This is a excellent interview, I've seen others (in probably less formal settings) where Gillian gets nervous and "runs off at the mouth" as she puts it, but this one shows how intelligent and well spoken she really is.
This dialect switching unconsciously happens to me when I return to Trinidad or get around other Trinidadians. But when I am here in Canada, my accent is very North Americanized. Like Gillian, I grew up abroad. But when I returned to Canada, I was surrounded mostly by Canadians and the accent just grew on me.
My daughter was like Gillian ( who was born in one country but grew up in another) my daughter who was born in England but grew up in New Zealand since the age of four months considers herself as Kiwi even after she went back to England
The accent thing *does* happen UNconsciously, actually. Although I'm American by birth, my mum is Brit (I'm a military brat). As she tells it, when I was young, my accent was Brit. That said, my elementary school years were spent in Mississippi. When I have lived in the south, a southern accent has sometimes fallen out of my mouth before I realized it. Then I worry that the other person will think that I'm mocking them because of the accent change, although that was never my intent.
There is a difference though: She grew up in England till she was 11 + then also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at at time :-)
I remember seeing this on TV in England and being completely thrown by her different appearance & complete change of accent. Not only can she speak with a convincing English accent but she uses regular English expressions. Hearing her on USA interviews, she uses regular American expressions. Which all goes to show what a very good actress she is - all part of the craft.
I get the impression that her English accent is more natural to her than her American one which was manufactured in the first place to avoid bullying at school.
@@apollon6870 - Wrong...... There are 14 main regional English accents, around 6 core Scottish accents, North and South Welsh and Northern Irish. They are ALL British accents. This is an English accent. RP to be precise.
I adore Gillian. It's interesting to hear her English accent increase as the interview progresses. She lived in England from the age of 2 until 11 so it's easy for her to slip in and out of it. That's one stunningly beautiful woman.
no from 1 till 12--But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
I love this lady, and to all those people that say her accent is fake, it's not. Not that Richard and Judy are that great of a ringing endorsement, but Judy said she has a perfect english accent, and she was raised in England from about 2, when children learn to speak. And even she admits when she came back "home" to Michigan being a teenager, she used the accent to be different. Everyone, lighten up. This woman can act circles around the likes of Julia Roberts etc...
@@Rich6Brew and by definition British. All English native accents are British. Like when we say an "American" accent meaning one from somewhere in America
@@christopherwelch5879 She was born in Chicago. She's American by birth. That said, she's probably spent more of her life in the UK than she has in the US. If anything, her American accent is the fake one.
She was born in Chicago, but soon she moved to London and was raised here. She went back to the States when she was a teenager, and thank god she's back here in London, because she's my favourite actress ever. I love her!
I've been looking and waiting for so long to hear herself speaking in her native accent its so unreal (but in a good way) I love British and Australian accents for from women.
She grew up in the UK from ages 2-11. These are the years your accent is formed so its hardly surprising. It doesn't sound fake to me, so i'd think it would be something you would easily slip back into. She says she was teased for her English accent when she was at school in the US
God I love her! I really wish she'd do some more high profile stuff! Gillian, if you or your people read this-do a blockbuster! C'mon! You're lots of people's favourite actress and we want to see more of you!
She's American and English (moved to England when a child). Her accent depends on where she is, but even here you can hear her American "r". I really like her.
Because she grew up in England when she was 1 till 12, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
John Jones. Reading & maths? Anderson was born in Chicago, Illinois, Soon after her birth, her family moved to Puerto Rico for 15 months; her family then moved to the United Kingdom where she lived until she was 11 years old. She lived for five years in Rosebery Gardens, Crouch End, London, and for 15 months in Albany Road, Stroud Green, London, She was a pupil of Coleridge Primary School. When Anderson was 11 years old, her family moved again, this time to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
She moved when she was 12, But also you forgot to mention: her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
well, i have a good friend who was born in jamaica and lived there until she was 11 or 12. she doesn't really have a jamaican accent, until she get's pissed off or goes home to visit relatives. so, i can imagine gillian anderson's accent is much the same, she grew up speaking that way and when she's back amongst english people, she picks up the accent.
I was born & partially grew up in one part of UK & grew up the rest in another part yet reguarly visited 1st throughout my life. I get told how my accent changes notably when I return from either places! I don't notice it happen - although others do!
I am from Minnesota but no longer live there. I still slip back to the Minnesotan accent sometimes but when i go back up there I start having the accent all the time. I think it has something to do with your brain development of speech during the younger years. she was there when she was young. I also had to force away my accent to fit in better once i left Minnesota.
