Kate and Leopold | Hugh Jackman

Shot and released after the marathon that was The Lord of the Rings, the film Kate and Leopold was a lovely way of returning to reality. Shot entirely in New York from January to May, I watched winter turn through spring into early summer.

I met Hugh Jackman at the production office when meeting the production crew. He was extremely friendly and we got on immediately, and this relationship continued throughout the shoot. We did the prep work at his apartment and I commuted from my hotel on Central Park West. Hugh is an Australian and his character in the film is a Victorian Lord from England, the brief was to enable him to sound both English and Victorian. For the latter, word choice is paramount and thankfully we were able to change most of the scripted dialogue where necessary.

When at the script 'read through', which is when the cast and crew get together before filming begins and have the one and only chance to hear the entire screenplay from beginning to end, often is the case that not all the actors are available to be there and so the actors present may double up and read for those who are absent. James Mangold, the director asked me if I would read in some of these other parts.

One particular character was Washington Roebling, the son of the German immigrant who designed and part built the Brooklyn Bridge which features in the movie. Roebling was chief engineer on the project and fell ill during the construction and the bridge was only completed with the aid of his wife Emily. Roebling opens the movie with a speech that declares the enormity of the structure. I noticed that the stage directions suggested that Roebling spoke with a German accent so when it came to deliver his lines I did my best German.

When the read through was over and everyone but the 'heads of department' had left the room James asked me if I would like to play the part. As a dialect coach who is also an actor (which comes first?) I sometimes find myself in a unique position where I can be in the right place at the right time. And if, by chance I say "No" to these offers no-one is ever offended.

Washington Roebling (Andrew Jack) and
Mrs Roebling (Paula Jack) in Kate and Leopold
 

The story-line of the film takes the audience through a time slip, bringing the character of Leopold out of his Victorian environment into twenty-first century New York. Filming took place all over Manhattan with the exception of the bridge and interior/exterior apartment sequences which were shot in a huge electrical engineering factory on the Hudson River in Yonkers which doubled as a studio.

My work brief was confined to Hugh's accent and dialogue but as I usually find in these circumstances, I became a reference source for all things relating to language and period.

Mainly I remind the director of when the rules are being broken and then it is up to him or her to decide if the correct pronunciation or word choice of the period is desirable or not. In this case James agreed with most of my recommendations and we were able to illustrate the differences of pronunciation of modern New York and Victorian England.

Meg Ryan played the title role of Kate and although I didn't work directly with her (we worked briefly on Restoration in the early '90s) it was necessary for me to note the way she delivered her dialogue to maximize the difference between the two types of period speech when it came to Hugh's delivery.

Also starring with Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman were Liev Schreiber and Brekin Meyer.