NEW YORK: It’s not that often that Hugh Jackman gets a role speaking in his native Australian accent, so while working on the upcoming science-fiction thriller “Chappie” he had to get reacquainted with the dialect.
The 46-year old Tony Award winner told The Associated Press on Tuesday that using his own accent “was great but weird.”
“I had to practice it because it was way stronger than my natural accent,” Jackman said.
Jackman also admits brushing up on some of the Australian slang that writer-director Neill Blomkamp wrote for the part.
“He used a lot of phrases, and I had to end up Googling the slang,” Jackman said. “Neill was coming up with some really cool sayings. ... I was trying to think of more, so I ended up Googling some of them.”
“Chappie,” which opens in theaters on March 6, tells the story of a fallen police robot that is reprogrammed to think and feel for itself. Jackman said he had fun playing the film’s antagonist, an engineer strongly opposed to artificial intelligence.
“We got to create this character that did stretch it a bit. We had a lot of fun with him from the look, his mannerism, the way he talked. At the same time, it was very much based in a reality that was needed for the movie in terms of the voice of caution,” Jackman said.
Blomkamp is known for his science-fiction thrillers “District 9” and “Elysium.”
The last time Jackman appeared in a film using his native accent was in “Australia” in 2008, opposite Nicole Kidman. He did lend his voice to the 2012 animated film “Rise of the Guardians.”
Speaking native accent ‘weird’: Hugh Jackman
Speaking native accent ‘weird’: Hugh Jackman
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
