Does that accent at the end of the Yellowstone finale sound funny to you?? There is a good reason why.
In the Yellowstone Season 5 finale, Elsa Dutton’s (Isabel May) narration marks the end of the Dutton family’s time on the ranch, but the accent has some real-life Southerners scratching their heads.
Elsa’s accent in this narration actually was a “learned” accent. May, who isn’t from the South, had to master a Tennessee accent to authentically portray Elsa, with the help of studying Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Southern preacher character in Cold Mountain.
This is where her voice came from in the Yellowstone finale, concluding Taylor Sheridan’s prophecy.
“141 years ago, my father was told of this valley, and here’s where we stayed. Seven generations. My father was told they would come for this land, and he promised to return it. Nowhere was that promise written. It faded with my father’s death, but somehow lived in the spirit of this place.”
In the hit Yellowstone prequel 1883, Isabel May portrays Elsa Dutton, a young woman from Tennessee who travels West with her family to settle in Montana. The Duttons eventually establish the Yellowstone ranch.
This Reddit thread started by someone frustrated with her accent has many Southerners coming to her defense.
“She does no wrong in my eyes. 😂” commented one user coming to her defense.
“I like her accent just fine. I am a Tennessean and I can tell you that once you hit the Cumberland Plateau straight over to the Smokies, old, old families (think very late 1700s North Carolina Territory) talk like that!” said another user in agreement.
“I had wondered if the Southern accent in Tennessee was different then than it is now. I’m thinking that it has changed.” agreed another user.
Check out the reaction:
People may be torn on the accent, but we can all agree we love Yellowstone.