She claims to have spent summers and some extended vacations in the country when she was a child, which she says has now affected the way she speaks English.
@badboyfilly Hey real quick who was that person #diannaagron #glee #fyp #funny #accent #vanityfair ♬ Background Music – chill supply
In one memorable instance, she seemed to forget the word for ‘cucumber’ during a cooking segment in a TV interview. Social media incinerated her, saying she was lying about her upbringing and lying about having a slightly Spanish accent.
Dianna Argon’s new transatlantic way of speaking is drawing criticism from some netizens, while others give her a pass