@Maxshard She was born in America but when she was young moved to London and then at early teens (roughly i think) she move back to america so she does have an english accent too
She can't just "PICK" one. She gets in either one, it happens even when you speak a different language when you just say things different. I love her voice no matter what. = ]
Gillian has said that because she grew up in England until she was 11, she actually had an English accent when her parents and she moved back to the US. She got teased for her accent so she adopted an American one. She admitted in one interview that it kind of embarrasses her but when she's back in the UK, she just slips back into the old accent.
GILLIAN ANDERSON IS BRITISH?! OMG I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA!! LOL Crazy! She reminds me so much of Kate Winslet, looks-wise and just in terms of her mannerisms and things like that.
She was born in America but raised in England. She changes her accent based on context. So on Jay Leno she spoke w an American accent, and over here w Parkinson, it was her English accent.
i get the same, you know : french native, been in the uk for about 10 years... i speak english with a french accent and when i'm in france, i have an english accent (even more so when i am tired!)
In fact, because I'm a military brat and lived in and grew up in several countries around the world, those who hear my more American accent cannot tell where I am from. That accent *sounds* "American," but it has no regional flavour because I spent most of my youth outside of the United States; the same is true of my British accent. Further, this type of childhood often results in the ability to mimic different accents rather fluently simply because of the exposure to different cultures.
FACTS- Date of Birth=9 August 1968, Chicago, Illinois, USA Lived in London, England, from age 2 to age 11,then moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she was teased for her English accent. Her american accent came from the fact that she was teased and when the time came she additioned for many movies that wanted her to not have an accent. These are the main facts of her accents, dont like it get over it.She is both an American and a Britian.She currently lives in England.
You forgot to mention: She grew up in England from 1 till 12 so 10 years not 9, Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
Funny to hear this from someone who commented on this video dozens of times. Also, thank you for predicting that I have nothing to do with my life only because I commented on a video for once in a while, your usage of naturalistic observation is without doubt flawless. And unless you are not some big shot film critic or at least a B grade actor, please would you not cast such strict judgements on her, let's accept that she has fans, she's lovely and that's the end of the story.
Being neither British nor American, and yet having a vast knowledge in English in many of its forms, I find it fascinating that she can switch her accents so easily. And she is both American and British, in a way, so both come naturally to her. But has anyone noticed that she not only switched to the British accent, but the jargon as well? I can't imagine an American using the word "bloody" in pretty much any context except actual blood. Just shows that both come naturally to her. She's cool.
WRONG-Because she grew up in England when she was 1 till 12, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
@defpoet28 She's putting HER original accent. If anything, when she changed her accent to a General American one after moving to the Midwest when she was 11, she was imitating and putting on theirs.
Gillian grew up in England, besides when she is in the US she adopts an American accent nearly seamlessly, so I think she has no difficulty going back and forth and yes she does remind Kate Winslet, a lot!!! That's what I also thought by looking and listening to her.
Gill Anderson is American, Gill's family moved to Puerto Rico for 15 months and then to Crouch End where she attended Fortismere School and finally Harringayin London, so that her father could attend the London Film School. When Gill was 11 years old, her family moved again, this time to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
she was raised in london, spent half her life in the US, and the other night on leno i could really hear her slipping back and forth between an american and a british accent. she says herself that it's often unconscious and depends on where she is.
She did not spend healf her life in the US-She moved when she was 12, her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
i tend to switch too when I visit the UK, in the same way I tend to switch to Dutch Dutch when confronted with Dutch people, although I am a native Flemish Dutch speaker.
can you explain me what is the difference between american and british accent ? because I'm french and I speak like an american. (My teacher's high school say me that, i think it's because I passed few monts in the US). For the French people I think it's easier to understand British, but I prefer American accent, it's more like french.
Has anyone ever called her out on her accent changing? I don't mind it, it's like when Madonna did it since Gillian actually lived in England when she was young and subsequently adopted an American accent to fit in.
Exactly she grew up in England from 1 till 12, Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
"Dialect" - refers to the actual vocabulary that you use, which can be localised to a particular region of a country, or the country itself. "Accent" - refers to how you sound when you actually pronounce the words.
Its not that you change your accent, it just weakens.. I'm Irish and have moved to the states.. I have a mixed up accent now, though when I go home to Ireland out comes my strong Irish accent.
Soon after her birth, the family relocated to Puerto Rico for 15 months and then moved to England. Gillian spent the next 9 years of her childhood growing up in London's North End - first in Stamford Hill and later in Crouch End - while her father Edward studied film production at the London School of Film Technique in Covent Garden for 2 years. Eventually the family moved back to the U.S.A. and settled in Grand Rapids ( from Gillian's Official Website Biography )
Because she lived in the UK during her formative years I think the accent is natural and hard wired, so she can pick it up easily. Much like Mel Gibson another American who lived abroad in his adolescent and young adult years and can similarly pick up his Australian accent at the drop of a hat. People who are bilingual from birth can generally speak two languages without accent so its no surprise that one such as Anderson can speak two versions of English with a natural sounding accent as well.
