Follow enough movie critics on Twitter, and with some regularity you’ll come across something like this:
But take heart, would-be authorities: Empire’s “Hollywood Pronunciation Guide” is here to help. Its 50 entries cover not only recent arrivals like David Oyelowo and Saoirse Ronan, but long-standing bugbears like Martin Scorsese and Steve Buscemi, which even people who’ve worked with them for years are apt to get wrong. Ordinarily, slideshows drive us nuts, but in this case, you might need the second it takes to click through to commit the proper phonemes to memory. In case you’re not the patient type, we’ve compiled an index to the troublesome monikers (skipping over such bizarre inclusions as “Wes Anderson”). You might want to bookmark this post for future reference in case anyone gives you a hard time for saying Mia Wasikowska’s name properly. Sure, they may look at you like Wallace Shawn in Manhattan, but it’s a small price to pay for being right.
Martin Scorsese (Hear the Golden Globes announcer and Robert DeNiro get it wrong here.)
Charlize Theron (Another option from the Afrikaaner herself.)
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
