Nailing an accent that's not your own is a feat not everyone can master - though it seems Eddie Redmayne has managed to pull it off with his version of the American drawl in forthcoming flick The Trial of the Chicago 7, having impressed viewers already during the newly-released trailer.
Written and directed by Academy Award-winner Aaron Sorkin, the film follows a group of protesters charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot and other charges relating to anti-Vietnam War and countercultural protests that took place in Chicago.
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"What was intended to be a peaceful protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention turned into a violent clash with police and the National Guard," a synopsis for the film explains.
"The organizers of the protest - including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden and Bobby Seale - were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot and the trial that followed was one of the most notorious in history."
Redmayne stars as Tom Hayden, who became well-known as a major voice in the anti-war and civil rights movements in the 1960s.
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As part of his role as the Michigan-born activist, the English actor was tasked with taking on an American accent - which is something people believe he's managed to smash, based on the snippets we've seen of Redmayne in the trailer, which was released today.
While this isn't Redmayne's first stab at an American accent, many fans no doubt associate him with the hyper-English tone heard in the likes of The Theory of Everything, Les Miserables and the Fantastic Beasts films, meaning he's being heaped with praise already on social media and YouTube.
Praising Redmayne's efforts, one person commented: "Eddie Redmayne speaking in perfect American accent!!!!"
Someone else wrote: "Hearing Eddie Redmayne with an American accent has just given me whiplash."
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Another said: "Eddie Redmayne is not f***ing around with his accent work."
A third added: "Hearing Eddie Redmayne with an American accent sounds oddly weird yet great."
One other viewer said they couldn't believe it was Redmayne, saying the London-born actor was 'amazing' and 'such a chameleon', while someone else seemed impressed by how his 'voice just completely changes'.
Redmayne isn't the only Englishman to feature as an American in the movie, with Sacha Baron Cohen also starring as activist and Youth International Party co-founder Abbie Hoffman.
Of course, this also meant an American accent for Baron Cohen, who was born in west London.
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Speaking at a virtual Q&A that followed a special American Film Institute screening of the film earlier this week, Baron Cohen admitted he was worried about the accent work involved in the project.
"I was terrified to sound wrong," he said, according to Business Insider.
The biggest challenge, he revealed, was that legendary activist Hoffman had a Massachusetts accent, but also had gone to school at University of California, Berkeley, so had a unique voice.
However, Baron Cohen did say he'd been told by director Aaron Sorkin that portraying the men put on trial was not supposed to be 'an impersonation but an interpretation' - even if this still didn't do much to settle his nerves.
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The Trial of the Chicago 7 will have a limited theatrical run from 2 October in the UK (25 September in the US), before being released on Netflix on 16 October.
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Film, Entertainment, TV and Film, Netflix