Viggo speaks seven languages but my accent was tricky
DIVE hero Rick Stanton says method actor Viggo Mortensen had his work cut out mastering his mixed-up accent.
Viggo speaks seven languages but even that didn’t help him get to grips with Rick’s unique twang – a mixture of Essex meets Coventry.
Rick reveals the actor spent weeks trying to perfect the accent and finally got close with the assistance of a dialect coach – and by spending plenty of time with Rick on set.
New York-born Viggo has Danish roots and spent his childhood in South America.
Rick, meanwhile, grew up in Essex but has spent the last 35 years in the West Midlands.
He says: “Viggo wanted to get me perfectly, but my accent is quite unusual, apparently.
“It’s slightly Essex, where I was raised, tinged with a bit of Midlands. I mispronounce my Rs and I’m lazy at the end of my sentences.
“All actors use dialect and voice coaches and he had one to help him, but it took him quite a while to get it right.
“Imitating me was laborious but he wanted to be authentic and, having seen how it works, I can tell you actors earn every penny they are paid.”
But it wasn’t just
Rick’s voice and expressions that the Lord of the Rings star found baffling – he was also appalled by his fashion sense.
While Viggo is used to wearing dinner jackets for glittering Hollywood events, his cave diver pal is more likely to throw on a dirty T-shirt if nothing else is clean.
Rick says: “The film’s clothing department bought all my clothes or constructed them from scratch. But I only had about two T-shirts in Thailand and I don’t really go shopping. When my trousers fall apart I go into town and find another cheap pair. I have zero interest in clothes.”