In support of this position, the paper reports questionnaire research through which 34 specialists in pronunciation teaching characterized the qualities of a recorded speech sample of an NNES, the award winning film actor Javier Bardem. One purpose was to determine if Bardem is a comprehensible NNES. A second purpose was to characterize qualities of Bardem's speech as a way of informing pronunciation pedagogy. The changes in instructional perspectives and teaching practices the paper proposes reject a deficit model of NNE pronunciation and foreground positive dimensions of what intelligible, comprehensible NNESs are able to do well.