Famous Celebrities with The Boston Accent

The Curse of the "Boston Accent"

Growing up in a suburb of Boston I never really thought I had a “Boston Accent”. But one summer during college my job was taking phone orders for a catalog clothing company. Calls came in from around the country to the call center.

During my first “Live” call I was a little nervous, trying to politely and accurately take a woman’s order. Halfway through the call she said “Wait a minute!”

“Yes” I said, timidly.

“Are you from Boston? She Asked.

“Oh Yes Ma’am, Well… from around the area” I replied.

“Oh I knew it, I could tell from your Accent!” She said.

So I have to admit I have somewhat of an accent. I don’t find it thick or very noticeable myself, but obviously others do notice.

But you can lose your Boston Accent if you move away from the area. For example my cousin was away at college for a few years. He occasionally came home for the holidays. As he talked to we couldn't help but tease him.

“What, what did you say?” Say that word again.” Mostly we were amazed at how much his speech had changed. And he now pronounced his "R's".

Park The Car...

The Boston Accent is probably most famous because of the “Kennedy’s”, President John F. Kennedy, Senator Ted Kennedy, and Senator Robert Kennedy from Massachusetts.The Kennedy’s and their exaggerated pronunciations have been imitated in many movies in films.

John F Kennedy was most recently played by Greg Kinnear in the mini-series the Kennedy's (inexplicably pulled from the History Channel).

The exaggerated accent has not escaped parody either; “Brothaaaaa”= Brother. Boston speakers don’t pronounce “R’s” The classic phrase is”:

“I park the car in Harvard Yard” or as pronounced in the Boston accent “I pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd”.

Boston Actors:

Many Hollywood movies are set in the Boston area, calling on the need of authentic Boston accents. Boston Natives turned Hollywood stars have gone back to their roots to call upon their old accents for roles.

• Matt Damon, Ben Affleck & Casey Affleck-Good Will Hunting
• Ben Affleck –The Town
• Casey Affleck-Gone Baby Gone
• Mark Wahlberg-The Fighter
• Mark Wahlberg & Matt Damon- The Departed
• Mark Wahlberg-The Perfect Storm

Boston Based Movies:

• The Fighter
• Conviction
• The Town
• The Departed
• Mystic River
• Gone Baby Gone
• Edge of Darkness
• Good Will Hunting
• The Perfect Storm

Many otherwise talented Hollywood stars gave the accent their best shot, but have flubbed it; Diane Lane in The Perfect Storm, Alec Baldwin in The Departed, and Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness. I must cover my ears now. "No more Mel, Please No more!

Some who got it right Christian Bale & Melissa Leo from The Fighter and Jeremy Renner in The Town.

Amy Adams said of the her work on The Fighter "I think people and often actors in particular are really rough on the Boston accent when they try and do it," says Adams said that Shooting on location and working with a speech coach helped her get the accent right. "Mark was on hand," she says, "so it was great to have a local boy right there to listen to all the time."

Some actors are better at picking up the accent. Less is more; if an actor exaggerates it sounds too forced, and it draws too much attention.

Accent isn’t One Size Fits All...

I find it interesting how the accent can vary so much from city to city from a thick South Boston "Southie" accent to a much less noticeable one in the suburbs. Revere, South Boston, Boston, Cambridge, Charlestown, Medford, Somerville, Dorchester all have very varied accents.

I sometimes cringe when I hear the "Boston Accent" on screen. Ugghhhh!!!

We don’t sound like that, I think, Do we?

Boston Area Phrases:

• Wicked- "very" in the extreme; for example “wicked tired” or “ wicked cool” . The term 'wicked' originated in Boston but is now used nationally.
• Bubbler or water bubbler – drinking fountain.
• Bullshit- "very angry"
• Clicker - a television remote control
• Elastics- rubber bands
• Jimmies–ice cream sprinkles
• Nylons- women's pantyhose
• Packie– liquor store "package store"
• Parlor- living room
• Rotary– traffic circle