It’s a common practice to see American actors play Canadians or the other way around. After all, the accents are not too different from each other. It is another story, however, when an American actor mispronounces the name of the city his character is from throughout the movie. With that in mind, Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson express their deepest apologies to any Canadians who were offended by the mispronunciation of “Toronto” in Netflix’s The Man From Toronto.
Expect some nervous farts, laughs, and botched Canadian city pronunciations in Netflix’s The Man From Toronto, with the title character being played by Woody Harrelson. Kevin Hart explained in a video call to the Ottawa Sun that it would have been easier to pronounce the Canadian city had the Texas native grown up there:
You gotta remember, I’m not from Toronto. If you’re from Toronto, of course you have an understanding of how it’s supposed to be said.
Even though Woody Harrelson isn't from Toronto in real life, it doesn’t mean he’s never been there. He’s staged two plays in Toronto and has attended the Toronto International Film Festival many times. In his co-star Kevin Hart’s defense, there are other hitmen characters in the movie who are from a bunch of different places, like Miami or Wichita. When people come from different areas, it can be common for different people to have their own pronunciations. Tomayto, tomahto, right? Something tells me if the original choice for the hitman role, British actor Jason Statham, had stayed, maybe he would have had a little trouble himself making sure his Cockney accent wouldn’t get in the way.
No matter what the excuses are for the mispronunciation, Woody Harrelson apologized to all Torontonians, saying:
Any time it’s mispronounced to Torontonians, we apologize.
While The Man From Toronto may have botched up its pronunciation of the Canadian city, one thing it didn’t botch was the chemistry Woody Harrelson had with Kevin Hart. Some of the best movies Kevin Hart has done have been when he partners up with another actor who is just as funny as him, but is more taller and muscular. One example includes when he worked with SNL alum Will Ferrell in the filthy buddy-comedy Get Hard. Hart has also teamed up with The Rock in Central Intelligence and again in the Jumanji movies. You also can’t forget that time Kevin Hart tried to make Josh Gad look cool in The Wedding Ringer, or the heart-warming team-up he had with Bryan Cranston in The Upside. It proves that Kevin Hart has a natural bond with many of the actors he'd worked with.
If you want to see Kevin Hart team up with Woody Harrelson, watch The Man From Toronto on your Netflix subscription. Just remember- it’s pronounced tr-aan-tow.
