Actor’s Welsh accent test
HE helped save the world as Iron Man in the blockbusting Avengers movies. And now Robert Downey Jr looks set to singlehandedly boost the Welsh tourism industry by having a go at a Valleys accent in his new multi-million dollar film Dolittle.
HE helped save the world as Iron Man in the blockbusting Avengers movies.
And now Robert Downey Jr looks set to singlehandedly boost the Welsh tourism industry by having a go at a Valleys accent in his new multimillion dollar film Dolittle.
The first trailer for the upcoming feature, which was partly shot here last summer, has just dropped online and fans have so far gone mad for the star’s attempt at a lilting Welsh voice.
The latest big screen attempt at the 1920s family favourite about a doctor who can talk to animals – previous big screen versions starred Rex Harrison (1967) and Eddie Murphy (1998) – the two-minute clip sees the Marvel comic book actor giving it his best “Anthony Hopkins” in the title role.
This upcoming big budget version, due in UK cinemas in early 2020, goes back to Victorian times to tell the story of an eccentric medic coaxed into a globetrotting adventure after having become a hermit following the death of his wife.
“I’m having a good time,” said Downey Jr about the project earlier this year. “Although I decided to give myself, like, 40 additional challenges, like a Welsh accent – which even Welsh people say is hard to do.”
And, like the criticism that’s greeted other Hollywood stars who’ve had a stab at sounding like they’re from this side of the Severn – we’re thinking Tom Hardy in Locke and the entire cast of How Green Was My Valley – not everyone seems convinced the American has pulled it off.
Renamed from its previous title, The Voyage Of Doctor Dolittle, the film also features performances from the likes of Michael Sheen, Antonio Banderas, John Cena, Marion Cotillard, Frances de la Tour, Ralph Fiennes and Tom Holland.
Some scenes for the film were shot on Menai Bridge, Anglesey, in June last year.
Sherlock Holmes, Chaplin and Tropic Thunder star Downey Jr posted videos of himself enjoying some Welsh countryside on Instagram.
He also recorded video appeals for a huge charity campaign in front of the Welsh flag in two videos.
Dolittle will be released in UK cinemas in February.