I think I understand. I think British accent is like "old french", and american accent is more popular. It's like Canadian or Swiss, they speek a strange French. and when canadian singers are in France they try to speek like us, because it's probably better to understand. In France, we also have an accent if you live in the south or in the north, with different word. annyway, thanks for the explain, and sorry for your headhache, and for my english to...
Your comment makes no sense-WRONG-Because she grew up in England when she was 1 till 12, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
Why, one of my most respected professors claimed that childhood amnesia is a fact and you strictly cannot remember anything before the age of 2-3 or so, yet even the textbook said that this fact won't apply to everyone. I guess psychology is such a young subject that even some strict rules might apply to someone and not to others. And good luck with the Scottish, I moved to Glasgow about 4 months ago and some English already say that I picked up Glaswegian. Addictive, trust me.
I think you have just listed those nationalities who seem to struggle the most when it comes to loosing their accents. Most European nationalities have strong accents when speaking English at a non-professional level, yet when most Europeans (mostly nationalities like Germans, Dutch or Swedish) move to an English-speaking country and live there for years they loose their foreign accents completely and pick up a clear, academic English accent. I know first-hand, I'm surrounded by these people.
That's true! It seems to me she looks like Madonna in some pics! Maybe both of us are crazy! :P By the way, I absolutely adore Gillian and her work, she's an ispiration for me! :)
... She lived in Britain for like 8 years as a kid before returning to the US, and she lives there again now. Living there for that long as a kid would probably give you an accent.
No longer than 8 years 12 years, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
Well I'm flemish (Belgium) I speak Dutch but a different kind of dutch that they speak in the Netherlands. Often when I go to the Netherlands hang arround for people for a while I pick up their way of speaking and think its "polite" so that they are able to 100% understand what I'm saying. Its odd I know but I can understand people doing it.
Okay, if you listen carefully to her speaking when she's 'American' you can hear the british influence in her vowels and placement. She's clearly a natural brit doing an american accent, a fairly good Edith Skinner Standard American actually.
Sorry, the top comment is actually what I would say, just couldn't resist it. It's about natural habits of all people, and when spoken to in your own dialect, or even accent when spoken to in another language, you naturally emulate the person you are speaking to, even if you don't know the language at all. I don't speak English as much as I hear and write, but I pick up bad habits from contemporary internet usage. Their hard to loose too, arrr!
Yea I never got why she did that, As Americans love the British -But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
She might have a couple of ways of speaking. I was born in Toronto, left when I was 8, lived in the U.K. for 16 years, and moved back to Toronto 21 years ago. My accent is all over the place, and when I'm nervous, it gets very standard B.B.C.. Sometimes, I don't really know how I sound, so she might be coming from the same place. When I lived in the U.K. people used to think I was American, and now people either ask if I'm English or express total surprise that I ever spent time in the U.K..
She was born to American parents in England.her parents moved back to the states when she was 16.She saw a dialict coach when she dicided to become an actress.
yeah she has a slight accent bc she lived there as a child.. also she is the kind of person that changes the way they speaks depending their environment so when she is in usa she starts to lose her accent... you can google gillian anderson accent and it will appear
A slight accent is that a joke, She grew up in England from 1 till 12, Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
@jlenoconel When in Rome, do as the Romans do. In any case she pretty much grew up with an English accent, if anything is manufactured it's her American accent.
She involuntarily changed her speech patterns because she was made fun of when she moved to the U.S.. It actually seems she is more comfortable speaking with an English accent in this interview.
Her accents is just her way of *Fitting in* with her surroundings - same with Christian Bale because they`re both British. They feel if they speak with an american accent in the states they will be/feel more accepted and when they come back to the UK they slip straight back in with their normal accents, they know they`re doing it. You could call it fake but say if you can speak French and go over to France, your going to speak their way, it`s just a natural thing, it doesn`t make them evil.
my family had the same thing when we first emigrated to Canada. I have a Canadian accent (tho I do say toe-mah-toe instead of tomato). But when I am back home or just surrounded by other Brits the accent sneaks right back out without intending to. This is not unusual.
Bidialect they call it. I am the same when I am around my family or go home to visit (JA) my accent changes...although it will never be as authentic as it once was but when I'm at work if you spoke to me on the phone you wouldn't know where I was from....
