# Actors who are very poor at accents **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166 "2016-10-10T18:34:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/21 "2016-10-11T13:07:42Z")
> [@txjim](#): > > Everyone in NCIS: New Orleans. Well, almost everyone as CCH Pounder is not bad but the rest give me a headache. This is exactly what I came in to post. I’d watch the show if it weren’t for the accents. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/22 "2016-10-11T13:10:53Z")
Dick Van Dyke, much as I love his stuff, probably had the worst accent ever filmed. “Ho, h’its aie jowlly 'olleeday wiv yew, Mawy Poppins!” The horribleness of the accent adds something to the charm of the film, but it’s still just ghastly bad. Also, whatshername–the sister from Arrested Development who was Ted’s hotter-than-hell boss in the long gone but much lamented “Better off Ted” has a weird American accent. I don’t know where she’s from, but she keeps mispronouncing words, just slightly. (C’n’t instead of “Can’t”, for example. It’s very…clipped.) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/23 "2016-10-11T13:13:43Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Also, whatshername–the sister from Arrested Development who was Ted’s hotter-than-hell boss in the long gone but much lamented “Better off Ted” has a weird American accent. I don’t know where she’s from, but she keeps mispronouncing words, just slightly. (C’n’t instead of “Can’t”, for example. It’s very…clipped.) Portia de Rossi? She’s from Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/24 "2016-10-11T13:14:09Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Also, whatshername–the sister from Arrested Development who was Ted’s hotter-than-hell boss in the long gone but much lamented “Better off Ted” has a weird American accent. I don’t know where she’s from, but she keeps mispronouncing words, just slightly. (C’n’t instead of “Can’t”, for example. It’s very…clipped.) Portia de Rossi (AKA, Mrs. DeGeneres) is from Australia. I think that her American accent is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/25 "2016-10-11T13:46:38Z")
No one agrees with me on this, but I thought that both Matt Damon and Minnie Driver sounded hideous as they attempted Boston accents in _Good Will Hunting_. Everyone counters with, “but Matt Damon was FROM Boston.” Yeah, but Newton and Cambridge don’t talk like South Boston. It still astonishes me that people don’t hear just how terribly they both faked the accents in that movie. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/26 "2016-10-11T13:58:01Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > No one agrees with me on this, but I thought that both Matt Damon and Minnie Driver sounded hideous as they attempted Boston accents in _Good Will Hunting_. Everyone counters with, “but Matt Damon was FROM Boston.” Yeah, but Newton and Cambridge don’t talk like South Boston. It still astonishes me that people don’t hear just how terribly they both faked the accents in that movie. Minnie Driver was putting on a Boston accent? I thought she was just using her natural British one. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/27 "2016-10-11T14:29:13Z")
Not actually an actor, but I just had Gerry & The Pacemakers doing “Jambalaya” come up on iPod shuffle. I can assure you that Gerry does a really, really bad Cajun accent. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/28 "2016-10-11T14:34:12Z")
Renee Zelweger is ok when using her native Texas voice but she destroyed Bridget Jones. Whose dumb idea was that? Britain run out of actresses? Keira Knightley does not do American well. She’s no Hugh Laurie. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/29 "2016-10-11T14:48:11Z")
[Marlon Brando](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3vtKU9bi10) in Mutiny on the Bounty. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/30 "2016-10-11T15:24:55Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > In the SNL skit last Saturday with him attempting a Philadelphia accent, the others were openly mocking him. Doh! I meant Philly accent. It was so bad I couldn’t even place what it was supposed to be. :smack:😃 ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/31 "2016-10-11T15:33:34Z")
Alec Baldwin in [The Departed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r46JtPDtqAk). So bad they made fun of it on 30 Rock a few years later. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/32 "2016-10-11T15:46:36Z")
> [@tenacious\_j](#): > > Renee Zelweger is ok when using her native Texas voice but she destroyed Bridget Jones. Whose dumb idea was that? 100% of English people I’ve seen with any opinion on it has said that her English accent is good to great. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/33 "2016-10-11T16:12:12Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > No one agrees with me on this, but I thought that both Matt Damon and Minnie Driver sounded hideous as they attempted Boston accents in _Good Will Hunting_. Everyone counters with, “but Matt Damon was FROM Boston.” Yeah, but Newton and Cambridge don’t talk like South Boston. It still astonishes me that people don’t hear just how terribly they both faked the accents in that movie. That’s why I can’t watch movies set in North Carolina. They never get the regional accents right. Two exceptions: 1. Zack Galifinakis, who is from Wilkesboro and knows what he’s doing. 2. _Blue Velvet_ where they didn’t even try for an accent even though it’s set in Lumberton. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/34 "2016-10-11T16:50:41Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > 100% of English people I’ve seen with any opinion on it has said that her English accent is good to great. I can’t stand it. It sounds over the top to me. I only remember discussing it with one British person who also hated it so it’s possible I’m not of the popular opinion. Fargo season two was interesting. Even Kirsten Dunst said it was easy to slip right out of Minnesota and into Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/35 "2016-10-11T17:18:54Z")
> [@tenacious\_j](#): > > I can’t stand it. It sounds over the top to me. I only remember discussing it with one British person who also hated it so it’s possible I’m not of the popular opinion… FWIW I thought it was extremely accurate in terms of the social placement. Someone in Bridget Jones’s sort of job would very likely have that sort of Sloaney voice, at least in the first movie. I also thought Gwyneth Paltrow pretty convincing in Sliding Doors. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/36 "2016-10-11T17:20:04Z")
> [@tenacious\_j](#): > > I can’t stand it. It sounds over the top to me. I only remember discussing it with one British person who also hated it so it’s possible I’m not of the popular opinion. I think House’s accent is pretty bad, so I know of unpopular opinions on this topic. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/37 "2016-10-11T17:29:32Z")
Tom Bosley in his (coastal Maine?) accent in “Murder, She Wrote.” ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/38 "2016-10-11T17:47:40Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Tom Bosley in his (coastal Maine?) accent in “Murder, She Wrote.” No, Diana Lane in “The Perfect Storm” beats every other fake Boston accent. > [@](#): > > “The Perfect Storm,” received the harshest criticism from Dave Murphy: “If anyone tells you that ANYONE was worse than Diane Lane in ‘The Perfect Storm’ — then they never saw it.” Ouch! [https://www.yahoo.com/movies/bp/worst-boston-accents-film-according-real-bostonians-234810485.html](https://www.yahoo.com/movies/bp/worst-boston-accents-film-according-real-bostonians-234810485.html) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/39 "2016-10-11T20:07:01Z")
I guess I’m the first to mention Sullivan Stapleton’s lousy American accent in this thread, but that’s probably because I’m the only one still watching “Blindspot”. 😛 And as mentioned upthread, Hayley Atwell’s American accent in her new show is awful. However, I could sit and listen to her British accent all day. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166/40 "2016-10-11T22:36:28Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > 100% of English people I’ve seen with any opinion on it has said that her English accent is good to great. It sounds like she’s trying. When most people speak, it doesn’t sound like they have to think about the sounds. The words just come spilling out (when Zellwegger speaks in her own accent, it sounds like that). When she speaks in a British accent, it sounds like she’s thinking about every single syllable that comes out of her mouth. It’s really forced & laboured and the rhythm is just odd, especially compared to the other (actually British) people in the movie who have a much more natural cadence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-very-poor-at-accents/768166.md?page=3)