Kate Winslet on learning a Delco accent for Mare Of Easttown

In our review of the first episode of Mare Of Easttown, Joshua Alston notes out that the show’s star, Kate Winslet, “is truly killing her take on the elusive Delco accent”—a southeastern Pennsylvanian dialect that Winslet found one of the hardest to master from among the many accents she’s tackled throughout her career.
The Los Angeles Times spoke (in an unspecified accent) with Winslet and the show’s creators to detail how the actor learned to talk like a proper Delaware County citizen. A breakdown of the process shows how much work went into getting it right. While preparing for the role of Mare Sheehan, dialect coach Susan Hegarty “provided [Winslet with] a rough breakdown of the accent” then, along with another coach, began scouting for locals who matched Mare’s “age group… and socioeconomic background” in order to gather audio examples of various words.
The show’s Pennsylvanian creator Brad Ingelsby also recorded his wife’s Delco accent so Winslet could reference “the rhythm and melody” of their speaking style. With this material on hand, Hegarty guided Winslet in “[internalizing the accent’s sounds] the way a jazz musician might memorize scales and intervals in order to riff freely.” Along with all of the reference material the production collected, Winslet also hired a Delco local “with a pronounced accent” so she could regularly hear its sound.