If you’re from Toronto and had a chance to watch The Man From Toronto, Netflix’s new comedy starring Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, it was hard not to cringe every time you heard the actors frequently mispronounce the city’s name.
In an interview with the Ottawa Sun, the duo apologized and wanted to make it known that they meant no disrespect by pronouncing Toronto as “Toe-RON-toe,” when Torontonians know “Tur-AH-nno” or “ChurAHNoah” are the only proper ways to say it.
“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,” Hart told the newspaper in a video call.
He continued: “It’s the name of Woody’s hitman character and all of the people who are referring to him are not from Toronto. He’s a world-renowned hitman and the legend of his killings has grown over the years and throughout his career. So, you got to think, everyone was pronouncing it that way—the Man From Miami, the Man from Wichita—it was all over. Everyone is saying Toe-RON-toe because they’re from all over the place.”
Of course, if Idris Elba can accurately impersonate an American accent for years, how hard is it to pronounce a city’s name, right? Nevertheless, the actors wanted the people of Toronto to know how sorry they were for getting the pronunciation wrong. Harrelson added that he loved his time spent in the city, whether it was staging plays, filming, or attending a yoga class in Queen’s Park.
“Any time it’s mispronounced to Torontonians, we apologize,” Harrelson said.
The film, released Friday, is available to watch via Netflix.
