AMERICANS UTTERLY CHARMED BY LADY MARY’S ACCENT
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THE cut-glass voice of Downton Abbey’s Lady Mary has become the most in-demand British accent in the US.
Hugh Grant’s upper-class tones and those of posh Benedict Cumberbatch also feature highly in the most wanted voices for American advertising campaigns.
The desire for British voice-overs – also used in videos, online self-help guides and even “speaking” birthday cards – has doubled in the past year, reveals new research.
Dame Helen Mirren, famous for playing the Queen, is also a firm favourite.
But it’s not just aristocratic accents that are popular – Gordon Ramsay’s angry rants feature highly on the list of most wanted.
Even the voice of Cheryl Fernandez-Versini comes in at number seven on the top 20 list – despite her failure on the American version of The X Factor, which was blamed on her Geordie accent.
According to the survey by freelance agency PeoplePerHour, it doesn’t even have to be the real voice of actress Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary in the hit ITV series. All the Americans want is an English voice that sounds like the character.
Others to make it into the top 20 – compiled from analysis of 5,000 job adverts WE’VE all heard of jelly babies, but this is taking edible tots to a whole new level.
These amazingly life-like cakes are handmade by Stacy Dudding, who has no formal training and only does it as a hobby.
And she has been baking baby cakes for just two years.
Stacy’s confections are all lifesized and take around 10 days to craft. Every bit is edible.
She said: “They look incredibly life-like. It’s amazing seeing them come to life as I make them. What begins as a bar of chocolate ends up looking so realistic, it’s like they may start breathing at any second!”
Her baking sideline started two years ago when her husband’s cousin asked her to make a cake for her baby’s christening.
Healthcare assistant Stacy, who lives with husband Chris, 36, and daughter Tammeshia, 10, in Hull, West Yorks, said: “They wanted an original cake, something that had never been done before.
“So I asked them for a photo of their son and decided I would have a go at recreating the baby as a cake. They didn’t know what I was going to do, but when they saw it on the day, they were so pleased with it.
FRECKLES
“All the guests were amazed, even the manager of the hotel where the christening was held. My new hobby was born. Since then I’ve made more than a dozen cakes, all babies.”
Stacy begins by making their heads, using her daughter’s dolls as models. She chooses the best match and then creates a mould out of white chocolate.
Then she adds the layers of cake and icing and decorates the face with finishing touches, such as birthmarks or freckles. The delicate facial features are crafted from icing and the complexion is carefully created using food colouring .
The head is stored in the fridge while the baby’s body takes shape. Stacy, 35, said: “Often there’s a baby’s head in our fridge next to the milk. My family are used to it.”
Stacy makes the cakes in her spare time and she doesn’t have any training or special tools. She said: “I just improvise all the time, to see how I can make something look realistic.
“But sometimes my babies are actually too realistic. No one has the heart to cut them up and eat them – not even me.” for British-sounding voices – are Daniel Craig (number two), Irish actor Colin Farrell ( four), Scot James McAvoy ( five), Simon Cowell (12) and even David Beckham (17).
PPH boss Xenios Thrasyvoulou said Americans request British and Irish voiceovers more often than those from other nations.
He added: “The original British export was manufacturing, then it was financial services, now it seems to be the British accent.”