Exactly-But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-) So she spent a lot more time then half her chldhood in England she was back every summer
Excuse me? You don't have to insult me. You making the accusation of people sounding dumb etc, but what that reply made you look it more than anyone else.
well accents are becoming more mixed nowadays, my Dads english but my mums American so sometimes I call her Mum and sometimes I call her Mom...it's a new accent 'Engerican'
Children who've grew up in many locales don't have their "own" accent. This is a common occurrence and they change their accents according to needs and feel at home with many accents. So for people like that, being "herself" or "himself" IS being multiaccent. It's absurd that you want to define for someone else what being "herself" is.
understandable. I didn't get why she had different accents, but now I get it: to match the audience. But yeah, she should just be herself, whichever accent she has.
Menacexp, that's little to much information. If you scan down the comments you see a lot are about her accent, even on this first page - hence my amused reply to your previous post.
You are wrong. Anderson's own website says that she lived in England for nine years. When she moved to England, she was too young to speak, and when she moved back to America, she had an English accent.
Haha like if it wasn't obvious, I only keep answering because I enjoy the hell out of conversations like this and I haven't had one on RUclips since I was 12 or so. Glad that you liked her in The X-Files though, she indeed was great in it. And just don't mind her accent if you don't want to bother discussing it, she could do some working class Mancunian accent and that would maybe hurt, this won't.
She never left there perm, Because she grew up there when she was 1 till 12, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
She doesn't use it, She lived in London for years, Then when she was 12 she moved back to US with her family But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
I was confused as to where she was from, as she did such a convincing British accent in The Last King of Scotland...now I see...she's from BOTH PLACES!!! Dum dum dum...
valar You are not dumb in the least. I was first introduced to her via The X Files and assumed that was the only way she spoke. I then saw her in Bleak House and The Fall and thought she was merely putting on an English accent for the roles she was playing. It was not until I saw her in another interview and she was asked about it, that I realized that she is quite natural in it given her upbringing. I actually prefer and think she sounds more natural with an English accent, albeit with a few Americanized pronunciations and colloquialisms thrown in from time to time. Her voice is more expressive and tone more varied when she speaks with an English accent, whereas her American accent is more generic or neutral and her voice sounds a bit more flat and monotone.
@defpoet28 When in doubt, go to imdb dot com. According to her profile there, she "Lived in London, England, from age 2 to age 11, then moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she was teased for her English accent." --That's a lot of time growing up to have a different accent. It also says that as of August 2005 she's "living in England with her (now ex-) husband, Julian Ozanne." and so it probably is natural for her to have reverted back to that accent.
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This is a excellent interview, I've seen others (in probably less formal settings) where Gillian gets nervous and "runs off at the mouth" as she puts it, but this one shows how intelligent and well spoken she really is.
Love this version of her bidialectal capacity!
Thanks for posting BBC, never saw her interview on Parkinson. My first teenage crush, always loved her and her work.
This dialect switching unconsciously happens to me when I return to Trinidad or get around other Trinidadians. But when I am here in Canada, my accent is very North Americanized. Like Gillian, I grew up abroad. But when I returned to Canada, I was surrounded mostly by Canadians and the accent just grew on me.
Coolie bwoy
My daughter was like Gillian ( who was born in one country but grew up in another) my daughter who was born in England but grew up in New Zealand since the age of four months considers herself as Kiwi even after she went back to England
She was raised in the UK (London) from the ages of 2/3 to 11. So the accent she grew up with was English
no from birth, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months :-)
English is not an accent, it's a language.
@@mikekaraoke no. She was born in America and moved to the U.K. at 2.
The accent thing *does* happen UNconsciously, actually. Although I'm American by birth, my mum is Brit (I'm a military brat). As she tells it, when I was young, my accent was Brit. That said, my elementary school years were spent in Mississippi. When I have lived in the south, a southern accent has sometimes fallen out of my mouth before I realized it. Then I worry that the other person will think that I'm mocking them because of the accent change, although that was never my intent.
There is a difference though: She grew up in England till she was 11 + then also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at at time :-)
I remember seeing this on TV in England and being completely thrown by her different appearance & complete change of accent. Not only can she speak with a convincing English accent but she uses regular English expressions. Hearing her on USA interviews, she uses regular American expressions. Which all goes to show what a very good actress she is - all part of the craft.
Not acting, as it were. She's genuinely bidialectal.
I get the impression that her English accent is more natural to her than her American one which was manufactured in the first place to avoid bullying at school.
british
Ebglisf
@@apollon6870 English* There are many forms of British accents, English is one of them
@@apollon6870 - Wrong...... There are 14 main regional English accents, around 6 core Scottish accents, North and South Welsh and Northern Irish. They are ALL British accents. This is an English accent. RP to be precise.
