London Cockney Accent

Julie, Katrina, Randi, and Stephanie

Hello, actors! We're auditioning you for our new play, London Calling. In order to land a part, you need to master a London Cockney accent.

To get an idea of what we're looking for, click here to listen to a soundbite of a woman speaking with a London Cockney accent.

American English is very different from British English with a London Cockney accent. Here are some tips to help you master the accent:

Drop your h's (Bloody Hell is now Bloody 'ell)
Turn r's at the end of words to h's (Car is now cah)
Replace t's and d's in the middle of words with glottal stops (Bottle is now bo'uhl)
Pronounce u sounds in words as yu sounds (Stupid is styupid)
Pronounce ee with long e sounds, not short i sounds (Been is been, not bin)
Use me instead of my (You got me books 'ere)
Use ain't instead of isn't, aren't, etc. (Well, ain't you a sight for sore eyes)
If -y comes at the end of a word, such as in "happy", pronounce it as a lax "i", like in "it", but raise the pitch of your voice

Use this children's rhyme as your monologue for the audition. Try your best to use a London Cockney accent. Break a leg!

Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed
To see such fun,
And the dish ran away with the spoon