Through the seven-episode crime thriller “Tusk,” which concluded on HBO on Oct. 19, viewers were reintroduced to the distinctive accent of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, which creator Brad Ingelsby likely first heard in HBO’s 2021 hit “Mares of Easttown.” On “Mare,” Southeastern Pennsylvanians were generally satisfied with the way Kate Winslet, Jean Smart, and especially Evan Peters bravely tackled the region’s sounds. Ingelsby, a native of the area, returned to Delaware County (known to locals as Delco) for Tusk, where a new cast of actors learned their unique pronunciation.
Suzanne Salbee is the main character here. She’s an actor and dialect coach from Doylestown, Pennsylvania (in Bucks County, still a suburb of Philadelphia, but with a slightly different accent than the Tusk crew) who studied acting at the Philadelphia Institute of the Arts. She splits her time between Yardley, Pennsylvania, and Marina del Rey, where she spoke to Variety about being a “task” master.
How did you become a dialect coach?
I ended up teaching at an art university, and I was a very good public speaker. I have good ears. I’m not a linguist, but in acting school you are taught a rudimentary understanding of how language works, how to switch from one sound to another, and how sounds reach certain parts of the mouth in certain accents. So we start to differentiate. Back then it wasn’t as sophisticated as it is now, so luckily I had time to grow and learn. So basically, I taught myself, like a lot of dialect coaches do. They start with either acting or linguistics. If you’re going to become a dialect coach, you’ll have to learn a fair amount about the sounds we make.
There are some very specific words used by people in the area that may sound strange to outsiders. For example, “Water Ice” is a delicious frozen food that most people across the country know as “Italian Ice.”
The first time I ever taught this to someone was Jackie Weaver from Unique Playbook, and she was like, “Really?” And when I met Evan Peters when I was coaching the Easttown Mares, he was like, “This is insane.” And I was like, “Let’s just do it!”
I don’t really try hard when it comes to “tasks”. I mean, if you’re from here, if you’ve spent any time here, if you’ve ever gone to an Eagles game or a Phillies game, the fans are eager to go. Now, things could get really crazy.
But still, the accent in this region is subtle.
That’s a really strange accent. Sounds coming from the north, such as “coffee,” “talk,” and “telephone,” and sounds coming from the south, such as the very strong R in “car” and “hard,” are fused together. Additionally, there are immigrants that affect the accent. For example, South Philadelphia is a little different because it has a large Italian population. As you may have noticed, Grasso’s accent is a little different from everyone else’s. That’s because he’s from South Philadelphia. I collect samples from people in South Philadelphia – I recorded them for Fabian Frankel. And I have another wonderful woman who has helped me over the years. Her name is Eileen Dolly and she is from Delco. This is even more specific and perhaps more powerful.
What special sounds did it have to teach the actors of “Tusk”?
There are two different points. There are sounds, and then there are special words and phrases. That is, sounds include the “o” in “hoagie,” “home,” “don’t,” “telephone,” and so on. And there are also sounds like “pike” and “night”. It’s a very special sound. Another sound that I feel is very unique to this region is the short “o”, as in “coffee,” “hot dog,” and “come on.” (Salby pronounces these words in a thick Delaware County accent.) I made little stickers with all kinds of Delco and Philadelphia phrases on them, like “come on,” “home,” and “hoagie.” Another very distinctive sound is the “s” sound, which is difficult to hear because it feels too sharp.
What about the socio-economic differences between the characters that affect the way they speak?
Coaching begins with research. I’m learning from the writers, showrunners, directors, and actors about the characters they want to create, and hopefully I can also gather information on areas that will help them make decisions.
So overall, the more touches you make outside the block, the more likely your accent will change. Delco is especially interesting because people love Delco. If it’s made by Delco, it’s Delco Green. Delco is strong — that’s a big deal. I mean, Robbie, played by Tom Pelphrey, has a very strong accent. He took advantage of me, and then we realized that one of the women on the crew (we had a lot of local crew) had a brother with a very strong accent, and Tom would spend hours talking about football with that guy, just to hear the rhythms and stuff, to perfect it.
Mark Ruffalo was a completely different person. Because his character went to seminary and was in the FBI. He had to give a speech in public. So he’s a pretty worldly guy. His speech had only a slight accent.
Then it ran the gamut. I mean, there were bikers. The samples I prepared for them allowed them to choose from a variety of samples from all over the city. Because North Philadelphia sounds a little different than Delco or South Philadelphia. There were different people whose recordings I collected. And Sam Keeley (Jason Wilkes) had a really strong accent. he is Irish. I don’t know if you know, but I think there were eight people in the cast who were from Ireland, England, and South Africa.
Who most enthusiastically accepted the offer?
Let’s talk a little about Emilia Jones. She was very game. She is a very talented actress and came early to absorb the environment. And that’s what I love. We went to South Philadelphia. This is not the accent she actually adopted, but many accents can be heard in this region. It gives you a blue-collar vibe, right? And we went out to some places in Delco and drove around. I send her the clip. Send her the podcast. She was just eating it. And she loved Delko very much. Actually, I bought her a pendant that says “Delco” on it that she always wears. Sam Keeley, he really wanted to jump in there. He kept his Philadelphia accent throughout. On set, people didn’t know he was Irish.
Dialect coaching is about finding out what the actor wants and helping them develop the persona they are creating.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
