Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Michael Rose.
Hi Adam Michael, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Accents and dialects have always fascinated me. As far back as I can remember, I was hyper-aware of what the people around me sounded like when they spoke. I picked up on specific phonemes (“sounds”), word choices, and other details. I also watched a lot of British entertainment (movies, TV, cartoons) and very frequently found myself copying some of the words and phrases that I was hearing. Around this time, I had also discovered acting on stage. One of the many reasons I loved acting was that it was an opportunity to explore different characters through accents. Being able to completely transform myself into someone else through a new accent was nothing less than thrilling! I then went to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where I was fortunate to study acting, and I can easily say that some of my favorite classes were voice and speech; I especially loved studying various accents in each of these classes. After graduating college, I continued to act, but I was being asked to help other actors with their accent performances. The world of accents was looking more and more exciting to me, and before I knew it, my childhood fascination had grown into a desire to analyze as many accents as possible. I was soon introduced to Knight-Thompson Speechwork and their brilliant methodology for approaching accents and speech. I’m now a certified teacher of the Knight-Thompson Speechwork technique, and while I no longer act, I coach actors throughout the world in film, TV and live performance. I’m also now able to analyze accents for a living.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the many perks to working as a freelance professional is that it feels as if you are in the driver’s seat of your daily business (for the most part). So I do feel that I’m able to make choices based on what works best for me, my interests, and my time. That being said, when you work in the entertainment industry, you quickly realize that this is NOT a typical 9-5 world and that you frequently have to be available during “off hours,” or you risk losing out on opportunities. Very often it’s those holiday weekends, or planned vacations, or even just a Sunday night when something important will pop up, and all of a sudden, I’m in work mode. But I’m always happy to jump into this space no matter what time of day or night!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As a dialect coach, I get to wear many hats. First and foremost, I provide support to actors, directors and producers. A good dialect coach also needs to know how to properly research things like the geographical, cultural and historical influences of accents. It’s also my job to make creative choices that may help inform an actor’s accent performance and the audience’s overall experience. Lastly, there’s always going to be the administrative part–sending emails, returning calls, scheduling… In terms of specialties within the dialect coaching field, my niche is working with young actors. A lot of young actors don’t have that much experience performing in different accents. I LOVE being able to introduce them to the world of accents and to show them that performing in other accents can be both impactful and FUN. Very few things make me happier than seeing an actor truly embody a new accent and effectively use it to tell a story to an audience.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Whether good or bad, luck for me has always been a representation of the unknown. And I’ve come to realize that a balance between the known and unknown is a great way of approaching work, and certainly life. I constantly remind myself of the importance of doing something that’s not planned. For instance, it’s those times where I might be prepping a new project at my local coffee shop when I suddenly find myself in conversation with someone who’s also in the entertainment industry, and they happen to be producing an upcoming film that needs a dialect coach!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.amraccents.com
- Instagram: @amraccents
- Facebook: @amraccents
- Twitter: @amraccents
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AMRaccents
