Today we learned about the passing of a legend in the dialect coaching profession – Andrew Jack. He has been influential in designing the voices for such icons as Batman, Thor and Frodo and all of the actors who have ever worked with him have glowing reports of his talents and demeanour on set.
Even before I knew what a dialect coach was or did, I was being influenced by his work. I am a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings and as a teen I would do impressions of all of the characters (even going as far as to learn the elvish lines with my friends).
When YouTube took off, his “A Tour of the UK and Ireland in Accents” video was one of the first of its kind and paved the way for other professional dialect coaches to be able to create content that people love.
As I trained to be a professional dialect coach, I hoped that one day I would be able to work alongside him and compare anecdotes from set. As dialect coaches rarely get to work in teams, this did not come to pass.
Nonetheless, Andrew Jack's work has helped to inspire me to be the dialect coach that I am. His attention to detail and use of humour are essentials that I carry forth into my own work.
I regret never being able to work with Andrew Jack, but I am grateful that I will get to continue to hear the fruits of his labour in the Marvel Universe, the DC Universe, Star Wars planets, the Shires and many more worlds beside.
Here are links to clips from a few of my favorite Andrew Jack projects:
Thor Ragnarok Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth with glorious RP accents
Batman Begins Christian Bale's iconic "Batman Voice"
Lord of the Rings - Two Towers Sean Astin as Samwise with a wonderful West Country accent.
Thank you, Andrew Jack, for your contribution to our profession, without you our place in the industry would look very different.
I pray that your friends and family find comfort at this time in the remarkable impact your work has had on actors, films, and audiences everywhere.