Tim Monich
Tim Monich (born 1950)[1] is an American speech and dialect coach who has worked on numerous stage and film productions; coaching such actors as Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds, Hilary Swank in Amelia, Cate Blanchett in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Matt Damon in Invictus, for which he won the Academy Award and thanked Monich on the Red Carpet.[2] He is considered the best-known speech coach in the entertainment industry.[3]
Early life and education
[edit]Monich grew up in Corona, California.[1] His father worked for a company that built freeways and his mother was a reporter for the Riverside Press-Enterprise. He attended the University of California at Riverside and then majored in directing as an undergraduate[4] at Carnegie Mellon University. While there he studied speech and dialect with Edith Skinner and received a BFA and an MFA. Monich received a grant for graduate work with Skinner. He assisted her in revising her 1942 book Speak with Distinction.[2][3] Following this, Monich became a faculty member of the Drama Division at Juilliard from 1975 to 1987; where he taught aspiring actors such as Kevin Spacey, Val Kilmer and Kelly McGillis. According to Alex Wilkinson of The New York Times, Monich is "pedagogically descended: from nineteenth-century philologist, Henry Sweet; who was the inspiration for Henry Higgins in Pygmalion. Sweet taught the Australian elocutionist Williams Tilly; who in turn taught Edith Skinner: Monich's teacher."[1]
Career
[edit]Monich has worked as a speech and dialect coach on hundreds of productions for film, television and theater. His first on-location film was coaching Arnold Schwarzenegger on the film Conan the Destroyer in 1984.[2][4] "I was just helping him speak English," recalled Monich. Actor Donald Sutherland, who Monich coached to speak in various films as a South African, an Englishman, a wealthy New Yorker, a New Englander, a Kansan, a Georgian, an Oregonian, a North Carolinian, a Mississippian, a Michigander, a Minnesotan, and a member of the Polish politburo, once said of him:
He’s not a mechanic, and he doesn’t impose. He comes in from underneath and supports your instincts; he doesn’t try to define them. There are many people who do what he does, and by and large they offer constraints. He offers liberation.
Leonardo DiCaprio states that Monich "goes around the world collecting voices like they’re coins … They don’t buy the performance unless I spend time with Tim and get verified."[1] Monich has over 6,000 personally recorded accent and dialect samples, assembled over 30 years, from around the world archived in his collection.[4] He is known to record accents from television shows such as Book TV, Charlie Rose, and Meet the Press; which are "good for foreign accents, especially those of diplomats, lawyers, and politicians."[1]
Personal life
[edit]Monich lives in Westport, Connecticut with his wife, dance writer, Linda Szmyd. They have two daughters, Emily and Sarah.[1][2]
Partial Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Chattahoochee | Dialect coach: Gary Oldman |
| 1990 | Presumed Innocent | Dialect coach: Harrison Ford |
| 1989 | The Russia House | Dialect coach: Michelle Pfeiffer |
| 1991 | Thelma & Louise | Dialect coach: Brad Pitt |
| 1991 | Billy Bathgate | Dialect coach |
| 1991 | JFK | Dialect coach: Gary Oldman |
| 1992 | Far and Away | Dialect coach |
| 1993 | The Age of Innocence | Dialect coach |
| 1993 | Schindler's List | Dialect coach |
| 1994 | Quiz Show | Dialect coach |
| 1994 | Interview with the Vampire | Dialect coach |
| 1994 | Nell | Dialect coach |
| 1994 | Little Women | Dialect coach |
| 1995 | Dead Man Walking | Dialect coach |
| 1996 | Mission Impossible | Dialect coach |
| 1996 | A Time to Kill | Dialect coach |
| 1997 | Contact | Dialect coach |
| 1997 | Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | Dialect coach |
| 1998 | What Dreams May Come | Dialect coach |
| 1999 | Cradle Will Rock | Dialect coach |
| 1999 | Jakob the Liar | Dialect coach: Hungary |
| 1999 | The Talented Mr. Ripley | Dialect coach: Matt Damon |
| 2000 | Joe Gould's Secret | Dialect coach |
| 2000 | The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle | Dialect coach |
| 2000 | X-Men | Dialect coach |
| 2000 | Rugrats in Paris | Language advisor: Susan Sarandon |
| 2000 | Finding Forrester | Dialect coach: Anna Paquin |
| 2000 | Finding Forrester | Dialect coach: Anna Paquin |
| 2002 | Gangs of New York | Dialect coach |
| 2002 | Maid in Manhattan | Dialect coach: Ralph Fiennes |
| 2002 | Catch Me If You Can | Dialect coach: Leonardo DiCaprio |
| 2004 | The Aviator | Dialect coach: Cate Blanchett |
