# Best accent by an actor/actress **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2001, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109 "2001-10-28T16:29:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skijumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@Skijumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skijumper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/41 "2001-10-30T11:20:17Z")
Maybe not the best, but Mike Meyers’ Austin Powers is hilarious. Another Australian who does various accents - Cate Blanchett. In fact I’ve only heard her do Australian in two movies, Oscar & Lucinda and Paradise Road. Julianne Moore is another fab actress who’s great at both English and American accents. IIRC, Jodi Foster did an English accent in one of her smaller movies. No, I’m not thinking of Anna & The King… ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/42 "2001-10-30T13:17:43Z")
Until I heard him speak in an interview, I would never have imagined for a moment that Cary Elwes was British. He does a damned good American. Carroll O’Connor managed to do a convincing, though broad, Brooklyn as well as a convincing, though broad, Mississippi. Gary Oldman has a pretty good range of accents. His Lee Harvey Oswald was convincing enough, although a little dopey. Although Matt Damon and Ben Affleck both gave their all to get authentic Southie accents in “Good Will Hunting,” Ben’s little brother Casey beat them both. He can slip in and out of it at will. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/43 "2001-10-30T16:50:41Z")
**justinh** wrote: > [@](#): > > Vivien Leigh - as scarlet O’hara - Gone with the Wind Gaaaah! No offense, **justinh** , but that’s one of the worst fake Southern accents ever committed to film. At least Clark Gable realized he couldn’t fake a Southern accent, and refused to even try. Some good fake Southern accents, IMHO:[ul][li] **Robert Duvall** in several films (The Prophet, Sling Blade, Tender Mercies…)[_] **Sally Field** in Forrest Gump[_] **Jessica Tandy** in Driving Miss Daisy[_] **Ed Norton** in Primal Fear[_]The entire cast of Doc Hollywood did a pretty good job.[/ul][/li] Most Egregious Absence of a Southern Accent goes to Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams. How can you play a cracker like Shoeless Joe without using a Southern accent? ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/44 "2001-10-30T17:52:14Z")
> [@](#): > > And what about Kevin Costner? > [@](#): > > I would never have imagined for a moment that Cary Elwes was British. Prince John: And why would the people listen to you? Robin Hood: Because, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent. hehehehehe! Oh, and my choice is anyone but the three girls from _The Atomic Brain_. Worst accents ever! As Mike and the Bots said: “Stop it, you’re all from Nebraska!” ---
**Author:** ![thermalribbon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@thermalribbon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thermalribbon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/45 "2001-10-30T18:16:59Z")
**Rachel Griffiths’** American accent in **Six Feet Under** is very convincing. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/46 "2001-10-30T18:29:56Z")
The best American accent I think I have ever heard is Eamonn Walker, the guy who plays Kareem Said on OZ. I had absolutely no idea he wasn’t native American until I saw him in an interview speaking with a really strong Londonish Accent. ---
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/47 "2001-10-30T18:34:18Z")
I think one of the best (agreeing with TV Time) was Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Chioice. She was playing a Pole, and she nailed it. (She apparently worked with Polish nationals to pick up the nuances). What made it so effective in addition to the accent, was her use of malapropisms. [paraphrase] “Stingo, you look wonderful in your new cocksucker jacket”. [/paraphrase] Too often, actors believe that an accent is produced by using good diction. Of course then it can be used for any accent. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/48 "2001-10-30T18:36:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skijumper \* > **Another Australian who does various accents - Cate Blanchett. In fact I’ve only heard her do Australian in two movies, Oscar & Lucinda and Paradise Road.** Blanchette did an effective American Southern accent in _The Gift_. Liam Neeson did a Appalachian accent somewhat less well in _Next of Kin_. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/49 "2001-10-30T19:04:28Z")