I adore Gillian. It's interesting to hear her English accent increase as the interview progresses. She lived in England from the age of 2 until 11 so it's easy for her to slip in and out of it. That's one stunningly beautiful woman.
no from 1 till 12--But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
she's much cuter as a brit
I love this lady, and to all those people that say her accent is fake, it's not. Not that Richard and Judy are that great of a ringing endorsement, but Judy said she has a perfect english accent, and she was raised in England from about 2, when children learn to speak. And even she admits when she came back "home" to Michigan being a teenager, she used the accent to be different. Everyone, lighten up. This woman can act circles around the likes of Julia Roberts etc...
She was raised in England and when she moved to America she was made fun of so she switched accents to fit in. Her natural accent is English.
I could listen to her talk all day
Gotta love Gillian!! :) Complete legend! Long live Scully & Mulder
I've heard from somewhere that she's actually more at ease when speaking with a British accent.
That would be an English accent.
@@Rich6Brew and by definition British. All English native accents are British. Like when we say an "American" accent meaning one from somewhere in America
Umm.... Perhaps that's because she's actually English. Which she is. She speaks with a assumed accent on X-Files. Duh.
@@christopherwelch5879 She was born in Chicago. She's American by birth.
That said, she's probably spent more of her life in the UK than she has in the US. If anything, her American accent is the fake one.
@@cbjones82 As are all Scottish, Welsh and Irish accents!
She was born in Chicago, but soon she moved to London and was raised here. She went back to the States when she was a teenager, and thank god she's back here in London, because she's my favourite actress ever.
I love her!
Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
I've been looking and waiting for so long to hear herself speaking in her native accent its so unreal (but in a good way) I love British and Australian accents for from women.
OMG I love Gillian's English accent!
She grew up in the UK from ages 2-11. These are the years your accent is formed so its hardly surprising. It doesn't sound fake to me, so i'd think it would be something you would easily slip back into. She says she was teased for her English accent when she was at school in the US
No she was 1 till 12, Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
God I love her! I really wish she'd do some more high profile stuff! Gillian, if you or your people read this-do a blockbuster! C'mon! You're lots of people's favourite actress and we want to see more of you!
She's American and English (moved to England when a child). Her accent depends on where she is, but even here you can hear her American "r". I really like her.
Because she grew up in England when she was 1 till 12, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
Even without red hair and a british accent she is still Scully and still really hot
John Jones. Reading & maths?
Anderson was born in Chicago, Illinois, Soon after her birth, her family moved to Puerto Rico for 15 months; her family then moved to the United Kingdom where she lived until she was 11 years old. She lived for five years in Rosebery Gardens, Crouch End, London, and for 15 months in Albany Road, Stroud Green, London, She was a pupil of Coleridge Primary School. When Anderson was 11 years old, her family moved again, this time to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
She moved when she was 12, But also you forgot to mention: her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
well, i have a good friend who was born in jamaica and lived there until she was 11 or 12. she doesn't really have a jamaican accent, until she get's pissed off or goes home to visit relatives. so, i can imagine gillian anderson's accent is much the same, she grew up speaking that way and when she's back amongst english people, she picks up the accent.
i adore Gillian Anderson !
That's cleared that up as I watched her on a US clip from last year and she was American in accent.
Love Gillian! She's smart, pretty, and talented. I'm curious which accent she uses off-screen, with friends and family.
She apparently adopts the accent of who she’s talking to.
I was born & partially grew up in one part of UK & grew up the rest in another part yet reguarly visited 1st throughout my life. I get told how my accent changes notably when I return from either places! I don't notice it happen - although others do!
I am from Minnesota but no longer live there. I still slip back to the Minnesotan accent sometimes but when i go back up there I start having the accent all the time.
I think it has something to do with your brain development of speech during the younger years. she was there when she was young.
I also had to force away my accent to fit in better once i left Minnesota.
@Maxshard She was born in America but when she was young moved to London and then at early teens (roughly i think) she move back to america so she does have an english accent too
But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
She can't just "PICK" one. She gets in either one, it happens even when you speak a different language when you just say things different. I love her voice no matter what. = ]
my mom lived in sweden for a couple of years in her teens, and she still speaks with a swedish accent, she 51 now
What makes no sense, A mate of mine lived in Canada for 5 years and still sounded British when he came back
Gillian has said that because she grew up in England until she was 11, she actually had an English accent when her parents and she moved back to the US. She got teased for her accent so she adopted an American one. She admitted in one interview that it kind of embarrasses her but when she's back in the UK, she just slips back into the old accent.
