J.J. Abrams has paid tribute to actor and dialect coach Andrew Jack, who passed away from complications of coronavirus at the age of 76. Jack was known to Abrams for his work on Disney’s Star Wars movies, where he played Resistance Major Ematt in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
Primarily though, it was his work as a dialect coach that he’ll be best remembered for. That service saw him train actors on many of cinema’s biggest franchises, including a host of Marvel films (Avengers: Endgame, Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok, to name a few), The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Batman Begins, multiple James Bond pics and as I already mentioned, Star Wars. The list is exhaustive, and the names he worked with as impressive as the projects he was attached to.
Abrams’ touching message to those who knew him is embedded below (via Twitter):
https://t.co/4PnXpF7ohS pic.twitter.com/zcAR7tHgL4
— JJ Abrams (@jjabrams) March 31, 2020
In case you can’t make it out, it reads as follows:
“Andrew Jack was as lovely as they come. Our brilliant dialect coach on The Force Awakens… he was so handsome we had to cast him. Sending love to his friends and family. He will be missed. PS: stay safe, friends!”
In particular, I like Abrams’ cheeky explanation for getting Jack in front of film cameras for only the second time in his career. Though they only worked together once, it’s clear that the latter made a significant impression. And whether he was giving elocution lessons to Danes in Middle Earth, or fighting fascists in a galaxy far, far away, Jack left a lasting impression on movies, too.
If you’ve got any messages of your own to leave in his memory, you can do so at your discretion below. My one observation of Jack’s work comes from his role on Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Namely that he did a very good job with Robert Downey Jr.’s accent, accurate enough and perfectly in-keeping with the tone of the film. All I’m left wondering is who he was training in Star Wars.
RIP Andrew Jack (1944-2020).
