# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/61 "2011-08-17T13:48:47Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > 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. _Velvet Goldmine_ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/62 "2011-08-17T13:49:57Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > So, _can_ he sing in English? Having played the original Raoul and the second Phantom on Broadway, I’d say he could. Until he commited suicide. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/63 "2011-08-17T14:34:42Z")
> [@Sevastopol](#): > > Her speaking voice is exactly the same as Cate Blanchett. (I knew her for a little while and have spoken with her on the phone) I checked their Bios and it turns out that they are both from Melbourne. ---
**Author:** ![Tess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@Tess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/64 "2011-08-18T22:51:16Z")
Craig Ferguson sounds Scottish to me but he’s mentioned on his show that on trips back home family and friends comment/complain that he speaks in an American accent. Anthony LaPaglia’s accent might be a conscious effort. Dominic Purcell (I think) mentioned in an interview when he started acting in the US, LaPaglia told him if he wanted to get the accent right he should speak like an American even when out of character. ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/65 "2011-08-20T16:19:26Z")
Courteney Cox was raised in Alabama and apparently had a strong Southern accent until she went into acting and had it trained out of her. You don’t hear any accent now. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/66 "2011-08-20T20:46:48Z")
> [@Barrington\_Trout](#): > > Could you explain how you tell the difference? > > My Nothern Irish colleague said he would be unable to tell the difference between a Catholic and a Protestant by accent. I haven’t pinned it down. They can both be rather grating. Not as bad as a white South African accent, which makes me feel stabby. ---
**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 21, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/67 "2011-08-21T15:11:42Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I haven’t pinned it down. They can both be rather grating. Not as bad as a white South African accent, which makes me feel stabby. Ask them to say H, other than that I haven’t a clue how you would tell a Catholic from a Protestant by their accent. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/68 "2011-08-21T17:45:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. Err, I went to high school with Gillian and her younger brother went to the same school while my younger brother was there - neither of them had any trace of an accent other than “Michigan.” ---
**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 21, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/69 "2011-08-21T18:10:02Z")
> [@Feyrat](#): > > Err, I went to high school with Gillian and her younger brother went to the same school while my younger brother was there - neither of them had any trace of an accent other than “Michigan.” I’m not sure what your point is. Anderson returned to the United States when she was eleven (an age at which most children would be in fifth or sixth grade). She then learned to speak with an American accent. When you went to high school with her, she had an American accent. ---
**Author:** ![Barrington\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@Barrington\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrington_Trout)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/70 "2011-08-23T13:22:23Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Ask them to say H, other than that I haven’t a clue how you would tell a Catholic from a Protestant by their accent. 😕 My colleague has heard of this and it sounds to me like Protestants pronounce H like the Scottish do and the Catholics pronounce H like the English. Scottish/Protestant = 'aitch English/Catholic - Haitch Pronouncing single letters rarely comes up in conversation though. You’d be better of asking someone what school they went to. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/71 "2011-08-23T14:28:53Z")
Daniel Davis, best known as Niles the Butler on the Nanny, is an Arkansas native who can speak with a broad Southern accent. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/72 "2011-08-23T14:42:03Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I have heard Catherine Zeta Jones’s Welsh accent after she returns from visiting home, and the same with Pierce Brosnan’s Irish accent, but generally they use an English accent in day to day life, I think. I read a magazine interview with Pierce Brosnan in which he lamented no longer being able to speak in his original Irish accent. He said it had been “beaten out of” him at school because his English classmates kept wanting to fight him when they heard him speak. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/73 "2011-08-23T15:27:46Z")
> [@Sevastopol](#): > > Roger Moore, cockney through and through, trained his voice into RP. Anthony Head, too, right? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/74 "2011-08-23T15:35:08Z")
I’ve heard Anthony Head speak in his non-R.P. accent in interviews. Almost all British actors are trained in a stage accent, so there’s not much point in listing all of them. ---
**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 23, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/75 "2011-08-23T15:43:39Z")
> [@Barrington\_Trout](#): > > My colleague has heard of this and it sounds to me like Protestants pronounce H like the Scottish do and the Catholics pronounce H like the English. > > Scottish/Protestant = 'aitch > English/Catholic - Haitch > > Pronouncing single letters rarely comes up in conversation though. > You’d be better of asking someone what school they went to. 😉 I could be wrong but I thought Haitch wasn’t common in England either. Anyway my point was I don’t think it actually _is_ possible. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/76 "2011-08-23T15:50:31Z")
I can only imagine what Ava Gardner might have sounded like before she had that rural NC accent homogenized out of her. I’ll go out on a limb and say that it probably was a little different from what you heard onscreen. Ava Gardner. . . [sigh] ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/77 "2011-08-23T19:05:22Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > John Hillerman is actually a Texan, but the only time I’ve ever heard him speak with his own accent was in _ **Blazing Saddles** _. Otherwie, he almost always seems to play Englishmen, as on \*\*\*Magnum, P.I. \*\*\* One of Higgins’ (Hillerman’s \*Magnum \*character) many half brothers was a Texan. Kathleen Turner was born in Missouri, but her father was in the Diplomatic Service, and she spent a significant part of her formative years in Venezuela. In interviews, she speaks with a strong accent, but acts with a Midwestern white-bread speaking style. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/78 "2011-08-23T19:15:34Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. I don’t think it’s so much that she “Had” to learn an accent - it’s not a law - as she would have just naturally adopted an American accent. People’s accent do change, even as adults. Portia de Rossi, to use the example in the OP, has lived in California for almost half her life. It wouldn’t be at all unusual for her accent to simply have changed. [QUOTE=spoke] Julia’s accent is completely gone.. [/QUOTE] I think it’s rather easy to hear Julia Roberts’s Southernness in her voice. I picked her out as a Southerner from the get-go. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/79 "2011-08-23T19:25:23Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’ve heard Anthony Head speak in his non-R.P. accent in interviews. Almost all British actors are trained in a stage accent, so there’s not much point in listing all of them. As Buffy fans know, you can hear a reasonable approximation of Head’s original accent in the on-screen speech of (American) actor James Marsters, who played Spike. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711/80 "2011-08-23T19:30:43Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I think it’s rather easy to hear Julia Roberts’s Southernness in her voice. I picked her out as a Southerner from the get-go. Really? Believe me, her accent is nothing compared to those of her classmates at Campbell High. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-that-dont-speak-in-their-original-accent/592711.md?page=5)