Thread by @SlavaMalamud

I have soooo many replies in my mentions about the English accents in #ChernobylHBO, an issue I have addressed somewhat in my thread. I think, it might be a good idea to get to it a bit more earnestly. So, here's the thing... (thread)

I have NEVER heard a single complaint about the accents from a single Russian-speaker, which is not surprising. Like I said before, we grew up on Soviet films in which all foreigners spoke Russian with the understanding that they are meant to be speaking their native tongues.

And this is what got me a bit confused: some people (a lot, actually) are not really wishing the series used Russian actors, but that the British actors that were used would speak with put-on "Russian" accents. I've heard the same complaint about "Enemy at the Gates."

Basically, it boils down to "It would be nice to hear them roll their R's and speak like those gruff Russians we've come to expect in our cinema."
Just to be clear, when you wish for that accent, you don't really wish for realism. you wish for a stereotype to be upheld.

What you want is someone named Stasko Ilinovitch Starkoff growling his way around every scene, sounding like he is one drink away from breaking a bottle of beet vodka ("grrreat Rrrushan delicacy") over the head of the protagonist. Let's leave this trash where it belongs: the 80s.

One way to avoid this would be, of course, to cast actual Russian-speaking actors. I have no issues with folks who wish that this would've happened. I mean, if you are fine with subtitles, I won't begrudge you the experience. This is what The Americans did, with varying results.

I really loved Annet Mahendru and Costa Ronin was a treasure. Some of the others were... patchy. And, of course, the two main characters spoke Russian with all the fluency of the anthropomorphic manifestation of Google Translate after dropping a ton of acid and losing all teeth.

And I respect @clmazin's decision of going with the cast that was close to him culturally. This probably made the director's job easier, as well. And, let's face it, on average the quality of English acting a a bit better than what we've got in Russia, for various reasons.

So, that's about it.
Fake Russian accent = trash.
Actual Russian actors = fine, but the quality would suffer.
Us using our imagination much like we did when dealing with the fact that Achilles spoke Ancient Greek and not Brad Pitt's English (and probably never existed) = great.