Finished first draft of western. As I go to rewrite the antagonist is a Swedish immigrant (been here for a while and highly educated.) I have indicated a Swedish accent in the initial character description. However I would like to add that flavor to the dialogue (i.e yah not yes, lack of articles in conversation). Does any know of a site / reference that can help me with a Swedish accent?
Thanks ahead of time.
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Google "Swedish Accent." youtube videos, a lot of websites will return.
We go past the fjord to get to Ikea and eat the meatballs. Yah?
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Read “Fargo” and copy/paste the words to your script. Unless the accent serves as a plot device, nobody reading will know.
(Folks hire expert dialect coaches if your script makes it to development).
Yah. What Dan says.
Just remembered The Ericsons owned the hotel/restaurant in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." I can hear the husband's Swedish lilt. But remember, when Liberty Valance rode to town the womenfolk would hide, they'd hide!
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Swedish accent is not really an accent as such, just Swedish people refusing to actually speak English properly and pronouncing the Words in English as if they were speaking their own language. And yeah, litterally speaking.
I always like the way John Ford stock character actor John Qualen (a Canadian) played his Norwegian/Swedish characters in The Searchers and Two Rode Together. Check out one of those. Just take care not to have your character sound like a stereotype. Even having your character misuse a colloquial expression can do the trick to make character seem more authentic and add humor.
The second half of this YouTube video you might want to study very carefully:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z92-eVfIuGI
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Let the Casting Director deal with that. (What do you think they get paid for?)
Here's my quick guide to the Swedish accent. Swedes are soft and intimate and value these qualities, so why put them aside just for the sake of pronouncing English words? The word ANSWER becomes ANNSSER just to avoid to wrestle with the tongue. The word EXAMPLE becomes EXAMPPEL. Note EL at the end - to avoid moving to the front of the mouth completely.
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If you don't know how to write Swedish dialogue just say he has a slight or heavy Swedish accent. The actor will figure out how to say their lines without your help.