`Brotherhood' Has Providence Accent Stars, Makers Of Searing New Showtime Series Say Distinctive Setting, Speech Make R.I. Capital Integral To Show By ROGER CATLIN Courant TV Critic July 9 2006 The strong new Showtime series "Brotherhood" features an accomplished international cast, a searing plot line traversing politics and organized crime, and a complicated family history. But its biggest star may be the Rhode Island capital where it is set and shot. "One of the big characters in this show is Providence," says Jason Isaacs, the English actor who plays a tough prodigal brother, Michael Caffee, returning home after seven years of self-imposed exile. "It's as big a character as any of the people." From the distinctive clapboard houses to the looming factory towers, entwining downtown highway and especially the looming state capitol building, Providence stars more prominently in the 11-episode series than it has in any previous TV series, including the NBC series that bore its name. "I loved shooting in Rhode Island," says Jason Clarke, the Australian actor who plays the other brother in the series, Tommy Caffee, a local politician who wants to do the right thing but can't help being dragged into the darker aspects of the job, especially after his brother comes back to town. "It's an amazing place," he says. At a press session earlier this year in California, Clarke and the creators said they were surprised to find how open the city was to them when they shot there last year, even allowing them into the Statehouse for filming. "The political system there went out of their way to be embracing, to be welcoming," says Blake Masters, a screenwriter making his TV debut with "Brotherhood" as its creator and one of its executive producers. "We shot in the Statehouse, on the floor of the Statehouse," Masters says. "We couldn't do that in Sacramento." "I loved all the politicians," says Clarke. "They were very generous to me - the speaker of the house, the governor, the mayor. It was very rare that they asked me to leave a room because they were discussing something which was too sensitive. I was there when they were passing the budget on the floor with them and sweating a lot in the heat of summer. They were great people." It may be surprising to audiences that the two leads are from England and Australia, though, since the distinctive accents may be the most difficult thing about portraying Providence accurately. Kevin Chapman, who by contrast is practically a homegrown choice to play fictional local mob boss Freddi Cork, knows how difficult it can be. "I'm originally from Boston myself, so I grew up about 35 miles north of Providence," Chapman says. "And the accents - there's about four or five different accents you get in Providence. You go to the east side, you get one. You go to the west side - it's really amazing. It's such a small area, and the range of accents is really quite diverse." "Well, being English, I was glad it was set in New England," says Isaacs, "because they don't pronounce their Rs, so it was a little bit easier for me." In England, he added, "as soon as you open your mouth, you're judged. People can tell not just where you come from but who you want to be taken as and what your parents did and stuff. So I'm used to doing dialects." It was helpful to the out-of-towners that even the Americans couldn't handle the Providence accents. "It's a very peculiar and very specific voice," Isaacs says. "What was very lucky for us is we had crew from Providence. We had great Teamsters to model ourselves on. "You know, it's true that just as the politicians threw their arms and doors open to Jason, I was welcomed with open arms by all the criminals in Providence," he joked. But that kind of specificity is important, Isaacs says. "When I think of films like 'Fargo,' I remember Frances McDormand, and I remember the wood chipper, but I also remember the voice. I remember the accents. It's very rich, and it stays in your memory. And I think that will be true of the voices in this as well." "When we originally decided to shoot this in Providence, we talked a lot about the accents," says executive producer Elizabeth Guber Stephen. "Originally there was a concern from the network that it might be hard to understand, because sometimes it is hard to understand an accent from Rhode Island. But to their credit, they said: `Go for it.'" Philip Noyce ("Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger"), who directed the pilot, focused immediately on accents during the first scouting trip to Providence. "He found somebody with a tape recorder, and he had them go around to every man and woman on the street," Stephen says. "So as we shot this, all the actors always had somebody in their ear talking through Rhode Islandese, if you will. And it was really fantastic to really capture the authenticity of that world." "We were often late to the set because we all had our dialect lessons programmed into our iPods," says Annabeth Gish, who plays the heavily conflicted politician's wife. "So they'd knock on our trailer doors, and we couldn't be found because we were studying." Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan, who plays the Caffee matriarch, did some of her own research, which was allowed only by the friendliness of Providence. "They're not as paranoid as they are in L.A.," Flanagan says. "You could follow people around in the street or in stores and listen to them. At least that's what I did. And you could overhear their conversations about their families or groceries they were buying. "And you know, I'm sure they wondered why this woman was sort of leaning over at one point as they're at the counter paying for goods," she says. "But that was so helpful, because if you did that in L.A., you'd be arrested, you know, no question." And just being in the town for the shooting was important, says Ethan Embry, who plays Declan Giggs, a Providence cop with loyalty issues. "I don't think it would have been possible faking an accent from Providence and shooting in a place like Toronto or Vancouver," he says, "where the accent is completely different, the city is completely different. Like Jason said, Providence is one of the lead characters in the show." "Brotherhood" begins Sunday at 9 p.m. on Showtime. Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant |