Did Edgar Allan Poe Have a Southern Accent?

Homicide, thriller, and a melancholy future poet? The Pale Blue Eye has all of it. Set in 1830, Netflix’s new thriller follows retired detective Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) as he enlists the assistance of a younger West Level cadet, Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling), to analyze a sequence of grotesque murders.

Whereas we’ve all learn Poe’s poems at one level or one other, we’ve by no means heard him communicate (for apparent causes). In consequence, his distinctive accent in The Pale Blue Eye has thrown many viewers for a loop. The place is it from precisely?

In 1809, Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Mass. Nonetheless, he turned an orphan earlier than age 3 and grew up below the care of a foster household in Richmond, Va. He later attended the College of Virginia but additionally spent ample time in Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York Metropolis.

In The Pale Blue Eye, Poe is portrayed with a Virginian accent, although there have been many disputes over whether or not or not the poet’s accent was Southern.

Nonetheless, the movie’s director, Scott Simon, went to nice lengths to make sure each character’s accent was as traditionally correct as doable. “It’s extra demanding when it comes to making an attempt to recreate an period,” Simon instructed Script.

“Discovering landscapes which can be unspoiled. Ensuring that the costumes do not put on the actors however really feel actually ingrained into the story. Ensuring that hairstyles and accent work and dialogue all really feel interval applicable. So, the challenges are a lot larger than telling a recent story.”

Harry Melling — greatest identified for taking part in Harry Potter’s bratty Muggle cousin, Dudley Dursley, within the Harry Potter movies — stars as Edgar Allan Poe in Netflix’s new thriller The Pale Blue Eye. The 33-year-old British actor additionally performed Harry Beltik, considered one of Kentucky’s top-tier chess gamers, reverse Anya Taylor Pleasure in The Queen’s Gambit.

Hailing from London, one would assume it will be troublesome for the actor to excellent Poe’s distinct Virginian accent. Nonetheless, virtually the whole The Pale Blue Eye forged is British — from Christian Bale to Toby Jones to Lucy Boynton — and Melling believes it was a stylistic selection made by director Scott Simon.

“There’s one thing in regards to the language that he felt fitted with the English sense of language, which he was excited by,” Melling instructed NPR. “I am simply very completely happy that I am within the movie.”

Whereas Christian Bale’s identify alone was undeniably one of many movie’s greatest attracts, Melling’s efficiency as Poe has already been lauded by many.

The Pale Blue Eye is now accessible for streaming on Netflix.