# American accents as performed by non-Americans **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082 "2012-08-29T23:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/1 "2012-08-29T23:01:11Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/2 "2012-08-29T23:12:14Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/3 "2012-08-29T23:19:21Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![OpusThePenguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7bcc69/32.png) [@OpusThePenguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpusThePenguin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/4 "2012-08-29T23:29:44Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/5 "2012-08-29T23:37:57Z")
> [@grude](#): > > 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). That’s because she wasn’t doing an American accent. Bob Hoskins (_Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_) has an impeccable American accent. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/6 "2012-08-29T23:45:11Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > That’s because she wasn’t doing an American accent. > > Bob Hoskins (_Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_) has an impeccable American accent. Wait…she was doing an American accent when playing a ancient greek warrior?!😛 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/7 "2012-08-29T23:47:18Z")
Christian Bale. I had no idea he was British. Of course there a lot of Canadian actors who can nail it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/8 "2012-08-29T23:51:50Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > That’s because she wasn’t doing an American accent. 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. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/9 "2012-08-29T23:53:07Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Bob Hoskins (_Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_) has an impeccable American accent. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/10 "2012-08-30T00:10:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/11 "2012-08-30T00:25:10Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > John Barrowman - Scotland - Captain Jack on Doctor Who - As I said, pretty good but a bit “John-Wayne-ey”. 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/12 "2012-08-30T00:27:13Z")
Jamie Bamber - Battlestar Gallactica. I was stunned to hear his English accent in an interview. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/13 "2012-08-30T00:53:04Z")
Toni Collette is Australian, and if I hadn’t first watched her in [Muriel’s Wedding](http://youtu.be/SyiA_t-8c7Y), I certainly wouldn’t have known that from seeing [United States of Tara](http://youtu.be/2qjizabqbhI). ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/14 "2012-08-30T00:56:03Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Clarke Peters - Lester Freamon - The Wire - Same as above He’s American. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/15 "2012-08-30T00:56:45Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Wait…she was doing an American accent when playing a ancient greek warrior?!😛 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. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/16 "2012-08-30T01:15:11Z")
Mark Addy in the otherwise completely mediocre sitcom _[Still Standing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F-VSaDEAdQ)_ was good, but not perfect. There was an odd edge to his lines that gave him away a bit. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/17 "2012-08-30T01:30:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/18 "2012-08-30T01:32:30Z")
My vote goes to Charlie Hunnam (Jax) on Sons of Anarchy. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/19 "2012-08-30T01:42:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/20 "2012-08-30T02:28:16Z")
Aidan Gillen - Tommy Carcetti from _The Wire_. I thought he was on par with Dominic West…slipped up a lot, I could tell. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082.md?page=2)