When he auditioned and got the role, Daniel Gillies imagined that Elijah lived in New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont & New Hampshire) for a while and picked up on that accent. Mind you, at that point in the show the backstory for the Mikaelson family was very different than later in the show. Elijah first describes his father as being a wealthy land owner in Eastern Europe and later it is explained that the family fled all over Europe to get rid of their father. It isn’t until much later that the story changes that they’re Vikings who travelled to the U.S. and somehow ended up in Virginia. Storywise, Daniel Gillies’ interpretation makes the most sense; the Vikings landed in Newfoundland (Canada) which they called ‘Vinland’. Later, other settlers landed on the east coast of the U.S. while the first colony was established in Jamestown, Virginia, the area of New England grew rapidly. When The Netherlands established ‘New Netherland’, the area expanded to include New Amsterdam (New York City) and such. Thus, it makes more sense for Elijah to have landed in Vinland, stayed around to see the rise of the cities of the east, and thus having an accent from that area. Considering a huge amount of time is uncounted for, one could imagine that Elijah stayed in the area of New England and New Netherland for several centuries and thus his accent adapted and then never went away. Mind you, originally, there’s no way the Mikaelson family grew up speaking English. They had to learn from others. It makes sense that they learned speaking English with the accent the language was taught to them.
Considering the Mikaelson siblings have spent many years apart (overall), it’s not difficult to assume that they learned speaking English and stuck to their adapted accent hence the difference in accents. As long as you imagine that in the flashback scenes they’re actually speaking Norwegian with one another and it is remembered in English as the siblings have spent most of their lives speaking English. Because many who move and solely speak their ‘new’ language also start to think in that specific language and might confuse old memories with said language rather than the actual language spoken at the time the event occurred 😁
They don’t in the show. I also think the vampires might be too intimidating to directly ask and anyone who asks (barring those on vervain) can be compelled to forget. Sure, the actors are all smoke shows but vampires are meant to be both alluring and intimidating. I’m not sure the average human would walk up to them comfortably and ask away.
I also think most of it can be explained by living in different areas/countries. My sister and I grew up in the same household, yet we have very different accents because we have lived in different regions than we grew up in for a long time now. She swallows the end of each word (for lack of proper explanation), while I enunciate every word to my best ability. Barely anyone who meets us wonders, when they do we simply explain she’s been living at the other side of the country for ~14 years. No one questions it, even though we look nothing alike either lol. 😜
Elijah and Freya’s accent is American.
The rest are British.
If you want to extend this to other ancient characters it gets weirder.
Tatia- Viking immigrant to North America speaks with a British accent.
Sage- Also a Viking immigrant to North America, she speaks with an American accent. Although like Elijah this is understandable as she’s well travelled and probably sticks with American while in America.
Lucien/Tristan/Aurora- all French but speak with British accents.
I assume the producers just wanted the majority of the ancient characters to use British accents because for Americans British is shorthand for “oldy-worldy people”.
Daniel (Elijah’s actor) is a New Zealander/Canadian. It shows in his accent pretty often. Never got East Coast from it at all..He sounds like people I know (West Coast Canada) Freya is undeniably American (Riley is from California). Kol, Klaus, Rebecca and Finn have London accents, despite Nathaniel and Claire (Kol and Rebecca) both being Australian. Caspar (Finn) is apparently Ukrainian-English, although there is fittingly the least amount of info on him. Joseph (Klaus) is actually a Londoner. Sebastian (Mikael) is French-American and Alice (Esther) was born in NJ but lived in England. The siblings stayed in France for a while in the show…but they also would’ve learned British English, so they should all have English accents. Why they would use fake accents in the show? Idk, makes it weirder
1. It’s a bit hard for the actors cause most are Aussie
2. When you are around for over 1000 years I wouldn’t be surprised if you change accents over time
Right, BUT their accents don’t all add up to where they lived the longest/most recently. Freya and Elijah never having English accents despite learning British English originally makes little to no sense
Look at how long they have been alive then the different places they settled. Accents change over the years as you adapt to where you live sometimes. So I just took it as that
Well remember Finn was daggered for 900 years and Kol was daggered on and off over the centuries. Rebekah spent about 90 years daggered before TVD. And we know Klaus lived in Europe for most of the 20th century possibly into the 21st century. Elijah lives pretty much everywhere so
Imagine how interesting it would have been if the writers had worked with the actors and accent coaches and directed them all to have story-appropriate accents. For example, Finn having a heavy Norse accent because it’s basically all he’s ever known. Rebekah having a French accent because of the time they spent in France in the first century after they turned. Kol having a bit of a southern twang because he thrived in New Orleans (and that was the last place he was “awake” before being undaggered in TVD). Klaus could really have any accent and it would make sense given that he’s the only one who’s been undaggered for the entirety of the thousand years. It was mentioned in another comment that Elijah was originally imagined to have been from New England. As a New Englander myself, I certainly didn’t think his accent reflected that at all, but I like the idea that after he and Klaus split in the 1900s and he became like, a poet in Cape Cod or something and he would have the slightest JFK-esque accent
I mean, accents completely aside ... the actual English they speak in flashbacks, or Finn speaks when he wakes up is modern english. Not even close to what it would actually be.
