Nanda: Thank you for the twitter sighting!! Firs sign of leo in over a week!! And I'm sure you and Pami will feel so extatic to the fact that hes in the same country as you

Matt Damon vs. Leonardo DiCaprio: Whose South African (and Southie) Accent is Better?

By Julian Sancton

6:51 PM, December 16 2009

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From a casting agent’s perspective, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio are as good as it gets. Not only can they both carry a movie, but they immerse themselves totally in their parts. Both, too, have displayed an impressive range: Damon can play an amnesiac superspy (The Bourne Identity) as convincingly as a slap-happy Siamese twin (Stuck on You), and Leo can embody a mentally retarded teen with the same ease as he can Howard Hughes (The Aviator). Finally, both have shown a willingness to learn accents, which opens up a slew of casting possibilities. The question is, which one has a better knack for it? If said agent were casting the part of a lisping Tasmanian eunuch, for instance, which actor would he rely on to nail the inflections?

There are two particularly tricky accents we can compare them on: South African—which Damon uses in Clint Eastwood’s politico-rugby drama Invictus and DiCaprio learned for 2006’s The Blood Diamond—and South Boston, which both actors pulled off for Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, in a mano-a-mano dialect duel.

I called on two friends to help me judge. The first is Ryan, a lawyer from Johannesburg. I showed him the above trailer for Invictus and the below trailer for Blood Diamond. Ryan’s thorough analysis after the jump.

As far as their accents go, I don’t really think it’s close—Leo is just unbelievable. Although he’s not perfect, I could believe that he was a South African (he plays a Zimbabwean [in The Blood Diamond], but the accents can be the same). Matt Damon isn’t bad, but it sounds like someone doing an accent more than sounding like a South African. While Leo consistently gets every word right, Matt Damon gets the central words right—for example, at 1:00 in Invictus the “invited” is really good. So it doesn’t really matter that the other words are not perfect. But Leo goes for every word—e.g. at 0:45 in The Blood Diamond trailer, every word is correct except “here” (he overpronounces the “r”), and at 0:55 everything is correct except “told” (it’s too British). At 1:17 in the Invictus trailer, meanwhile, I am not convinced that any of the words are correct except “win”—but that’s the central word so he sounds fine.

Another difference between the two is that Leo is doing the accent of an English-speaking South African speaking English, while Matt Damon is doing the accent of an Afrikaans-speaking South African speaking English. So at 2:07 in Invictus, when he says “tiny,” that’s a pretty good Afrikaaner accent, but I, for example, do not pronounce “tiny” like that at all. We also have the accent of indigenous language–speaking South Africans speaking English, which sounds like that guy at 1:30 in >Invictus (that guy is actually South African so he sounds perfect).

Meanwhile, I asked dyed-in-the-wool Irish-Bostonian Joe Hickey, a curator and factotum extraordinaire, what he made of DiCaprio and Damon’s Southie accents. His answer was more concise, and confusing, than Ryan’s, but he reached a similar conclusion (which is surprising, since Damon is a Boston native):

Even though Damon is from here, his accent in The Departed sounded nothing like it did in Good Will Hunting. Everyone I know thought DiCaprio’s Bawstin accent was much better than Damon’s.

So Leo has the edge on accents, barely. But as Sean Connery has proven time and time again—be it with his Scots-inflected Russian rumble in The Hunt for the Red October or his Scots-inflected Irish brogue in Darby Gill in the Little People—it’s not all about the accents and voices. Otherwise, Frank Caliendo would be getting an Oscar.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/20...ccent-is-better

Nanda: Thank you for the twitter sighting!! Firs sign of leo in over a week!! And I'm sure you and Pami will feel so extatic to the fact that hes in the same country as you

Yeah Kat,you're right! But I should say you and Oxford are the lucky ones here cause you feel it almost everyday since he's american!

Love this scene from Blood Diamond...

Hey girls, did you know Leo's paternal grandparents names? I read that it is: George Leon DiCaprio and Olga Anne Jacobs, I never knew this, anyone of you know if this info is right.

thanks for the tweet Nanda. Oh, would be great if he could be in L.A with his mom and than watch Lakers game, at least we would be able see some pics.

Nanda: Thank you for the twitter sighting!! Firs sign of leo in over a week!! And I'm sure you and Pami will feel so extatic to the fact that hes in the same country as you

Yeah Kat,you're right! But I should say you and Oxford are the lucky ones here cause you feel it almost everyday since he's american!

Believe me Pami, our Country is big.....its not as special

And Barbie I have no idea...Are those on his mothers side then?

Nanda: Thank you for the twitter sighting!! Firs sign of leo in over a week!! And I'm sure you and Pami will feel so extatic to the fact that hes in the same country as you

Yeah Kat,you're right! But I should say you and Oxford are the lucky ones here cause you feel it almost everyday since he's american!

Believe me Pami, our Country is big.....its not as special

And Barbie I have no idea...Are those on his mothers side then?

I know Kat! But...he lives there anyway,in your country. Brazil is a huge country too,but in my case he will be in the same state as me!!

Barbie,I've heard these names before,and I think you are right.

Nanda: Thank you for the twitter sighting!! Firs sign of leo in over a week!! And I'm sure you and Pami will feel so extatic to the fact that hes in the same country as you

Yeah Kat,you're right! But I should say you and Oxford are the lucky ones here cause you feel it almost everyday since he's american!

Believe me Pami, our Country is big.....its not as special

And Barbie I have no idea...Are those on his mothers side then?

No, no, his father side.