GILLIAN ANDERSON IS BRITISH?! OMG I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA!! LOL Crazy! She reminds me so much of Kate Winslet, looks-wise and just in terms of her mannerisms and things like that.
Well said and thank you.
She was born in America but raised in England. She changes her accent based on context. So on Jay Leno she spoke w an American accent, and over here w Parkinson, it was her English accent.
i get the same, you know : french native, been in the uk for about 10 years... i speak english with a french accent and when i'm in france, i have an english accent (even more so when i am tired!)
In fact, because I'm a military brat and lived in and grew up in several countries around the world, those who hear my more American accent cannot tell where I am from. That accent *sounds* "American," but it has no regional flavour because I spent most of my youth outside of the United States; the same is true of my British accent. Further, this type of childhood often results in the ability to mimic different accents rather fluently simply because of the exposure to different cultures.
It's one thing to go back and forth between accents, but the addition of 'bloody' to her vocabulary cracks me up
When in rome...
FACTS-
Date of Birth=9 August 1968,
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Lived in London, England, from age 2 to age 11,then moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she was teased for her English accent.
Her american accent came from
the fact that she was teased and when
the time came she additioned
for many movies that wanted her to
not have an accent.
These are the main facts of her accents,
dont like it get over it.She is both an American and a Britian.She currently lives in England.
You forgot to mention: She grew up in England from 1 till 12 so 10 years not 9, Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
Funny to hear this from someone who commented on this video dozens of times. Also, thank you for predicting that I have nothing to do with my life only because I commented on a video for once in a while, your usage of naturalistic observation is without doubt flawless. And unless you are not some big shot film critic or at least a B grade actor, please would you not cast such strict judgements on her, let's accept that she has fans, she's lovely and that's the end of the story.
Being neither British nor American, and yet having a vast knowledge in English in many of its forms, I find it fascinating that she can switch her accents so easily. And she is both American and British, in a way, so both come naturally to her. But has anyone noticed that she not only switched to the British accent, but the jargon as well? I can't imagine an American using the word "bloody" in pretty much any context except actual blood. Just shows that both come naturally to her. She's cool.
Not acting, as it were. She's genuinely bidialectal.
She hasn’t British.
@@plumeria66 Me. Me being neither, I find it fascinating that she can do that so easily.
She was born in Chicago, moved to Puerto Rico and then UK when she was younger and returned to the US when she was 11.
WRONG-Because she grew up in England when she was 1 till 12, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
@defpoet28 She's putting HER original accent. If anything, when she changed her accent to a General American one after moving to the Midwest when she was 11, she was imitating and putting on theirs.
No she was 1 till 12, Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
Gillian grew up in England, besides when she is in the US she adopts an American accent nearly seamlessly, so I think she has no difficulty going back and forth and yes she does remind Kate Winslet, a lot!!! That's what I also thought by looking and listening to her.
Gill Anderson is American, Gill's family moved to Puerto Rico for 15 months and then to Crouch End where she attended Fortismere School and finally Harringayin London, so that her father could attend the London Film School. When Gill was 11 years old, her family moved again, this time to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
she was raised in london, spent half her life in the US, and the other night on leno i could really hear her slipping back and forth between an american and a british accent. she says herself that it's often unconscious and depends on where she is.
She did not spend healf her life in the US-She moved when she was 12, her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
i tend to switch too when I visit the UK, in the same way I tend to switch to Dutch Dutch when confronted with Dutch people, although I am a native Flemish Dutch speaker.
can you explain me what is the difference between american and british accent ? because I'm french and I speak like an american. (My teacher's high school say me that, i think it's because I passed few monts in the US).
For the French people I think it's easier to understand British, but I prefer American accent, it's more like french.
Gillian really is the best!! such a great actress!!!=)
Has anyone ever called her out on her accent changing? I don't mind it, it's like when Madonna did it since Gillian actually lived in England when she was young and subsequently adopted an American accent to fit in.
I'm like that to sometimes. I think I heard her speak casually in one interview, and it sounded like a blend of english and midwest american accent.
@JRHhhify She's not from the Midwest, she was raised in England. Her accent is her actual one and authentic.
Exactly she grew up in England from 1 till 12, Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
"Dialect" - refers to the actual vocabulary that you use, which can be localised to a particular region of a country, or the country itself.
"Accent" - refers to how you sound when you actually pronounce the words.
Its not that you change your accent, it just weakens.. I'm Irish and have moved to the states.. I have a mixed up accent now, though when I go home to Ireland out comes my strong Irish accent.
