Nice accent

So, I’m not English. I was raised in New Zealand, so have (currently) a curious mix of a kiwi and U.S Californian accent.

If you’re American, you can think of this as “British”. (If you're not American, then think "mutt".)

In America accents basically work like this; if you have fairish skin and don’t sound (American) southern, New York, Connecticut, or Californian, you are either:
a. Canadian, or,
b. British

If a & b don’t work, then in a pinch you are c. Australian.

That's it. Nice and simple.

This being the case, I wasn’t that surprised to receive a phone call from my agent saying he’d submitted me for a commercial on Thursday. It was an interstitial for Honda during the new season of America’s Next Top Model. They wanted someone to play a photographer, late 20’s through late 30’s, male, “think stereo-typical photographer”, oh, and British.

This was thrown in last minute. “Oh, and British”.

My agent explained to the casting director that I wasn’t “exactly” British, but (I was) from New Zealand.

Submit they said. So he did. And then he called to tell me.

Now, I can do a British accent, don’t get me wrong. But I’m more, “BBC English” or "Avon - from Blake's 7" rather than “lad about London” English.

Which is why my heart sank when I arrived at the audition and I felt as though I’d arrived in Chelsea in London – all the guys there were authentic “lads”. No BBC English in sight, nope, all lad about town, a little bit rough English.

Sigh.