"How's it, bru?" : An examination of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rhodesian Accent in the Movie Blood Diamond

Abstract: This essay intends to determine how easy or difficult it may be for actors to learn to speak with a different accent than their own for movie roles. It also aims to discover whether there are any situations in which it may be difficult for actors to maintain their accents. The essay should be seen as a case study, as it focuses on the movie Blood Diamond (2006) and Leonardo DiCaprio’s attempt to change his General American accent to a Rhodesian English one. Firstly, the characteristics of Rhodesian English are described in order to know which features differ from General American. Secondly, the study works in detail with phonetic transcriptions and focuses on the phonemes that differ between these two varieties of English. The essay also attempts to establish whether there are any circumstances in which DiCaprio is more likely to lose his Rhodesian accent, such as his character’s state of mind or the person to whom he speaks.