# Actors/Actresses that don't speak in their original accent. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711 "2011-08-14T18:52:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/1 "2011-08-14T18:52:42Z")
I don’t mean on the show they are in. I mean even in interviews and so forth. First, there is Portia De Rossi. I haven’t done an extensive search, but I can not find a video of her speaking with her Australian accent. I have no idea why this would be, but even on an [Australian chat show](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP9D0oDUHz0), she speaks with her American accent. Then, we have John Barrowman. [I can rather easily find him speaking](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtDg23G1uc8) in his Scottish accent, but it seems he usually does his American accent, even on game shows or interviews. Anyone else that does not seem to use their regular accent even in interviews? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/2 "2011-08-14T19:18:45Z")
John Barrowman spent most of his life in the US, so that is his natural accent. Jane Leeves’ natural accent is British RP, but she’s now in her second show where she affects a Northernish accent. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/3 "2011-08-14T20:18:28Z")
Christian Bale has said that he does his American accent for American interviews, and his natural English accent for British interviews. I don’t remember seeing any movie where he used his English accent, but he may have in _Empire of the Sun_; I haven’t seen that in a long time and don’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/4 "2011-08-14T20:48:38Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > I don’t remember seeing any movie where he used his English accent, but he may have in _Empire of the Sun_; I haven’t seen that in a long time and don’t remember. He did in _The Prestige_, though I can’t think of any more off-hand. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/5 "2011-08-14T20:54:47Z")
Too late to edit: Mila Kunis _might_ naturally have an accent…she was born and lived in…the Ukraine? I think? _checks Wikipedia_ yup, the Ukraine. She speaks fluent Russian, as it was her first language…but she moved to the US at a fairly young age, so it’s very likely her accent has naturally disappeared, rather than just hiding it. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/6 "2011-08-14T20:56:13Z")
Madonna and Johnny Depp both have affected British-like accents now. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/7 "2011-08-14T20:59:05Z")
Madonna seems to have gone back to American lately, but there was indeed a time in about 2003-2006 where she suddenly became British. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/8 "2011-08-14T21:00:53Z")
Charlize Theron doesn’t have much an of accent for a South African, she lived there until she was 16. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/9 "2011-08-14T21:06:14Z")
Hugh Laurie doesn’t speak in his regular accent in **House**. He also used a slightly different accent from his normal speech in **Jeeves and Wooster**. Anna Friel in **Pushing Daisies** does not use a UK accent. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/10 "2011-08-14T21:08:55Z")
**John Mahoney** evidently lost his accent. He was born in the U.K. and moved to the U.S. as a young man. I wonder if he can still bring it up as it would seem genuinely bizarre to hear him in anything but the gravelly American accent he uses. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/11 "2011-08-14T21:10:57Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Hugh Laurie doesn’t speak in his regular accent in **House**. He also used a slightly different accent from his normal speech in **Jeeves and Wooster**. > > Anna Friel in **Pushing Daisies** does not use a UK accent. The OP is not about using a different accent in an acting roll. It’s about the accent that they use in real life, or at least in interviews. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/12 "2011-08-14T21:11:48Z")
I always thought that Kenneth Branagh was putting on an English accent as I’d heard he was from Belfast. However, he left Belfast when he was 9 and moved to Berkshire so he’s probably not putting on his speaking accent. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/13 "2011-08-14T21:12:36Z")
David Tennant, whose natural accent is Scots but does Doctor Who as standard English. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/14 "2011-08-14T21:13:43Z")
From the OP: > [@Mahaloth](#): > > **I don’t mean on the show they are in. I mean even in interviews and so forth.** ---
**Author:** ![Poonther](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Poonther](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poonther)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/15 "2011-08-14T21:24:34Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Too late to edit: > > Mila Kunis _might_ naturally have an accent…she was born and lived in…the Ukraine? I think? _checks Wikipedia_ yup, the Ukraine. She speaks fluent Russian, as it was her first language…but she moved to the US at a fairly young age, so it’s very likely her accent has naturally disappeared, rather than just hiding it. Slight :nitpick: Since it’s a sovereign country now, they prefer it to be called Ukraine now and not “The” Ukraine. Carry on… ---
**Author:** ![Raskolnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@Raskolnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raskolnikov)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/16 "2011-08-14T21:39:47Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Charlize Theron doesn’t have much an of accent for a South African, she lived there until she was 16. charlize has zero trace of a SA accent ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/17 "2011-08-14T21:50:56Z")
Gillian Anderson was born in America but from the ages of two to eleven she lived in London and grew up speaking with a British accent. Her family returned to the United States when she was eleven and she had to learn an American accent. At this point, it’s hard to say what her native acent is and she uses either depending on where she’s at. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/18 "2011-08-14T22:04:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Hugh Laurie doesn’t speak in his regular accent in **House**. He also used a slightly different accent from his normal speech in **Jeeves and Wooster**. > > On shows. > > 😕 > > Anna Friel in **Pushing Daisies** does not use a UK accent. On a show. 😕 > [@Mk\_VII](#): > > David Tennant, whose natural accent is Scots but does Doctor Who as standard English. On a show! 😕 Please, folks. Read the OP. My first sentence stated that **I am not talking about people who do accents on shows.** Not Jamie Bamber, for example. He did Battlestar with an American accent, but always interviewed with his natural accent. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/19 "2011-08-14T22:31:22Z")
Mel Gibson? I know he’s an Aussie but I don’t think he speaks it ever. Never heard much of an accent when he was shouting “blame the Jews”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/20 "2011-08-14T22:35:23Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Mel Gibson? > > I know he’s an Aussie but I don’t think he speaks it ever. Never heard much of an accent when he was shouting “blame the Jews”. He’s only partly Australian. He was born in downstate New York and lived here until he was 12 so his American accent is real. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711.md?page=2)