The other night while watching The Closer with my lady love, I had to giggle when she said, “Wow, Kyra Sedgwick’s Southern accent is so thick!”

What my girlfriend didn’t know — and what many of you may not know, either — is that Kyra is a born-and-bred New Yorker with such good acting chops, she can convince you she’s the southernest of Southern belles. Kyra comes from a long line of awesome actresses who can switch up their voices to suit a character. For instance, did you know Golden Girl Rue McClanahan was faking Blanche’s Southern trill? Yep, McClanahan was trained on the stages of New York.

Of course, for every actress who can fake a believable accent, there’s another (two or three) who bomb at it. Let’s take a look at a few winners and losers in the accent department.

We would be remiss if we did not start with Meryl Streep, who became so well known for her accents in the 1970s and 80s, people would jokingly wonder what dialect she would conquer next: African tribe woman? Eskimo?

With lots of research and endless attention to detail, Meryl knocked it out of the park when mimicking the dialects of Australians (A Cry In The Dark), Danish (Out of Africa), Polish (Sophie’s Choice) and lesbian (Manhattan). OK that last one is just a joke, but wasn’t it fun to see Meryl play Woody Allen’s Sapphicly-inclined ex-wife?

One of the few contemporary actresses who could go head-to-head with Meryl is the lovely Cate Blanchett. Aussie Cate’s a master of accents from Russian (The Man Who Cried) to American (Babel) to Kate Hepburn’s quirky Connecticut cadence (The Aviator). Cate can even do Bob Dylan (I’m Not There)! … continue reading

Tonight on IFC, the Indie Sex series debuts. It comprises four parts, titled "Censored," "Taboos," "Teens" and "Extremes." Each episode explores a different aspect of sexuality on TV and film, asking what's appropriate and who gets to answer that question.

The series features interviews with Jamie Babbit, Dita Von Teese, Rosanna Arquette, Martha Coolidge, Ally Sheedy, Guinevere Turner, Piper Perabo and more. Out producer and director Lesli Klainberg directed the "Censored" and "Taboos" episodes and produced the series. Watch for more info on AfterEllen.com, including this week's Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. column.

Indie Sex airs Aug. 1–4 at midnight on IFC.

I guess I should have realized a long time ago that there really, truly are no new ideas. None. Zero. If nothing else, the impending arrival of Hairspray on the big screen, again, should have been my final hint. (To recap: It was a John Waters cult independent movie, became a big Broadway hit musical and finally turned into a major studio release complete with Disney-ready cast.) But, now, I may have finally gotten the picture as the new Desperately Seeking Susan musical unveiled its cast and new production details yesterday.

As Karman already reported, the project was announced back in December. The musical will preview Oct. 12 and open Nov. 15 at London’s Novello Theatre with hopes of moving on to Broadway. Emma Williams [pictured above, right] will play streetwise Susan (originally played by Madonna) and Kelly Price [left] will be bored New Jersey housewife Roberta (played by Rosanna Arquette some 20 years before she Cherie Jaffe-ed her way into Shane’s bed and heart). … continue reading