But if it were linguistically accurate - no one would understand it. So I suspend accuracy for entertainment's sake... same with the accents
When he auditioned and got the role, Daniel Gillies imagined that Elijah lived in New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont & New Hampshire) for a while and picked up on that accent. Mind you, at that point in the show the backstory for the Mikaelson family was very different than later in the show. Elijah first describes his father as being a wealthy land owner in Eastern Europe and later it is explained that the family fled all over Europe to get rid of their father. It isn’t until much later that the story changes that they’re Vikings who travelled to the U.S. and somehow ended up in Virginia. Storywise, Daniel Gillies’ interpretation makes the most sense; the Vikings landed in Newfoundland (Canada) which they called ‘Vinland’. Later, other settlers landed on the east coast of the U.S. while the first colony was established in Jamestown, Virginia, the area of New England grew rapidly. When The Netherlands established ‘New Netherland’, the area expanded to include New Amsterdam (New York City) and such. Thus, it makes more sense for Elijah to have landed in Vinland, stayed around to see the rise of the cities of the east, and thus having an accent from that area. Considering a huge amount of time is uncounted for, one could imagine that Elijah stayed in the area of New England and New Netherland for several centuries and thus his accent adapted and then never went away. Mind you, originally, there’s no way the Mikaelson family grew up speaking English. They had to learn from others. It makes sense that they learned speaking English with the accent the language was taught to them. Considering the Mikaelson siblings have spent many years apart (overall), it’s not difficult to assume that they learned speaking English and stuck to their adapted accent hence the difference in accents. As long as you imagine that in the flashback scenes they’re actually speaking Norwegian with one another and it is remembered in English as the siblings have spent most of their lives speaking English. Because many who move and solely speak their ‘new’ language also start to think in that specific language and might confuse old memories with said language rather than the actual language spoken at the time the event occurred 😁
That’s interesting. But how do they explain the difference in accents they have to everyone else when they present themself as a normal family?
They don’t in the show. I also think the vampires might be too intimidating to directly ask and anyone who asks (barring those on vervain) can be compelled to forget. Sure, the actors are all smoke shows but vampires are meant to be both alluring and intimidating. I’m not sure the average human would walk up to them comfortably and ask away. I also think most of it can be explained by living in different areas/countries. My sister and I grew up in the same household, yet we have very different accents because we have lived in different regions than we grew up in for a long time now. She swallows the end of each word (for lack of proper explanation), while I enunciate every word to my best ability. Barely anyone who meets us wonders, when they do we simply explain she’s been living at the other side of the country for ~14 years. No one questions it, even though we look nothing alike either lol. 😜
Lmao Hayley accent is weird she be trying so hard to speak like an American I laugh every time her inner kangaroo slips out
Not her inner kangaroo lmao
in S1 when she is destryoing the crib, the kangaroo was really trying to escape
Elijah and Freya’s accent is American. The rest are British. If you want to extend this to other ancient characters it gets weirder. Tatia- Viking immigrant to North America speaks with a British accent. Sage- Also a Viking immigrant to North America, she speaks with an American accent. Although like Elijah this is understandable as she’s well travelled and probably sticks with American while in America. Lucien/Tristan/Aurora- all French but speak with British accents. I assume the producers just wanted the majority of the ancient characters to use British accents because for Americans British is shorthand for “oldy-worldy people”.
Finn's and Klaus' accents are definitely English, but Rebekah's accent slips in and out of Aussie. Kol's, on the other hand, is consistently Aussie.
Daniel (Elijah’s actor) is a New Zealander/Canadian. It shows in his accent pretty often. Never got East Coast from it at all..He sounds like people I know (West Coast Canada) Freya is undeniably American (Riley is from California). Kol, Klaus, Rebecca and Finn have London accents, despite Nathaniel and Claire (Kol and Rebecca) both being Australian. Caspar (Finn) is apparently Ukrainian-English, although there is fittingly the least amount of info on him. Joseph (Klaus) is actually a Londoner. Sebastian (Mikael) is French-American and Alice (Esther) was born in NJ but lived in England. The siblings stayed in France for a while in the show…but they also would’ve learned British English, so they should all have English accents. Why they would use fake accents in the show? Idk, makes it weirder
1. It’s a bit hard for the actors cause most are Aussie 2. When you are around for over 1000 years I wouldn’t be surprised if you change accents over time
Right, BUT their accents don’t all add up to where they lived the longest/most recently. Freya and Elijah never having English accents despite learning British English originally makes little to no sense
Look at how long they have been alive then the different places they settled. Accents change over the years as you adapt to where you live sometimes. So I just took it as that
I didn’t get hung up on the accents because almost all the guys are so hot 🥵
Well remember Finn was daggered for 900 years and Kol was daggered on and off over the centuries. Rebekah spent about 90 years daggered before TVD. And we know Klaus lived in Europe for most of the 20th century possibly into the 21st century. Elijah lives pretty much everywhere so
Imagine how interesting it would have been if the writers had worked with the actors and accent coaches and directed them all to have story-appropriate accents. For example, Finn having a heavy Norse accent because it’s basically all he’s ever known. Rebekah having a French accent because of the time they spent in France in the first century after they turned. Kol having a bit of a southern twang because he thrived in New Orleans (and that was the last place he was “awake” before being undaggered in TVD). Klaus could really have any accent and it would make sense given that he’s the only one who’s been undaggered for the entirety of the thousand years. It was mentioned in another comment that Elijah was originally imagined to have been from New England. As a New Englander myself, I certainly didn’t think his accent reflected that at all, but I like the idea that after he and Klaus split in the 1900s and he became like, a poet in Cape Cod or something and he would have the slightest JFK-esque accent
I mean - Does that even matter? The accents?
I mean, accents completely aside ... the actual English they speak in flashbacks, or Finn speaks when he wakes up is modern english. Not even close to what it would actually be. But if it were linguistically accurate - no one would understand it. So I suspend accuracy for entertainment's sake... same with the accents