American accents as performed by non-Americans

Cafe Society
1

So, I’m just now watching Dr. Who, starting at the beginning of the reboot. I’m still on the first season, but there have been several “American” characters played by British/UKian actors. Captain Jack Harkness, of course, is the most prominent one, but the episode set in Utah (Dalek) had quite a few also.

I’m amused by the fact that Captain Jack seems to be at least somewhat related to John Wayne - the first words out of his mouth sounded like a barely-lighter version of the Duke’s stereotypically broad accent. One of the actors in the Utah episode was similar.

So I figured I’d do a thread about different actors who try doing an American accent, and how good they are or aren’t at it.

Some that I can think of off the top of my head:

John Barrowman - Scotland - Captain Jack on Doctor Who - As I said, pretty good but a bit “John-Wayne-ey”.

Lucy Lawless - New Zealand - Xena on Xena, Warrior Princess - Amazingly good. Would never have guessed she was a Kiwi.

Stephen Moyer - English - Bill Compton on True Blood - I wouldn’t have guessed he was English, but according to Southerners all the Southern accents on that show are terrible.

Robert Pattinson - English - Edward in Twilight - I have no idea, haven’t seen the films.

Who else? Who’s got a particularly atrocious American accent?

2

Idris Elba - Stringer Bell - The Wire - aside from a few lines where he slipped I would never know he was English

Clarke Peters - Lester Freamon - The Wire - Same as above

Dominic West - Jimmy McNulty - The Wire (a pattern?) - not quite as good as the above

Hugh Laurie - Dr House - Would never have known he was English

3

I disagree with Lucy Lawless, I never watched Xena but her extensive role on Battlestar Galactica revealed her accent sounds nothing like a native US accent(it was great for the show as it is scifi set on another planet).

I agree with Hugh Laurie though, he has a certain regional accent down perfect.

4

Lena Headey from Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles but I’ve never heard her speak in her native accent so I don’t know how strong it is.

Keira Knightley in The Jacket did a passable job.

5

That’s because she wasn’t doing an American accent.

Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) has an impeccable American accent.

6

Wait…she was doing an American accent when playing a ancient greek warrior?!:stuck_out_tongue:

7

Christian Bale. I had no idea he was British.
Of course there a lot of Canadian actors who can nail it. :smiley:

8

Yeah, but the implication by the OP was that she sounded American. She doesn’t at all (to my ears).

Hugh Laurie’s accent is pretty damned good, though.

9

I haven’t seen Roger Rabbit since it was in theaters but, if I recall correctly, Hoskins was doing a sort of “old time” New York accent which sounded odd to my New York ears.

10

Damian Lewis has an excellent American accent in Band of Brothers, Life, and Homeland.

Simon Baker from The Mentalist used to sound okay a few years ago, but I guess he’s gotten lazy with it, because there a bunch of spots in a recent episode I saw where his Australian accent came right through.

11

Heh. “Pretty good” amuses me a bit, as that *is *his accent. He was born in Glasgow but moved to Illinois when he was 8, so he does have an American accent. (He can slip back into the Scottish one easily, but American is now his “normal” accent.)

12

Jamie Bamber - Battlestar Gallactica. I was stunned to hear his English accent in an interview.

13

Toni Collette is Australian, and if I hadn’t first watched her in Muriel’s Wedding, I certainly wouldn’t have known that from seeing United States of Tara.

14

He’s American.

15

Xena was specifically done for an American audience but filmed in New Zealand, it was filled with fake American accents, some good, some bad. Lucy Lawless was trying to do an American accent in Xena.

I haven’t seen Lucy Lawless (sounds like a porn name) in Battlestar Galactica but it’s possible the accent you hear in that is just the natural blend of Kiwi and US she’s ended up with after spending time in the USA.

16

Mark Addy in the otherwise completely mediocre sitcom Still Standing was good, but not perfect. There was an odd edge to his lines that gave him away a bit.

17

Agree with the comment about Damian Lewis. I saw him Band of Brothers and Life, and was floored when I found out he was British.

On the other hand, whoever plays Sarah Caulfield on MI5 just murders it. Yeesh. I cringed my way through all the episodes with that character.

18

My vote goes to Charlie Hunnam (Jax) on Sons of Anarchy.

19

Umm… I have never watched Dr. Who, but didn’t Barrowman spend more of his childhood and adolescence in the US than in Scotland. He moved at 8, and didn’t go back for any appreciable amount of time until adulthood.

Sam Neill? At least I never knew he wasn’t American or Canadian until recently.

20

Aidan Gillen - Tommy Carcetti from The Wire. I thought he was on par with Dominic West…slipped up a lot, I could tell.