Soon after her birth, the family relocated to Puerto Rico for 15 months and then moved to England. Gillian spent the next 9 years of her childhood growing up in London's North End - first in Stamford Hill and later in Crouch End - while her father Edward studied film production at the London School of Film Technique in Covent Garden for 2 years. Eventually the family moved back to the U.S.A. and settled in Grand Rapids ( from Gillian's Official Website Biography )
It was 10 years, Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
Even if she was speaking with an arabian, russian, french or australian accent, she's still my favorite actress.
I Love Gillian Anderson :)
Because she lived in the UK during her formative years I think the accent is natural and hard wired, so she can pick it up easily. Much like Mel Gibson another American who lived abroad in his adolescent and young adult years and can similarly pick up his Australian accent at the drop of a hat. People who are bilingual from birth can generally speak two languages without accent so its no surprise that one such as Anderson can speak two versions of English with a natural sounding accent as well.
even just speaking to some american friends I just pick up their accents... it happens to a lot of people. And I live in UK all my life!
her British side rocks!
I think I understand.
I think British accent is like "old french", and american accent is more popular.
It's like Canadian or Swiss, they speek a strange French. and when canadian singers are in France they try to speek like us, because it's probably better to understand.
In France, we also have an accent if you live in the south or in the north, with different word.
annyway, thanks for the explain, and sorry for your headhache, and for my english to...
Your comment makes no sense-WRONG-Because she grew up in England when she was 1 till 12, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
Why, one of my most respected professors claimed that childhood amnesia is a fact and you strictly cannot remember anything before the age of 2-3 or so, yet even the textbook said that this fact won't apply to everyone. I guess psychology is such a young subject that even some strict rules might apply to someone and not to others. And good luck with the Scottish, I moved to Glasgow about 4 months ago and some English already say that I picked up Glaswegian. Addictive, trust me.
I think you have just listed those nationalities who seem to struggle the most when it comes to loosing their accents. Most European nationalities have strong accents when speaking English at a non-professional level, yet when most Europeans (mostly nationalities like Germans, Dutch or Swedish) move to an English-speaking country and live there for years they loose their foreign accents completely and pick up a clear, academic English accent. I know first-hand, I'm surrounded by these people.
That's true! It seems to me she looks like Madonna in some pics! Maybe both of us are crazy! :P
By the way, I absolutely adore Gillian and her work, she's an ispiration for me! :)
... She lived in Britain for like 8 years as a kid before returning to the US, and she lives there again now. Living there for that long as a kid would probably give you an accent.
No longer than 8 years 12 years, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
Well I'm flemish (Belgium) I speak Dutch but a different kind of dutch that they speak in the Netherlands. Often when I go to the Netherlands hang arround for people for a while I pick up their way of speaking and think its "polite" so that they are able to 100% understand what I'm saying. Its odd I know but I can understand people doing it.
Okay, if you listen carefully to her speaking when she's 'American' you can hear the british influence in her vowels and placement. She's clearly a natural brit doing an american accent, a fairly good Edith Skinner Standard American actually.
Sorry, the top comment is actually what I would say, just couldn't resist it.
It's about natural habits of all people, and when spoken to in your own dialect, or even accent when spoken to in another language, you naturally emulate the person you are speaking to, even if you don't know the language at all. I don't speak English as much as I hear and write, but I pick up bad habits from contemporary internet usage. Their hard to loose too, arrr!
Gillian grew up in England and lives there currently. She switches accents naturally, it's not something which is "put on" - just to clear that up.
Yea exactly, Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
I agree. She was brought up in England, and she should have kept the English accent instead of adopting a regional accent when she moved to America.
Yea I never got why she did that, As Americans love the British
-But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
@@mikekaraoke Americans don’t really love it tho, they give you grief for it.
@@MackerelCat Rubbish!
Though you will get some idiots, in general they love it. Where you from?
She might have a couple of ways of speaking. I was born in Toronto, left when I was 8, lived in the U.K. for 16 years, and moved back to Toronto 21 years ago. My accent is all over the place, and when I'm nervous, it gets very standard B.B.C.. Sometimes, I don't really know how I sound, so she might be coming from the same place. When I lived in the U.K. people used to think I was American, and now people either ask if I'm English or express total surprise that I ever spent time in the U.K..
She was born to American parents in England.her parents moved back to the states when she was 16.She saw a dialict coach when she dicided to become an actress.
Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
yeah she has a slight accent bc she lived there as a child.. also she is the kind of person that changes the way they speaks depending their environment so when she is in usa she starts to lose her accent... you can google gillian anderson accent and it will appear
A slight accent is that a joke, She grew up in England from 1 till 12, Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
She is so cute
@jlenoconel When in Rome, do as the Romans do. In any case she pretty much grew up with an English accent, if anything is manufactured it's her American accent.
