Why does the celebrity john barrowman speak in a fake american accent when on uk tv?
Barrowman spoke in a Scottish accent on the afternoon Scots tv show, ‘The Hour’ (16th July 2010), but speaks an American accent just about everywhere else. He was born in Glasgow, but grew up in Illinois from around the age of 9, so his ‘natural’ accent, the one he will naturally talk in without realising it, is his american one!
He maintains that he speaks in a Scottish accent with family, and is bi-lingual with his accents, but being bi-lingual in accent should mean that he switches unknowingly between Scottish and American in one sentence. Since he does not, and puts on a Scottish accent mainly for Scottish TV, suggests heavily that this is the accent he is faking. If he only speaks in Glaswegian around family, it must be only to please. He does not accidentally speak American when on the Scots show ‘The Hour’, and does not accidentally speak in Scottish when on tv in the rest of the uk or in the usa, so its just a show. Perhaps he is worried that he wouldnt be asked onto Scottish tv if he kept his american accent, that most viewers would simply wonder why he is on their screens, but he is becoming a big name now in the uk, so it shouldnt matter.
He really should stick with his natural american accent when in Scotland, otherwise people will simply make him out to be fake. He seems like a genuine person, but should not fake his voice on Scottish tv-perhaps he doesnt realise we also watch English tv! If anyone remembers him in 1995 as a presenter on the childrens programme ‘Live and Kicking’ in the uk, you will hear him speak naturally with his Illinois American accent (click on the second link below).
It’s not fake… He said at a convention I was at that (a) he was bullied at school in America because of his Scottish accent and now can switch back and forth, but prefers not to use the Scottish one except to family or to people he’s known for a very long time, and (b) that he became famous as an American and so to change back now would confuse a lot of people. (Think of what would happen if Graham Norton suddenly started using an American accent!
