Why do voiceover artists talk like movie villains?

I’ve worked with so many clients who suggest using a male, received pronunciation (RP) voiceover artist.

Why?

When all it does is remind the audience of the quintessential movie villain?

Villains talk “proper” (as the “proper” people would call it), and they use RP. Darth Vader (Star Wars), Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs), Scar (Lion King), The Sheriff of Nottingham (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), Darkness (Legend) … the list goes on.

Villains in movies use RP because it blends two associations. First off, we think of people who are educated, intelligent and of a higher class. Then, according to the linguist Chi Luu, it’s considered less trustworthy or friendly:

One theory suggests that Americans feel that their dialect is inferior to the ‘posh’ English accent, so they attach this “evil” schema to someone who went to a “good British school” (Stewart et al., 1985).

We don’t share this view of RP in Britain, as we’ve all grown up with it. However, only 2% of the UK population still speak like this (Barton, 2018).

Yorkshire is the largest county in the UK, so why not favour voiceover artists talking like Sean Bean? The Yorkshire accent tops surveys for being the friendliest in the UK (RP was rated second) (Himfield, 2022; Joyner, 2020). In a recent study, it was even deemed the best accent for customer service (MoneyPenny, 2022).

And, of course, Northerners are more friendly :

So what makes RP so special?

Standard language ideology (Lippi-Green, 2006) is the belief that there is only one acceptable accent and that anything that strays away from this ideal legitimises discrimination.

A recent study showed that regional accents (if they’re not the accent of the person listening) are considered to be less trustworthy (Hendriks & van Meurs, 2022).

We all do it, whether we like it or not when you hear an accent that isn’t like your own you show bias or assume things about that person.

“It turns out many of us believe, often without realizing it, we can predict social and personal traits about a person simply by the accent they use. We may be wrong, but we do it anyway. What’s more, we frequently make prejudicial judgements and decisions based on these underlying beliefs and stereotypes about a person and the way they speak regardless of the reality.” (Luu, 2017)

This can be used to work in your favour. Fifteen thousand subjects proved that we have an “own accent bias” when a radio advert was delivered across areas of the UK and Ireland (Brennan, 2022). The advert ran with an RP voiceover and a voiceover with an accent local to that area, and the local voiceover performed better (IRS+, 2022).

And Hendriks and van Meurs (2022, p2.) found that “when non-standard accented speakers are used to promote products and services, consumers are supposed to associate certain characteristics and competencies with certain accents, which are then transferred to the product advertised and thus increase brand authenticity and positive brand image”.

However, if it’s not your accent, the impact can be reversed – in such a way that a regional accent changes the attitude toward the speaker – questioning competence, status, and dynamism. And this also was transferred to the product and affected brand authenticity and brand image.

A neutral voice (RP) that is devoid of an obvious accent is potentially the safest go-to for our voiceover.

I asked award winning voiceover artist Nathaniel Priestley about this:

“I find that when I’m voicing a villain, I do naturally fall into RP. For me I find it the easiest accent to use to be able to really play with the words and their sounds, elongating vowels or finding deeper resonances. I agree with the statements made by Chi Luu in that the RP accent can sound less kind, sincere etc., especially if it’s conjunction with an ‘upper class character’. It’s the same if I have to voice an earthy, warm and friendly character; my accent naturally moves ‘up north’ to the recognisable friendly northerner. But with all accents, the portraying of a goody or baddy falls down to the characterisation and what that character is saying. I’ve done many good characters in RP and some bloody rotten ones as a northerner!” (Nathaniel Priestley).

Why do archetypal British villains tend to be male?

There is a notable lack of British female villains in blockbuster movies … and there may be a reason for this.

We use different parts of our brains to hear male and female voices. In 2005, researchers at The University of Sheffield studied how male and female voices affected the brain (Sokhi et al., 2005). They studied the brain scans of 12 male subjects and found that a female voice activated the auditory section of the brain, and a male voice activated the “mind’s eye” at the back of the brain.

“This research could also explain why female voices are considered to be clearer than male voices. This could be linked to the fact that female voices are interpreted in the auditory part of the brain, and are therefore more easily decoded.” (Dr. Michael Hunter, in Sheffield University News Article., 2005)

So we subconsciously trust a female voice more as it’s clearer.

The fact that this theory rests on research with 12 male subjects does make it questionable. However, when 320 subjects were asked to listen to 64 different people saying “hello” and then rate them on ten different personality traits, researchers found that a higher pitch of the voice related to how trustworthy someone was rated to be (McAleer & Belin, 2014). Thus, the female voice was perceived as more trustworthy.

The most important thing to note about this study is that a decision was made over the personality of that person within the very limited time it takes to say hello. So your choice of voiceover artist is essential.

“Giving a voice to a brand is a tough one and requires a lot of work. The company really needs to understand their values and ethos and then figure out from there the voice that would represent that. Like Sean Bean and O2 – the warm, trustworthiness of his Yorkshire accent really helps to portray the intended trustworthiness of O2.” (Nathaniel Priestley)

The takeaway

We are tribal, we have schema, and our brain interprets tones differently. So we have to think in depth about what we want the customer to assume about the voice they’re hearing.

“I think authenticity is the key to succeeding on any front, but especially on being trusted or for portraying trustworthiness. Sometimes, you can find an actor who has a flawless Geordie accent and you may be able to get away with it. But play that voice recording in Newcastle and you will have people saying ‘He ain’t no Geordie, man!’ If you want people to believe the message your sending, give it to them with a voice they can instantly relate to, without having any doubts of its authenticity.” (Nathaniel Priestly)

About Nathaniel Priestley

Nathaniel is a highly versatile voiceover artist who runs NPVO. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Nathaniel on a number of animations and he’s not only incredibly talented but amazing at taking direction and communicating with clients on live recordings.