# American TV show with no Americans in starring roles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863 "2015-07-11T16:55:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/21 "2015-07-13T14:38:25Z")
The Fox network sci-fi series\*\*\* Fringe \*\*\*was heavily cast with foreign actors, including Aussies Anna Torv and John Noble. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/22 "2015-07-13T15:21:47Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > 98% of the cast of _Game of Thrones_ is from the UK (plus Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime) from Denmark, Sibel Kekilli (Shae) from Germany, and Carice van Houten (Melisandre) from Netherlands). Peter Dinklage is the only American in a major role that I can think of, out of like 30+ major characters. “Game of Thrones” is really more of an international show than a US one. It’s produced by an American network but is a near-global production effort and most of the shooting is in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/23 "2015-07-13T16:11:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Game of Thrones” is really more of an international show than a US one. It’s produced by an American network but is a near-global production effort and most of the shooting is in Europe. That’s precisely why I’ve been sticking to the large (and, seemingly growing) number of American shows in which English, Irish, Scottish and Aussie actors are cast in lead roles as Americans. Aussie Simon Baker has been given the lead role, playing an American, in both _ **The Mentalist** _ and _ **The Guardian** _. Anglo-Irish actor Linus Roache played the New York District Attorney on _ **Law & Order** _. Englishman Hugh Dancy plays American FBI agent Will Graham in _ **Hannibal.** _ Aussie Alex O’Loughlin is the current McGarrett on the new _ **Hawaii Five-O** _ And it’s not just in TV- American movies are filled with foreign actors playing Americans. In the acclaimed _ **Selma** _, most of the lead roles were played by British actors (David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tim Roth and Tom Wilkinson, for instance). Or, if you want to look at sleazier (but more profitable) movies, the star of _ **50 Shades of Grey** _ was Jamie Dornan, an Irishman. I don’t know if this means foreign actors are really good or if American actors are really bad. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/24 "2015-07-13T17:59:38Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > There were several English and Scottish actors among the tough guy “American” bikers in _ **Sons of Anarchy** _- most notably Charlie Hunnam and Tommy Flanagan. Pretty sure it was just those two and the rest of the regulars were played by Americans (except for Canadian Kim “Tig” Coates.) Not a regular, but S of A had the rare reverse too, with yank Titus Welliver playing an Irish gangster. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/25 "2015-07-13T18:58:34Z")
I mentioned the movie _ **Selma,** _ but the Oscar-winning\*\*\* Twelve Years a Slave \*\*\*was also loaded with foreign actors. Were there really no black American actors good enough to play the leads in those two films? Were the black English actors just THAT much more talented than their American peers? Do actors in other English-speaking nations just get better training than young American actors? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/26 "2015-07-13T19:28:00Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > There were several English and Scottish actors among the tough guy “American” bikers in _ **Sons of Anarchy** _- most notably Charlie Hunnam and Tommy Flanagan. Although Flanagan is playing a Scottish character. I was impressed that Hunnam pronounced “Nevada” properly in Season 1 (not the way that people east of Utah pronounce it). Only one other actor did so correctly (forget who, Perlman said it wrong). But IIRC in Season 7 Hunnam reverted to Neh-vaah-daah. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/27 "2015-07-13T19:53:47Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Were there really no black American actors good enough to play the leads in those two films? Were the black English actors just THAT much more talented than their American peers? It’s not so much a political point as a practical one; on recent stats, 1 in 3 will be in prison at some point. I’d guess that one in three are not out on a limb and are part of a spectrum in which not a whole bunch spend 3-4 years at drama school. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/28 "2015-07-13T21:05:08Z")
How about _Hannibal_? Both lead actors, Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikklesen are respectively British and Danish (admittedly, in this case Lecter is supposed to be of eastern-European descent), while canucks Caroline Dhavernas, Scott Thompson and Aaron Abrams complete the cast. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/29 "2015-07-13T21:32:56Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > It’s not so much a political point as a practical one; on recent stats, 1 in 3 will be in prison at some point. > > I’d guess that one in three are not out on a limb and are part of a spectrum in which not a whole bunch spend 3-4 years at drama school. 1 out of 3 black American **actors** will be in prison at some point? Bull-fucking-shit. I can’t see what relevance your statement has to **black American actors** being cast in roles. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/30 "2015-07-13T21:43:52Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > How about _Hannibal_? Both lead actors, Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikklesen are respectively British and Danish (admittedly, in this case Lecter is supposed to be of eastern-European descent), while canucks Caroline Dhavernas, Scott Thompson and Aaron Abrams complete the cast. Laurence Fishburne spoils it though. He’s got his name in the opening credits. Scott hasn’t even showed up this season (although I’m an episode behind…). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/31 "2015-07-13T22:10:49Z")
I never watched Hannibal, but it has Scott Thompson? Mind blown. Who knew that Buddy Cole would be in a serial killer drama. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/32 "2015-07-13T22:42:50Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > I know some of the shows mentioned are “American” but Game of Thrones and Reign don’t take place here, so Im not sure why viewers would be surprised so much of the cast is not from here. I wasn’t at all surprised that the _Reign_ cast is almost entirely non-American. Rather, I was surprised to learn that it’s an American production. Yesterday before I posted my above contribution, I had been about to post about \*Reign \*in the thread asking for “British TV series with the most eye candy”—because that’s what _Reign_ is, supreme eye candy, the Godiva Gold Ballotins Collection for the eyes—but checked first, only to find it was disqualified from that thread because it’s an American production. Then I found this thread, which is practically tailor-made for _Reign_. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/33 "2015-07-13T23:42:00Z")
You’ll have to go pretty far down the cast list of [_Spartacus_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758429/) before you find an American. First one I could spot was Marisa Ramirez, in a fairly minor supporting role. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/34 "2015-07-14T00:31:37Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > You’ll have to go pretty far down the cast list of [_Spartacus_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758429/) before you find an American. First one I could spot was Marisa Ramirez, in a fairly minor supporting role. Kind of strange that they have a separate page for that season but not the others (it was the 2nd of the 4 by air date). I realize it’s a prequel, but still… Nick Tarabay is the 5th billed and presumably a US citizen, even if he moved there later. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863/35 "2015-07-14T01:40:57Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > It’s not so much a political point as a practical one; on recent stats, 1 in 3 will be in prison at some point. > > I’d guess that one in three are not out on a limb and are part of a spectrum in which not a whole bunch spend 3-4 years at drama school. What the fuck? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-tv-show-with-no-americans-in-starring-roles/724863.md?page=1)