How ‘Heated Rivalry’ and more shows focus on challenging accent work

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

The most notable example, of course, is the one that doesn’t qualify despite fan pleas. Connor Storrie underwent extensive training in the Russian dialect just days before filming of Season 1 of ‘Heated Rivalry’ began, and continued to master it as he delved into the role of fiery hockey player Ilya Rozanov. Storrie not only had to be able to switch seamlessly between accented English and Russian as Ilya’s emotions got the better of him, but also – convincingly – delivered a heartbreakingly vulnerable monologue in episode five, entirely in perfect Russian.

That make-or-break question of unlocking the character through a language not their own is what ties together the impressive dialect-dependent parts up for the Emmys. In Peacock’s spy comedy-thriller “Ponies,” Emilia Clarke’s timid American living in Soviet-era Russia must shed her American persona to convince a KGB agent that she is just a schoolteacher who definitely doesn’t work for the CIA. Her command of the Russian language is what validates that story. Clarke was never fluent in Russian, but rather learned her lines in it to ensure her speech was clear. From episode one, her character, Bea, can’t show any hesitation in taking advantage of a second language, which means Clarke had to do the same.

That wasn’t the case for Grace Van Patten, who had to reveal some of her anxiety about learning Italian for Hulu’s “The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox” show on screen. When the real Amanda Knox was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned in 2007 for the murder of her roommate while studying abroad, she was not fluent in Italian. Facing every traveler’s worst nightmare: a language barrier in a life-or-death situation, this fueled her need to understand the language, which in turn meant Patten had to learn it in real time so as not to misrepresent Knox’s evolution as an Italian speaker.

“When I tried to figure out what she sounded like to an Italian, she speaks the language pretty perfectly by the time she’s fluent and appeals to the courts, but she’s still American,” Van Patten says. “Not everything is going to sound exactly how an Italian will sound, so I gave myself a little room to make some mistakes. She speaks a different language and the stakes are such high emotional stakes. During emotional moments we can easily return to our true, authentic selves, so it was important to show that.”

But Van Patten quickly learned that immersion was essential.

“I immediately started taking lessons and was Zooming every day with my Italian dialect coach, Daniella,” she says. “Just going through the basic lessons, but also some of the lines that we were given. One tip she gave me that was so helpful was to constantly play Italian movies and music. So I would just have an Italian movie in the house or Italian songs in the background all the time. She said it really helps to seep into the brain. From then on, until the end of the shoot, there was always something Italian going on in the background that kept me in it.”

Even though Van Patten’s life wasn’t as tested as Knox’s, she had no choice but to throw herself headlong into her training to best represent her subject’s story – all while Knox watched from the sidelines as executive producer. Knox and Van Patten grew closer during production, with the former being open and honest about what she was feeling in the moments behind the international headlines and gossip mills.

When she finally got into the thick of it, Van Patten spoke Italian with Knox, which was perhaps the most intimidating challenge of all. Luckily, she was in Italy at the time and got the best training: by osmosis.

“I tried to talk to her in Italian, but she is now completely fluent,” she says. “It was really beautiful to see her on set with all the Italians just chatting. It encouraged me to be better.”

While Van Patten promised herself she would continue her lessons after closing the book on the series, she admits that failed. But she still texts and talks to some of the Italian crew she met, giving her the occasional chance to exercise that muscle.

“I’m definitely rusty, but it’s going nowhere,” she says with a determined smile. “I refuse to let that go to waste.”