Cate Blanchett’s accent in _The Gift_ was great, I agree. But Jodie Foster’s West Virginia accent in _The Silence of the Lambs_ was dead on. It sounded _exactly_ like what it was meant to be–the accent of a dyed-in-the-wool West Virginian who’s tried very hard all her life to get rid of it, but not succeeded. Dr. LindyHopper lived most of her life in West Virginia, and she says it sounds just like people she knew. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/50 "2001-10-30T23:05:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yojimbo \* > \*\*Errm Brad Pitt played a Irish Traveler(gypsy) in Snatch living in the UK. His accent in Snatch was better than Devils Own in my opinion but both where pretty good. \*\* When I said it wasn’t quite Irish, I just meant that the _Snatch_ accent was described in the film as being a muddled blend of accents (or am I misremembering - which is quite likely for me) and so I thought maybe Pitt’s accent didn’t sound quite right to people from the region. How about Tom Cruise’s accent in _Far and Away_? Ok… kidding, just kidding! Was anyone else listening to Cruise’s accent in that movie and waiting for him to start in about everybody being after his Lucky Charms? Or, on a more serious note, how about Ben Kingsley in _Ghandi_? ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/51 "2001-10-30T23:18:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pldennison \* > **Until I heard him speak in an interview, I would never have imagined for a moment that Cary Elwes was British. He does a damned good American.** Wow. I had no idea. I just did a google search to verify this (it was that hard for me to believe) and I’ll be damned - dude’s as British as Margaret Thatcher! One site even says he’s related (by an in-law) “to Guilford Dudley and Lady Jane Grey, rather fitting since it is in one of my favorite movies, ‘Lady Jane’ in which he played Guilford Dudley. He is also a descendant of King John…” Definitely a good American accent there, but whatever the hell he was doing in _Shadow of the Vampire_ grated my nerves. ---
**Author:** ![DoperChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@DoperChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoperChic)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/52 "2001-10-30T23:38:30Z")
Tom Hanks / Sally Fields in Forrest Gump. The guy in Felicity. I’ve only seen the show a few times so I don’t remember his name. Watching him in Felicity and then in Drew Carey is just downright weird. ---
**Author:** ![Heath\_Doolin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Heath\_Doolin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heath_Doolin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/53 "2001-10-31T05:15:09Z")
Most of the people in **Fargo** … they really nailed those Wisconsin accents. Jeffrey Wright as Peoples Hernandez in **Shaft**. The guy is a classically trained Shakespearian actor in film and stage and I know people who swear thats his natural accent. Thats good acting when people believe you grew up speaking like it ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/54 "2001-10-31T19:28:55Z")
Nicole Kidman does American so well, I thought her Australian accent was fake. ---
**Author:** ![Janet\_O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Janet\_O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Janet_O)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/55 "2001-11-03T17:33:53Z")
How about Peter Sellers’ unforgettable Inspector Clousseau? _Where is your **phyewn?** _ ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/56 "2001-11-04T04:24:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Guy Pierce’s American accents in L.A. Confidential and Memento were pretty impressive. I disagree. It wasn’t horrible or anything, but I spent all of Memento trying to figure out exactly what accent he was hiding. A good imitation, but not 100% accurate, like, say, Kenneth Branagh’s in Dead Again. (That was the first movie I saw him in, and I was very startled when I saw Henry V.) ---
**Author:** ![hegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hegel)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/57 "2001-11-04T04:39:37Z")
Sean Connery as a Scotsman . . . inimitable. ---
**Author:** ![orr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47c2d/32.png) [@orr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orr)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/58 "2001-11-04T04:47:21Z")
Yet another one for Bob Hoskins. I haven’t seen most of his movies, but his accent in Roger Rabbit was perfect. I also liked Helena Bonham Carter’s accent in Fight Club. ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/59 "2001-11-04T05:05:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by thermalribbon \* > \*\ ***Rachel Griffiths’** American accent in **Six Feet Under** is very convincing. \*\* I just looked this up. She’s Australian?! I had no idea! I’m going to be completely distracted every time I see her on the show now trying to hear if she slips up. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109/60 "2001-11-04T07:56:40Z")
It’s gotta be Mandy Patinkin in “The Brincess Bride”, just because his accent was so much FUN. “My name is Inigo Montoya…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-accent-by-an-actor-actress/90109.md?page=4)