In spite of the intense scrutiny paid to actors attempting non-native accents, Guatemalan-American Oscar Isaac nailed his British accent in Moon Knight. According to whom? British people themselves.
In a Reddit thread started by British user slawnz and graced with thousands of upvotes, one of Isaac’s Moon Knight characters, Steven Grant, is heralded as “a completely accurate, true to life, regular British bloke.” Slawnz emphasized that Isaac didn’t just perfect the accent, he captured the sub-identity of nerdy and docile British male:
I’m talking about the tonal inflections in the voice, the physical mannerisms, the facial expressions, the humble, self-deprecating language, the way he reacts to situations and people… everything he brings to the role represents the way a person becomes after 40+ years of living where Steven lives, being immersed in the culture he is brought up with and is exposed to over the course of his life, and the year that he lives in.
Although other Brits have criticized certain features of the accent, many contend that it works for the character, as Grant was born in America and developed his manner of speaking by watching British film.
More impressively and perhaps unintentionally, Isaac succeeded in making the accent regional. A different Redditor, mintier-gum-lately, wrote that “it isn’t even just a generic British accent and it’s not even just a London accent. It’s a pretty specific North London accent, he sounds just like he’s from Enfield.”
Check out Moon Knight on Disney Plus to judge the performance for yourself (especially if you’re from Enfield).
