From ‘Heated Rivalry’ to ‘Ponies,’ Many of the Year’s Best Roles Required Challenging Accent Work

By Hunter Ingram

Hunter Ingram

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The hottest trend in Hollywood isn’t just perfecting the art of accent work anymore; it’s learning a whole new language for the part. In this year’s Emmy’s race, a handful of actors will be able to not only submit a clip reel but also show off their ability to pick up a language they didn’t know before signing onto their respective projects.

The most headline-grabbing example is, of course, the one that isn’t eligible despite fan pleas. Connor Storrie went through extensive Russian dialect training just days before filming began on “Heated Rivalry” Season 1 and continued mastering it as he dug into the part of fiery hockey player Ilya Rozanov. Storrie not only had to be able to transition seamlessly between accented English and Russian as Ilya’s emotions got the better of him but also deliver — convincingly — a heartbreakingly vulnerable monologue in episode five entirely in perfect Russian.

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