From the annals of tv watching: Eddie Cahill as Tag Jones in season 7 of the sitcom Friends (and then as Det. Don Flack in CSI: New York); and Lucas Black as Special Agent Christopher LaSalle on NCIS: New Orleans. Both men are strongly physical actors with mobile expressive faces and both smile amiably a lot — they are really cute guys — and both do notable local accents: EC white working-class NYC in CSI: New York and LB white NOLA in NCIS: New Orleans. Both accents build on the actors’ native varieties — EC’s NYC and LB’s Alabamian — but with crafting (quite considerable on LB’s part) to fit their characters.
But first, since this is AZBlog, shameless shirtless photos of the two men, both satisfyingly athletic and hunky:
(#1) EC as Conner Wallace in the tv series Conviction (2016-17)
(#2) LB in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
Eddie Cahill (born 1/15/78) appeared in season 7 (2000-01) of Friends, in which Rachel Green (played by Jennifer Aniston) has an affair with her assistant at Ralph Lauren, Tag Jones (played by EC); the 24-year-old Jones is utterly adorable:
(#3) EC comes on-scene as Tag Jones in Friends
(#4) A Tag Jones Friends montage
Part of the plot development depended on Tag being new to NYC, so the script identified him as coming from Colorado. But enough of EC’s New York accent remained to undercut this backstory.
On CSI: NY (2004-13), however, EC’s character is a native New Yorker, so EC fit well into the story. As I posted on 3/4/15 in “Hunks of CSI: NY”:
three of the actors, who are notable hunks: Carmine Giovinazzo (as Detective Danny Messer), Eddie Cahill (as Detective Don Flack), and Hill Harper (as Dr. Sheldon Hawkes). The first two had serious early lives as athletes, and both are native New Yorkers (so their NYC accents on tv, though exaggeratedly working-class, have some origin in their personal experience). Harper, originally from Iowa, came to acting after a Harvard legal and public administration education (J.D. and M.P.A.).
Lucas Black. From Wikipedia:
Lucas York Black (born November 29, 1982 [in Decatur AL]) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the CBS television series American Gothic (1995) as well as roles in films such as Sling Blade (1996), Flash (1997), Crazy in Alabama (1999), All the Pretty Horses (2000), Friday Night Lights (2004), Jarhead (2005), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), Get Low (2009), Legion (2010), and Seven Days in Utopia (2011). Since September 2014, he has played Special Agent Christopher LaSalle on CBS’ NCIS: New Orleans.
LB’s native variety is down-home Alabama, and it comes with the facial expressions of the variety, in particular the spread-lip crinkly-eyed smile in this photo:
(#5)
But LB’s Alabamian variety wouldn’t do to anchor his character in New Orleans. In interviews he’s explained that he polished his NOLA variety during more than a year of practice. The result is a convincing performance that makes the New Orleans setting seem authentic. Lead performer Scott Bakula’s less pronounced stage NOLA accent then seems credible in the context.
Previous postings on the show and its players:
from 7/21/15, “Scott Bakula”
from 7/22/15, “Two Bakular notes”
from 9/27/15, “Two memorable actors”, with a section on C. C. H. / CCH Pounder on NCIS: New Orleans (and elsewhere)