# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/81 "2012-09-01T00:31:50Z")
> [@Achren](#): > > Ha. I opened this to post about Poppy Montgomery and Anna Torv (_Fringe_). Most of the time they’re very good, but sometimes the 'A’s are weird, which is why I know they’re both from Australia. Really? I didn’t know Anna Torv wasn’t American until I listened to her on a talk show. I don’t think Canadians should even count. I know a lot of Americans that have worse accents than most Canadians. If you want to talk about bad accents, then you should mention Mel Gibson and Jean-Claude Van Damme in their early movies. For Arnold Schwarzenegger the accent is his trademark, so he probably isn’t even trying to fix it. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/82 "2012-09-01T00:38:03Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > If you want to talk about bad accents, then you should mention Mel Gibson and Jean-Claude Van Damme in their early movies. For Arnold Schwarzenegger the accent is his trademark, so he probably isn’t even trying to fix it. I tend to not count anyone whose first language isn’t English, like Schwarzenegger or Van Damme. It must be difficult acting in a language that’s not your first one, so getting the accent exactly right is probably not foremost on their mind. But I did recently see part of the first **Lethal Weapon** for the first time in a while, and you’re right, it’s surprising how Australian Mel Gibson sounds. (And before you say anything, yes, I know he was born in the U.S., but he moved to Australia as a kid.) ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/83 "2012-09-01T02:40:46Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > I tend to not count anyone whose first language isn’t English, like Schwarzenegger or Van Damme. It must be difficult acting in a language that’s not your first one, so getting the accent exactly right is probably not foremost on their mind. But I did recently see part of the first **Lethal Weapon** for the first time in a while, and you’re right, it’s surprising how Australian Mel Gibson sounds. (And before you say anything, yes, I know he was born in the U.S., but he moved to Australia as a kid.) I remember the original release of Max Max in the US. They actually dubbed over Mel Gibson’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/84 "2012-09-01T03:21:49Z")
> [@Achren](#): > > Most of the time they’re very good, but sometimes the 'A’s are weird, which is why I know they’re both from Australia. The ones who get the E’s wrong are from England, right? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/85 "2012-09-01T03:25:19Z")
Jack Thompson is an Australian actor who has had a lot of small to medium roles in movies playing Americans. He’s also done some of the harder ‘southern’ accents, notably in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I’d be interested to know what Americans thought of his accent(s). > **[Jack Thompson | Actor, Producer, Additional Crew](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0860233/)** > > Known for: Breaker Morant, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/86 "2012-09-01T05:29:29Z")
The best American accent I’ve heard recently was from Zoe Boyle in _Inspector Lewis: The Point of Vanishing_. At first I swore I could hear that something was subtly off, but on listening to her carefully I couldn’t identify anything specific. And she looked like a typical rich American girl with her long, straight blond hair (her character was the daughter of the US SecDef or SecState, I forget which). I was never totally convinced of Hugh Laurie’s accent in _House_. It seems to me that a grating vocalization like his is sometimes used to convey an American accent and to cover deviations from it. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/87 "2012-09-01T10:24:05Z")
I watched an episode of Miss Marple the other day where one of the American accents (the film producer) was so awful it sounded like the typical BBC radio play American accent (which are very poor). According to IMDB the actor is actually American, and a dialect coach. But it sounded so over the top! ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/88 "2012-09-01T12:30:22Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > I got news for you. In Texas or New York, those accents _aren’t_ all that ludicrous. They’ve become proud badges of allegiance, respectively to the far right and the far left. I was born and grew up in Houston and sorry but the stereotypical Texas accent was almost non-existent aside from a handful. People usually don’t have a clue where I am from, they pick a random english speaking country like Canada or Australia. I thought King Of The Hill did a very good job capturing what typical Texans sound like. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/89 "2012-09-01T14:31:58Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I was born and grew up in Houston and sorry but the stereotypical Texas accent was almost non-existent aside from a handful. People usually don’t have a clue where I am from, they pick a random english speaking country like Canada or Australia. My mother is a Texan and has a pretty strong East Texas accent, but when my family was living in the Midwest she’d also often have people guess she was Australian. There was a local public figure who was Australian, and people would even specifically say my mother sounded like her. ---
