BEHIND THE SCENES: STATELESS

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STATELESS

Netflix series co-produced/created by Cate Blanchett

In 2019, I was contacted to see if I was available to be the Dialect Coach on a new series named Stateless.

Directed by Emma Freeman and Jocelyn Moorhouse, the 6 part drama series was being co-produced/created by Cate Blanchett with producers Matchbox Pictures, Dirty Films and ABC TV at the helm.

Inspired by true events, Stateless tells the stories of a woman escaping a cult, a refugee fleeing with his family, a father trapped in a dead-end job, and a bureaucrat on the verge of a national scandal who all find their lives intertwined in an immigration detention centre.

Airing in Australia in early 2020 on ABC TV and later in the year on Netflix, the formidable series cast includes: Yvonne Strahovski, Fayssal Bazzi, Cate Blanchett, Dominic West, Asher Keddie, Jai Courtney, Marta Dusseldorp and Darren Gilshenan.

The following posts share some behind the scenes details: creating Yvonne's dialect, her testimonial of our work together, and the 13 AACTA Awards (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) the series won.

CREATING A DIALECT

Yvonne Strahovski as Sofie/Eva

August 2020: Netflix release

It's an exciting time for all of us who proudly worked on Stateless, the six part television drama series co-produced/created by Cate Blanchett on the Australian immigration detention system.

All six episodes have been released on Netflix so a global audience can now see the series. It's also still available to watch here in Australia on ABC iView.

Part of my job as the Dialect Coach was coaching Yvonne Strahovski for her leading role as Sofie Werner. Yvonne and I have known each other for 20 years since I was her dialect tutor at drama school so it was an utter joy to work together again.

Pre-production research

Stateless is based on true stories and Yvonne's character Sofie is inspired by the real-life story of Cornelia Rau.

Rau was a German-born citizen and permanent Australian resident from early childhood who struggled with her mental health. Her story came to the public eye when it was discovered she had been unlawfully detained in a detention centre. Rau had discharged herself from an Australian hospital, and when stopped by authorities, she identified herself as a German tourist who had lost her passport.

In Stateless, Yvonne's character Sofie echoes that story. We see her try to escape her mental health struggles by running away from family, work stress and the traumas of a cult she became involved with. Sofie is stopped for questioning and passes herself off as a German backpacker named Eva Hoffman who has lost her passport.

In pre-production, we had access to watch an Australian documentary investigating the detention centre system which featured footage of Rau. In it, her accent was inconsistent. She went in and out of her fake 'German accent' and her real Australian voice, particularly when she became emotional and distressed.

The dialect details

Several people have asked me about Sofie/Eva's accent so this post is to help clarify those interests.

Sofie’s dialect as Eva is a hybrid mix of German/Australian as it is being put on by an Australian woman suffering deeply with her mental health.
Sofie’s parents, Frank and Elka, are German, but she and her sister Margot were raised as Australians so they natively speak English with Australian accents. Her ‘German accent’ as Eva is not fluently German or vocally/emotionally stable as neither is she.
In human speech, when people become emotional, they often revert to the patterns of their native dialect and language. That is their primal and foundational expression vocally and emotionally. This can show up in their rhythms, pace, melody and inflection, but also in varying vowels and consonants. Think of these as the authentic vocal music, movement and heartbeat of how they naturally communicate as a human. This is what occurred in the footage I watched of Rau: one moment she sounded 'German', the next Australian or a hybrid mix of the two when upset.
In Stateless, Sofie as Eva speaks English fluently so a German interpreter isn’t required. This means to the untrained ears of the detention centre teams, interviewers and fellow detainees, they don’t realise the truth. She isn’t in fact from Hamburg, Germany as she claims and she's unable to speak the language fluently.
The first time we see doubt creep in about Sofie's identity is in the scene below with Rosna, a fellow detainee. Rosna momentarily speaks to Eva in fluent German. We see Sofie hesitate then reply in a very basic German sentence. It’s evident her grasp of the language is minimal and lacking fluency. Later, the psychologist who interviews Sofie writes notes in his report about her mental state and that she possibly has an Australian accent. This final note isn’t seen or read until the detention centre team start to realise Eva may in fact be an Australian citizen.

I hope this helps to clarify Yvonne’s dialect as Eva for those curious about it. It was designed both in coaching and performance to echo Sofie Werner’s true state ... that of an Australian woman with mental health struggles whose parents are German. She does not speak the dialect or language fluently so her Australian vocal traits creep in, particularly when emotional or distressed. These echo the story and footage of Cornelia Rau.

testimonial

"Jennifer White is the consummate professional in all areas of her work. She approaches her coaching with extreme detail and finesse and has an abundant knowledge of all things dialect coaching. I have known Jennifer for many, many years and absolutely trust her to take on any dialect and relay the information with precision and ease. I have been lucky enough to have both been taught by Jennifer in dialects at drama school at the start of my career and worked with her professionally in the industry, and I highly recommend working with her."

YVONNE STRAHOVSKI
Emmy & Golden Globe Nominated Actor: The Handmaid's Tale

AWARDS

December 2020: The AACTA Awards

A real thrill this week: Stateless which I coached on has won 13 AACTA Awards (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts)!

If you haven't seen it, it is the 6-part TV drama series co-created/produced by Cate Blanchett on the Australian immigration detention centre system. Gripping and heartbreaking story and performances - you can catch it on Netflix and ABC iView. I'm honoured to have worked on it.

Here is the list of AACTA winners:

Best Telefeature or Mini Series: Cate Blanchett, Elise McCredie, Tony Ayres, Sheila Jayadev, Paul Ranford, Liz Watts, Andrew Upton, Matchbox Pictures, Dirty Films, ABC
Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama: Yvonne Strahovski
Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama: Fayssal Bazzi
Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama: Cate Blanchett
Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama: Darren Gilshenan
Best Screenplay in Television: Elise McCredie
Best Direction in a TV Drama or Comedy: Emma Freeman - Episode 1