Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
Yes but at the end of RoTJ, the actor under the mask was still in English actor. I think I'm also bothered by the fact that Lucas had Hayden talk in a bad faux-english accent sometimes and it was super inconsistent and funny sounding. But I guess that's part of Star Wars as Carrie Fisher also adopted a random English accent when talking to Tarkin - largely again because of no proper diretion from Lucas and then she lost it later. Maybe that's some kind of Imperial Highspeed for my headcanon.
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That was intentional and not because of bad direction from Lucas.
They spoke with what is known as the Mid-Atlantic Accent:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_accent
It's basically a fake American-British accent that was widely taught in private schools in the Northeastern US and in acting schools in the first half of the 20th Century. It was a manufactured accent that no one spoke naturally -- which was intended as one of its selling points because it meant that the person who spoke that way had been taught the "correct" way to speak at a high-calibre school.
It also became the de facto "Old Hollywood" accent in the early 20th Century.
It evoked a certain style of the puffed-up politician who put himself above the people. So, when Leia is in politician mode, Carrie put on the Mid-Atlantic accent. When she was down on the ground with the Rebellion, she spoke more naturally.
Portman did the same thing in the prequels. Queen Amidala spoke very differently than Padme.