Did the accent Marina Sirtis used as Troi...

[Tora Ziyal]

Troi's real voice was never heard. She doesn't speak English. Her accent suddenly changed because Picard got sick of the old one and tweaked the settings on the universal translator.

As good an explanation as any.

 

[Prologic9]

Troi could have and accent since she wasn't a full Betazoid. I would think telepathy could make speaking other languages easier, even trivial.

 

[Christopher]

... give rise to the impression she was a poor actor? Sirtis had dropped the accent by the time of the movies, where I actually liked her performances for the first time. Was it her odd accent that made it seem she couldn't act?

I never got the impression she couldn't act. I just got the impression that she was using a sort of hybrid Greek-English accent. Heck, she was certainly a better actress than Denise Crosby, Michael Dorn, and Wil Wheaton were at the time. (Stressing "at the time." Wheaton and especially Dorn have improved considerably since 1987. I haven't seen enough of Crosby's later work to judge, though.)

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I haven't seen enough of Crosby's later work to judge, though.

She was on Law & Order: LA a while back, and wasn't half bad there. Almost unrecognizable visually, but she could indeed act.

 

[22 Stars]

The OP proceeds from a false assumption, that many people who watched thought she couldn't act well. I thought the character was written badly early on, but that Marina was very capable of portraying what they asked her to.

 

[Trekker4747]

I always figured Deanna Troi had a Betazoid accent.

Marina used to speak naturally with a London East End accent. . .

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iuw_AgMSlUk[/yt]

. . . but she’s sounding a lot more mid-Atlantic these days. Probably from hanging around with Yanks for so long.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkEKjhtgBTg[/yt]

Oh. my, Counselor Troi!

 

[Jonesy]

I haven't seen enough of Crosby's later work to judge, though.

She was on Law & Order: LA a while back, and wasn't half bad there. Almost unrecognizable visually, but she could indeed act.

Meh. I tend to think that she is very hit or miss, and even when she is "hit", she's just okay.

 

[Donny]

Accent??? I didn't hear a word she said in that second interview Scotpens posted.

There was an interview?

Her acting ability isn't the only thing that got bigger...I..I mean better...over the years.

 

[Trekker4747]

She doesn't look to bad for a woman in her mid-50s.

 

[Squiggy]

She's aged beautifully. I like her better now than in TNG.

 

[Doug Otte]

I always figured Deanna Troi had a Betazoid accent.

Marina used to speak naturally with a London East End accent. . .



. . . but she’s sounding a lot more mid-Atlantic these days. Probably from hanging around with Yanks for so long.

There's quite a difference in her accents between the two clips. I guess the first one was done around 1996. When is the second one from?

Doug

 

[Trekker4747]

She's aged beautifully. I like her better now than in TNG.

Agreed.

 

[Saxman1]

... give rise to the impression she was a poor actor? Sirtis had dropped the accent by the time of the movies, where I actually liked her performances for the first time. Was it her odd accent that made it seem she couldn't act?

I never got the impression she couldn't act. I just got the impression that she was using a sort of hybrid Greek-English accent. Heck, she was certainly a better actress than Denise Crosby, Michael Dorn, and Wil Wheaton were at the time. (Stressing "at the time." Wheaton and especially Dorn have improved considerably since 1987. I haven't seen enough of Crosby's later work to judge, though.)

THIS and who cares, Marina is even now!

 

[indolover]

I always figured Deanna Troi had a Betazoid accent.

Marina used to speak naturally with a London East End accent. . .

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iuw_AgMSlUk[/yt]

. . . but she’s sounding a lot more mid-Atlantic these days. Probably from hanging around with Yanks for so long.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkEKjhtgBTg[/yt]

damn. Marina's a milf.

 

[CaptainMatt]

I never noticed her accent all that much. I was much too busy watching her than listening to her. lol. But I agree she got even better looking as the series/series of films progressed.

 

[Anji]

No, but better scripts would've improved her acting significantly.

 

[Nerys Myk]

No, but better scripts would've improved her acting significantly.

Nah.

 

[CaptainJack]

So has anyone heard the story that Marina came up with her particular accent because she used to have a friend that taught english to someone (probably europeans) and that was how this person taught these people to speak. That she just made it a little stronger and over the top?
Or am I remembering something I made up?

 

[spooky spice]

Her accent also didn't have anything to do with her being a poorly written character.

True, although the "alien with an accent" thing is detrimental as people think there's something wrong with the actor. Chris Judge suffered from having to be the mostly silent Teal'c, Rachel Luttrell has been mocked for her 'no acting ability' (as Teyla in SGA)

I remember either "thinking" or "hearing" when the show first started that it was supposed to be the betazoid accent. Thats how they all were supposed to talk. And then once they started introducing Betazoid characters and NONE of them had that accent, I just never noticed...

Yes it was supposed to be a Betazed accent, but then they didn't bother making all the other actors do an accent - or possibly they just couldn't do any other accents?

Marina Sirtis is pretty good with accents. She guest starred on a Stargate: SG-1 episode (Watergate) as a Russian scientist and her Russian accent was pretty good.

quoted for truth!

So has anyone heard the story that Marina came up with her particular accent because she used to have a friend that taught english to someone (probably europeans) and that was how this person taught these people to speak. That she just made it a little stronger and over the top?
Or am I remembering something I made up?

You are remembering, cos I remember reading that somewhere too. Unless you're one of the voices in my head...?

 

[Christopher]

True, although the "alien with an accent" thing is detrimental as people think there's something wrong with the actor.

What "people?" Certainly not all people. Hopefully not most people. If you avoid doing something because petty, judgmental, narrow-minded people won't understand it, you'll end up afraid to try anything at all.