‘I Want Him to Do It in His Dialect’ : Steven Spielberg Told Anthony Ramos to Not Use Southern Accent for ‘Twisters’ Role

“Twisters” executive producer Steven Spielberg didn’t want Anthony Ramos to use a Southern accent for his role, according to the actor.

Ramos, who plays storm chaser Javi in “Twisters,” said in an Entertainment Weekly interview that he originally thought his character should have a Southern accent.

“Then I heard Steven Spielberg was like, ‘No, I want him to do it in his dialect,'” Ramos recalled. “It was a little surprising to me, but it was really cool, to me, because I’ve never heard someone who speaks in my vernacular — especially this New York, Northeast, Latino dialect that I have — in a movie of this size, in a place like Oklahoma. It makes me feel it’s possible for a kid from the hood to go to a school like OU, study meteorology, be this brilliant meteorologist and storm chaser. This is something that a kid like me could do. I thought that that was really cool.”

“Twisters” is a standalone sequel to the 1996 film “Twister”; the upcoming disaster film exists in the same world as the original, but none of the characters have any direct ties -

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to the first movie. Spielberg also served as an executive producer on the first “Twister” film, starring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt.

Along with Ramos, “Twisters” stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Maura Tierney, Tunde Adebimpe, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sasha Lane, Brandon Perea and Katy O’Brian.

Ramos told EW that he was particularly excited to work with director Lee Isaac Chung, saying that the “Minari” filmmaker is “a guy that directs these really niche, smaller, beautiful films.”

“And here he is doing this massive movie,” Ramos continued. “I knew he was going to bring the heart and soul to it.”

“Twisters” premieres in theaters July 19.

(Pictured: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos and Glen Powell in “Twisters”)

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