A new Netflix series featuring “Stranger Things” star Maya Hawke is hunting for actors who can sport one key attribute — upstate New York’s annoying, nasally accent.
The adaptation of Liz Moore’s 2024 “The God of the Woods” put out a call for Adirondack-based actors between the ages of 20 and 69 as it enters production next month, the Press-Republican first reported.
“The production is especially interested in actors with familiarity with (or accents native to) the North Country region,” a casting call reads, according to the outlet.
The almost-Midwestern sound of North Country accents can be grating for city dwellers who say they’re from “New Yawk,” drink “cawfee” for breakfast or drop “Fuhgeddaboudit” in casual conversation.
Upstate New Yorkers instead say “acrost” for “across,” sip “melk” as opposed to “milk” and exclaim “Jeezum Crow!” rather than outright risk profanity like their downstate neighbors.
The accent’s Adirondacks home will be the setting for the Netflix series, described by the streamer as a multigenerational drama.
As with the novel, the show will focus on investigator character Judy Luptack as she delves into the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl from a summer camp.
Hawke, the New York City-born-and-raised daughter of actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, will star as Luptack.
Kerry Condon, a chameleon-like Irish actress who received an Academy Award nomination for her role in “The Banshees of Inisherin,” is set to play the missing girl’s mother.
The show’s casting director is Laura Rosenthal, a renowned New York-based industry vet whose long list of credits includes “A Quiet Place” and “May December.”
But while the series is set within the Adirondacks and will feature its distinct accent, it won’t be filmed there.
Production on the show will start in June within Beacon, squarely within the Hudson Valley, according to the Press-Republican.
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