^Then I have no clue Barbie....but those names do sound familiar

oh I see the Lakers game is tonight, so no way Leo will be there.

oh I see the Lakers game is tonight, so no way Leo will be there.

haha that was funny...hey Barbie!!

Hey girls, did you know Leo's paternal grandparents names? I read that it is: George Leon DiCaprio and Olga Anne Jacobs, I never knew this, anyone of you know if this info is right.

What I was wondering about too: Leo has one stepbrother, right?

Or are there more?

And does anyone know whether that stepbrother has children?

thanks girls!

wijn,Adam Ferrar is his per-brother and if I'm not mistaken he's got family,maybe he's divorced or anything but as I remember he's got a child...

From e! online about people dropping out of Django...

How many actors have dropped out of Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Western, Django Unchained?

—Korper Sale, via the inbox

Right now the body count on that flick stands at five, including Sacha Baron Cohen, Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and, depending on who to you talk to, Jonah Hill. Still in the saddle—at least, at this hour—are Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington.

Five actors in, and then out? Here's what I was able to dig up:

Forget The Dictator or Inglourious Basterds or Remember Me. Django Unchained is a movie that I guarantee will face controversy. The plot? How about an ex-slave who seeks revenge against a plantation owner, who, in turn, forces his own human chattel to battle to the death? What could possibly go wrong?

As for why so many actors have shown interest in one form or another only to drop out, most have cited "scheduling conflicts." Now, that excuse is very common, and I am told it's sometimes even true.

"Sliding schedules are a frequent reality of film production, be it a result of a lost location, an unexpected illness or other standard production delays," says producer Adam Targum of Vision Entertainment Group, a production company that has done movies with stars such as Melanie Griffith.

Cohen has described his role as a "cameo," even, and said he needed to focus on promoting The Dictator.

Now, Django Unchained has been shooting since earlier this year. And, I am told, most dropouts due to scheduling conflicts happen during preproduction, not in the middle of the big show. (Yes, there are exceptions, "particularly if there are delays in the shooting schedule that cause the actors to miss their shooting windows," entertainment attorney Jeremiah T. Reynolds of Kinsella Weitzman tells me.)

So what else might be going on? It's very possible that at least one of these actors balked at how the tone of the movie was shaping up, and things got heated.

After all, points out Ron Dolecki, attorney at Rosenfeld, Meyer & Susman in Beverly Hills, there are contracts in play here, contracts that cost producers or actors money if they just walk away without good reason. If a producer is holding up his end of the deal and an actor walks, "the more likely scenario is that the actor was fired.

"Such can occur because of personality conflicts, the actor's conduct or creative differences," Dolecki tells me.

Whatever is going on out there in Tarantino's Wild West, it's a odd phenomenon.

"Multiple defections in a single project are rare," says Aspen Hughes of V1 Entertainment Films. "If it's in preproduction and talent drops out, it's normally not too big a deal, but during shooting, it can throw off all scheduling for days or even weeks, which can jeopardize the entire project."

Maybe Tarantino should just have stuck with Nazis instead?

http://www.eonline.com/news/ask_the_answer...mp;dlvrit=48939

Matt Damon vs. Leonardo DiCaprio: Whose South African (and Southie) Accent is Better?

This is interesting, especially when you read many comments slagging his accents... thanks, Pami.

Hey girls, did you know Leo's paternal grandparents names? I read that it is: George Leon DiCaprio and Olga Anne Jacobs, I never knew this, anyone of you know if this info is right.

I didn't know their names, thanks for the info Barbie.

oh I see the Lakers game is tonight, so no way Leo will be there.

Yeah, he lost a great game... I watched until the end. It was an exciting game and the Lakers won... so there's still hope to see him watching the games .

These tweets are so funny... you search in the hope of finding any picture or sighting, but find only a few laughs, still works... .

Leo&Kate ‏ @KleoFans

Asking "Why do you like Leonardo DiCaprio?" is like asking "Why do you love food?" #LeoLovers

sometimes I wish I lived in the world by myself for a day, and I could travel and eat and shop and swim and be naked in Fiji #AllAlone... okay Johnmy Depp or Leonardo Dicaprio... except you guys, you can stay.

Caitlin Adlam ‏ @CaitlinAdlam

I waited a few days just to be sure but my birthday wish never came true. Leonardo DiCaprio never showed up in my bed naked with cake.

Thanks Kat by the article abou Django. Love your new sig and avi.

Caitlin Adlam ‏ @CaitlinAdlam

I waited a few days just to be sure but my birthday wish never came true. Leonardo DiCaprio never showed up in my bed naked with cake.

some ppl are just insane

Caitlin Adlam

I looove this movie... I looove this scene...

Hey girls

Happy Mothers day (if anyone here have children of course )

In my case I dont but you can congratulate me in advance since I will be the future Leo's Baby Mama some day ( Crazy level a lo Pami #really On)

Ok back to normal way

Madeleine Hebert ‏ @Madeleineabear

Dancing my face off at La maison with Leo Dicaprio, Samuel L. Jackson and Jamie Foxx... Not a bad Saturday night, eh?

Reducir

4:40 am - 13 mayo 12 vía Twitter for iPhone · Detalles

Frenchmen Street ‏ @FrenchmenStreet

RT @monikdelgrosso: Currently reading http://mobile.nola.com/advnola/article/p8V3IVSj leonardo dicaprio is in Maison on Frenchmen St. In New... http://dlvr.it/1YfMbH

desde New Orleans, LA

kat: thanks for the article.

thanks for the funny tweets Nanda. And I also love that scene but it's sad, poor Arnie.

also thanks for this tweets princess.