Just me or is there a little tiny bit of the Kate Winslet about her face?
She involuntarily changed her speech patterns because she was made fun of when she moved to the U.S.. It actually seems she is more comfortable speaking with an English accent in this interview.
Her accents is just her way of *Fitting in* with her surroundings - same with Christian Bale because they`re both British.
They feel if they speak with an american accent in the states they will be/feel more accepted and when they come back to the UK they slip straight back in with their normal accents, they know they`re doing it. You could call it fake but say if you can speak French and go over to France, your going to speak their way, it`s just a natural thing, it doesn`t make them evil.
Well people like Duran Duran didn't do that when went to the US, So that is a load of shit
She lived in London from 2 to 12 years old, so the accent is genuine
But then also But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
my family had the same thing when we first emigrated to Canada. I have a Canadian accent (tho I do say toe-mah-toe instead of tomato). But when I am back home or just surrounded by other Brits the accent sneaks right back out without intending to. This is not unusual.
Are you back living in England?
I find her quite classy and lovely...if only more of our girls were like this.
Bidialect they call it. I am the same when I am around my family or go home to visit (JA) my accent changes...although it will never be as authentic as it once was but when I'm at work if you spoke to me on the phone you wouldn't know where I was from....
@SamhainTheDark she lived in england for part of her childhood
Exactly-But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
So she spent a lot more time then half her chldhood in England she was back every summer
Excuse me? You don't have to insult me. You making the accusation of people sounding dumb etc, but what that reply made you look it more than anyone else.
well accents are becoming more mixed nowadays, my Dads english but my mums American so sometimes I call her Mum and sometimes I call her Mom...it's a new accent 'Engerican'
Children who've grew up in many locales don't have their "own" accent. This is a common occurrence and they change their accents according to needs and feel at home with many accents.
So for people like that, being "herself" or "himself" IS being multiaccent. It's absurd that you want to define for someone else what being "herself" is.
my sisters the same in house she speaks with scottish accent outside an australian accent some just cant decide
understandable. I didn't get why she had different accents, but now I get it: to match the audience. But yeah, she should just be herself, whichever accent she has.
She actually grew up in London- when she moved to the states as a teenager they made fun of her because of her accent.
Exactly-But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
That's true, as she was raised in London... She's ours! :)
I like when she talks seriously, her talk shows appearences while funny at times are not always interesting.
Menacexp, that's little to much information. If you scan down the comments you see a lot are about her accent, even on this first page - hence my amused reply to your previous post.
You are wrong. Anderson's own website says that she lived in England for nine years. When she moved to England, she was too young to speak, and when she moved back to America, she had an English accent.
No she was 1 till 12, Also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
Haha like if it wasn't obvious, I only keep answering because I enjoy the hell out of conversations like this and I haven't had one on RUclips since I was 12 or so.
Glad that you liked her in The X-Files though, she indeed was great in it.
And just don't mind her accent if you don't want to bother discussing it, she could do some working class Mancunian accent and that would maybe hurt, this won't.
@Wibblywoo12345 well, she was raised in london, until she was in h.s. i think. so i figure when she moved back to london, she got her accent back.
She never left there perm, Because she grew up there when she was 1 till 12, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
@defpoet28 She uses an English accent in the 2007 film Straightheads :-)
She doesn't use it, She lived in London for years, Then when she was 12 she moved back to US with her family
But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
I was confused as to where she was from, as she did such a convincing British accent in The Last King of Scotland...now I see...she's from BOTH PLACES!!! Dum dum dum...
valar You are not dumb in the least. I was first introduced to her via The X Files and assumed that was the only way she spoke. I then saw her in Bleak House and The Fall and thought she was merely putting on an English accent for the roles she was playing. It was not until I saw her in another interview and she was asked about it, that I realized that she is quite natural in it given her upbringing. I actually prefer and think she sounds more natural with an English accent, albeit with a few Americanized pronunciations and colloquialisms thrown in from time to time. Her voice is more expressive and tone more varied when she speaks with an English accent, whereas her American accent is more generic or neutral and her voice sounds a bit more flat and monotone.
@defpoet28 When in doubt, go to imdb dot com. According to her profile there, she "Lived in London, England, from age 2 to age 11, then moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she was teased for her English accent." --That's a lot of time growing up to have a different accent. It also says that as of August 2005 she's "living in England with her (now ex-) husband, Julian Ozanne." and so it probably is natural for her to have reverted back to that accent.
no from 1, But also her folks kept their London apartment so they would go back every single summer and stay there for 5/6 months at a time :-)
She reminds me of Kate Winslet here
loved her in The last king of scotland. was so beautiful and yet so sad.