| 2004 | The Aviator | Dialect coach: Cate Blanchett |
| 2006 | The Pink Panther | Dialect coach: Kevin Kline |
| 2006 | The Departed | Dialect coach |
| 2007 | I'm Not There | Dialect coach: Cate Blanchett |
| 2008 | Camille | Dialect coach: Sienna Miller |
| 2008 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | Dialect coach: Cate Blanchett |
| 2008 | Traitor | Dialect coach: Guy Pearce |
| 2008 | Body of Lies | Dialect coach: Leonardo DiCaprio |
| 2008 | Doubt | Dialect coach |
| 2008 | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Dialect coach |
| 2008 | Inglorious Basterds | Dialect coach: Brad Pitt |
| 2009 | Inglorious Basterds | Dialect coach: Brad Pitt |
| 2009 | Invictus | Dialect coach: Matt Damon |
| 2010 | True Grit | Dialect coach: Matt Damon |
| 2012 | Django Unchained | Dialect coach: Leonardo DiCaprio |
| 2012 | The Great Gatsby | Dialect coach |
| 2013 | The Wolf of Wall Street | Dialect coach |
| 2013 | Frank | Dialect coach: Michael Fassbender |
| 2014 | Clouds of Sils Maria | Dialect coach: Juliette Binoche |
| 2014 | American Sniper | Dialect coach |
| 2016 | Zoolander 2 | Dialect coach |
| 2017 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales | Dialect coach: Javier Bardem |
| 2018 | A Star Is Born | Dialect coach |
| 2018 | The House with a Clock in Its Walls | Dialect coach: Cate Blanchett |
| 2019 | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Dialect coach |
| 2019 | The Irishman | Dialect coach: ADR |
| 2021 | Ted K | Dialect coach: Sharlto Copley |
| 2021 | Charlotte | Dialect coach: Sophie Okonedo |
| 2022 | Death on the Nile | Dialect coach: Sophie Okonedo |
| 2022 | Amsterdam | Dialect coach: Margot Robbie |
| 2023 | Ferrari | Dialect coach: Adam Driver |
| 2025 | Eleanor the Great | Dialect coach: Erin Kellyman |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-2025 | The Agency: Central Intelligence | Dialect coach: Michael Fassbender |
| 2022 | The Patient | Dialect coach: Domhnall Gleeson |
| 2022 | The First Lady | Dialect coach |
| 2020 | The Plot Against America | Dialect coach: John Turturro |
| 2020 | Who Is America | Dialect coach |
| 2020 | American Crime Story | Dialect coach: Penelope Cruz |
| 2017 | The Wizard of Lies | Dialect coach |
| 2017 | Manhunt | Dialect coach: Paul Bettany |
| 2017 | Feud | Dialect coach |
| 2016 | The Young Pope | Dialect coach: Jude Law |
| 2014 | The Knick | Dialect coach: Clive Owen |
| 2012 | Hemingway & Gellhorn | Dialect coach: Clive Owen |
| 2008 | My Zinc Bed | Dialect coach |
| 2003 | Our Town | Dialect coach |
| 2002 | Path to War | Dialect coach: Donald Sutherland |
| 2002 | Hysterical Blindness | Dialect coach |
| 1998 | Winchell | Dialect coach |
| 1995 | Kissinger and Nixon | Dialect coach |
| 1994 | Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All | Dialect coach |
| 1993 | Zelda | Dialect coach |
| 1983 | Kennedy | Dialect coach |
Theater
[edit]| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Impressionism | Dialect coach |
| 2001 | Thou Shalt Not | Dialect coach |
| 1998 | The Deep Blue Sea | Dialect coach |
| 1998 | Cabaret | Dialect coach |
| 1993 | Candida | Dialect coach |
| 1992 | Two Shakespearean Actors | Dialect coach |
| 1989 | Orpheus Descending | Vocal coach |
| 1988 | A Walk in the Woods | Dialect Consultant |
| 1986 | The Petition | Speech Consultant |
| 1986 | Loot | Dialect Coach |
| 1986 | Precious Sons | Dialect Coach |
| 1985 | Big River | Dialect Coach |
| 1985 | The Octette Bridge Club | Dialect Coach |
| 1983 | Total Abandon | Speech Consultant |
| 1983 | Show Boat | Dialogue Coach |
| 1983 | A View From the Bridge | Dialect Consultant |
| 1980 | Amadeus | Speech Consultant |
| 1980 | Betrayal | Speech Coach |
| 1979 | Strangers | Dialect Coach |
| 1977 | The Night of the Tribades | Vocal Coach |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Walkinson, Alec (November 1, 2009). "Talk This Way". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
- ^ a b c d Rappaport, Dana (April 16, 2010). "Tim Monich: The Man Behind the Voices". Retrieved June 8, 2025.
- ^ a b Adams, Otis (April 29, 2024). "The Story Behind That Accent in Old Movies". Medium. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
- ^ a b c Accent Pro. Accents in Movies: The Tim Monich Way. Atchley, John. June 8, 2025.
See also
[edit]- GQ. November 21, 2024. Sacha Baron Cohen Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters.
- GQ. September 8, 2021. Matt Damon Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters.
- GQ. November 26, 2020. Jude Law Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters.
- Vanity Fair. January 6, 2022. Bradley Cooper and Guillermo del Toro Break Down a Scene from 'Nightmare Alley.
