Washington [US]: Hilaria Baldwin, author and wife of actor Alec Baldwin, recently reflected on the criticism she faced regarding her accent, revealing how she adapted her speech long before it drew public attention in 2020.
“Growing up in a way where you have multiple cultural influences on you means that you’re never going to be able to fit in. You can try,” Baldwin shared, as reported by People.
She explained that adapting her accent became second nature, likening it to the concept of “code-switching” — adjusting speech patterns, accents, or mannerisms to suit different social settings.
“You can chameleon. You know, people who code-switch — we’re very good at chameleoning… and you don’t even think about it. It’s just normal. It’s just natural,” she added.
Recalling a conversation with a teenager, Baldwin compared code-switching to adjusting communication for an elderly person.
“They say that it’s like communication. If you ever talk to a really old person who cannot hear, I’m gonna emphasize, I’m gonna speak slower,” she said. “And you’re not even really thinking about it. You just start to do it.”
Baldwin further explained that she learned the term “code-switching” only after facing intense backlash.
“I had to learn about it because the whole world was mean to me, and so I had to learn it. It’s code-switching,” she stated.
Reflecting on public scrutiny, Baldwin admitted that being in the spotlight hasn’t made criticism easier to handle.
“People say, ‘Oh, don’t you get used to it?’ No, you don’t get used to people being mean. But you take a deep breath… and I’m not gonna take it personally.”
The controversy surrounding Baldwin’s heritage emerged in December 2020, when social media users accused her of misrepresenting her Spanish roots. Critics claimed she was born in Boston, Massachusetts under the name Hilary and had fabricated her Spanish background.
In response, Baldwin clarified her background, saying:
“I’ve seen chatter online questioning my identity and culture. This is something I take very seriously… I was born in Boston and grew up spending time with my family between Massachusetts and Spain. My parents and sibling live in Spain and I chose to live here, in the U.S.A.”
Despite the controversy, Baldwin continues to embrace her multicultural upbringing and advocate for understanding code-switching as a natural form of communication.