**Author:** ![FallingLeaves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/54ee81/32.png) [@FallingLeaves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallingLeaves)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/90 "2012-09-02T03:22:58Z")
Marsha Thomason, currently on White Collar (was on Lost and a number of other shows, but I have no idea if she played an American on those or not) is originally from Manchester, England. On White Collar she’s pretty good, but I can hear her slip up now and then. She had one episode where she went undercover as someone from England, so she spent a lot of time going back and forth between accents, even in the same scenes. Always wondered how difficult that was. Matt Passmore from The Glades is Australian. I wish they’d just let him use his regular accent. On the show is American accent is always a bit off. There are just certain words that don’t sound right for a character supposedly from Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/91 "2012-09-02T04:06:40Z")
The Monty Python boys’ efforts to talk American are always endearingly bad. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/92 "2012-09-02T09:14:30Z")
> [@FallingLeaves](#): > > Matt Passmore from The Glades is Australian. I wish they’d just let him use his regular accent. On the show is American accent is always a bit off. There are just certain words that don’t sound right for a character supposedly from Chicago. I had no idea Passmore isn’t an American. His accent sounds convincing to me. ---
**Author:** ![FallingLeaves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/54ee81/32.png) [@FallingLeaves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallingLeaves)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/93 "2012-09-03T00:47:54Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I had no idea Passmore isn’t an American. His accent sounds convincing to me. Maybe I’m hearing it then because I know. Oops, sorry to have potentially ruined it for you. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/94 "2012-09-03T01:12:59Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > …I know a lot of Americans that have worse accents than most Canadians… Gee, thanks! ETA: Eh. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/95 "2012-09-03T01:41:37Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I generally like Ewan McGregor as an actor, but he’s not very good with American accents. This worked fine in _Down With Love_, where his character was _supposed_ to be faking a rather over-the-top American (Southern) accent, but in movies I’ve seen where he’s actually playing an American he hasn’t been very convincing. MacGregor’s accent in “Black Hawk Down” was appallingly bad. ---
**Author:** ![Euryphaessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/96 "2012-09-03T02:01:52Z")
Dolph Lundgren’s American accent sounds technically pretty good to me, but he has a strange flat quality to his voice sometimes that isn’t quite natural. ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/97 "2012-09-03T14:12:03Z")
Linus Roache who played Cutter the ADA on the last few seasons of Law and Order. Thought he was American until I went to IMDB, and :eek: ---
**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:** [September 3, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/98 "2012-09-03T14:30:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > MacGregor’s accent in “Black Hawk Down” was appallingly bad. Ewan MacGregor is capable of doing three accents and three accents only: Scottish, English and Alec Guinness. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/99 "2012-09-03T14:43:06Z")
> [@charmstr](#): > > I lived in Scotland for a couple of years in the late 1970s and was floored at the awful American accents that flourished on British television, mostly but not always in comedies. In the sitcoms, the American invariably had either a ridiculous “Texas” or a ludicrous “1940s New York Jewish” accent. > [@Beware of Doug](#): > > I got news for you. In Texas or New York, those accents aren’t all that ludicrous. They’ve become proud badges of allegiance, respectively to the far right and the far left. I think Charmstr thinks they were “ludicrous” because they were badly done. > [@tdn](#): > > Portia de Rossi was very convincing in both Ally McBeal and Arrested Development. It’s a little jarring to hear her speak with her native Australian accent. I read an interview with her in which she said she has been doing American accents for so long that she no longer can do her native accent. So you won’t be hearing it any more except in her old movies. ---
**Author:** ![Ceri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/57b2e6/32.png) [@Ceri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082/100 "2012-09-03T16:31:46Z")
Andrew Lincoln does a cracking American accent on The Walking Dead, he’s VERY English in real life. On the flip side of the coin, James Marsters does a great English one in Buffy/Angel considering he’s American through and through. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-as-performed-by-non-americans/633082.md?page=6)