Peter Sarsgaard on Mastering Bobby Kennedy’s Accent in ‘Jackie’

The new film Jackie focuses on the life of First Lady Jackie Kennedy following the assassination of her husband President John F. Kennedy. In this biographical drama, the film’s cast faced the challenge of portraying real people.

For Peter Sarsgaard, taking on the role of Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy meant mastering the late politician’s northeastern accent.

“I listened to him talk just all the time,” Sarsgaard said in an interview with BackstageOL’s Dave Morales of prepping for the role. “But you know I only was cast to do this movie or agreed to do this movie maybe a couple of weeks before we started. So… I put headphones on and I just started listening to him talk, not concentrating on the accent at all, but thinking about what he was saying because his speeches are great. There’s lots of footage of he and his brother talking. And, at first, you get into kind of the cadence of the way he talks, you know, which always has a certain musicality to it, you know, and he has a fall off and all this stuff. You just find yourself doing it in your own life.”

Jackie, which also stars Natalie Portman, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, and John Hurt, is currently in theaters.

Watch our full interview with Sarsgaard below: