"The odd thing is, if you asked me to do the accent now, I would find it very difficult unless I was also playing that part, because I associate it so much with entering into the role and stepping into someone else's shoes"
About this Quote
The subtext is a quiet defense of method without the grandstanding. Mortimer is describing how craft can be gated by imagination and circumstance: the muscular memory of speech is tethered to posture, pace, social status, even the particular kind of fear or confidence a character carries. "Entering into the role" is doing a lot of work here. It suggests that the accent isn't just phonetics; it's permission to inhabit a different psychology, to let your own habits dissolve long enough for another self to take the wheel.
There's also something revealing about the humility of "the odd thing". She treats this not as virtuoso mystique but as a surprising truth about how her mind organizes performance. In a culture that loves behind-the-scenes content and "How I did it" hacks, Mortimer offers a more inconvenient reality: transformation isn't always reproducible on command. It's situational, relational, and, crucially, dependent on the story you're telling. The accent is the byproduct, not the headline.
Quote Details
| Topic | Movie |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Mortimer, Emily. (2026, February 17). The odd thing is, if you asked me to do the accent now, I would find it very difficult unless I was also playing that part, because I associate it so much with entering into the role and stepping into someone else's shoes. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-odd-thing-is-if-you-asked-me-to-do-the-accent-100418/
Chicago Style
Mortimer, Emily. "The odd thing is, if you asked me to do the accent now, I would find it very difficult unless I was also playing that part, because I associate it so much with entering into the role and stepping into someone else's shoes." FixQuotes. February 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-odd-thing-is-if-you-asked-me-to-do-the-accent-100418/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The odd thing is, if you asked me to do the accent now, I would find it very difficult unless I was also playing that part, because I associate it so much with entering into the role and stepping into someone else's shoes." FixQuotes, 17 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-odd-thing-is-if-you-asked-me-to-do-the-accent-100418/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
