# British dopers: What American actors do you believe to have good British accents? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233 "2018-09-12T18:12:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [September 13, 2018, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/21 "2018-09-13T10:35:53Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > I’ve never heard a non-South African actor do a South African accent that sounds authentic. Though, of course, there are several South African accents. > > Idris Elba didn’t do a bad job as Mandela. Afrikaans accents by overseas actors always sound fake and exaggerated to me. What did you make of Leonardo DiCaprio in _Blood Diamond_? > [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > To my American ear, Lithgow’s American accent is peculiar enough that I’m surprised that he isn’t British. It is peculiar, but not unique. There was a recent [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20791740) about how Lithgow and James Spader share similar vocal intonations, accents and mannerisms. I found it uncanny. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/22 "2018-09-13T12:51:12Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > What did you make of Leonardo DiCaprio in _Blood Diamond_? It’s a terrible South African accent. Which is OK, since his character isn’t South African 🙂 I’m joking, there really isn’t a lot of difference between the two. It was an OK accent. He gets extra props for good use of the word _[doos](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/doos)_. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/23 "2018-09-13T16:49:09Z")
At the wrap party for _Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers_, Bernard Hill, who played Theoden, couldn’t figure out why Brad Dourif (Wormtongue) was affecting a bad American accent. Dourif is American, of course; he just kept his voice in character all through shooting. > [@GreenWyvern](#): > > I’ve never heard a non-South African actor do a South African accent that sounds authentic. Though, of course, there are several South African accents. > > Idris Elba didn’t do a bad job as Mandela. Afrikaans accents by overseas actors always sound fake and exaggerated to me. What about Matt Damon in _Invictus_? A dialect coach who’s made a few YouTube videos breaking down different actors’ accents, said that Damon did a fair bit of research to get the voice right, and did a good job. Certainly he sounded like the South Africans I know (I can generally pick up the difference between a South African and an Australian voice). Of course, that dialect coach is an American… ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/24 "2018-09-13T19:29:25Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Patrick beat me on two I was going to mention. John Lithgow was excellent recently as Churchill in The Crown. This surprises me. It was mostly mumbling and I have no idea what the real Winston Churchill sounded like, but all I could hear was John Lithgow which made me think it was a bad accent. To be fair, I’m terrible at noticing actual bad accents too. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/25 "2018-09-13T20:58:39Z")
James Marsters is excellent. You wouldn’t know he wasn’t English. ---
**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 13, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/26 "2018-09-13T21:11:18Z")
I don’t remember hearing any complaints about the American actors in the\* Lord of the Rings \*movies - Astin, Wood and Mortensen. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/27 "2018-09-13T21:18:02Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I don’t remember hearing any complaints about the American actors in the\* Lord of the Rings \*movies - Astin, Wood and Mortensen. Viggo Mortensen barely counts, he is also fluent in Danish, Spanish (Argentinian Spanish anyway), and possibly a couple other languages. He’s sort of a polyglot. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/28 "2018-09-13T21:32:49Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > What about Matt Damon in _Invictus_? It was serviceable. Not bad, but I think I was distracted in that he didn’t actually sound like _Pienaar_. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/29 "2018-09-13T21:34:52Z")
I don’t think John Hillerman has been mentioned yet… ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/30 "2018-09-13T22:04:34Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I don’t remember hearing any complaints about the American actors in the\* Lord of the Rings \*movies - Astin, Wood and Mortensen. But they weren’t necessarily doing British accents. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/31 "2018-09-13T22:06:21Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > It is peculiar, but not unique. There was a recent [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20791740) about how Lithgow and James Spader share similar vocal intonations, accents and mannerisms. I found it uncanny. I had never noticed the similarities before. That is uncanny. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/32 "2018-09-13T22:06:51Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > But they weren’t necessarily doing British accents. Astin \*certainly \*wasn’t 😃 ---
**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:** [September 13, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/33 "2018-09-13T22:28:52Z")
Any opinions on Tatiana Maslany and Jordan Gavaris in _Orphan Black_? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/34 "2018-09-13T23:33:39Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Any opinions on Tatiana Maslany and Jordan Gavaris in _Orphan Black_? Canadians don’t count! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/35 "2018-09-14T00:44:24Z")
I’m not British (Irish) but Ben Schnetzer (a New Yorker) did a perfect take-off of Mark Ashton’s accent in the film Pride (2014). Ashton was a Northern Ireland rared lad but had lived in England for quite a few years when the events that inspired the film transpired and honestly I have never heard a more nuanced put on accent. Schnetzer puts in a great performance but he also sounds, to my ears, perfect portraying an Northern Irish kid living in London. I was shocked when I found out the actor wasn’t British or Irish. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/36 "2018-09-14T01:13:50Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > At the wrap party for _Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers_, Bernard Hill, who played Theoden, couldn’t figure out why Brad Dourif (Wormtongue) was affecting a bad American accent. > > Dourif is American, of course; he just kept his voice in character all through shooting. Tangent: John Noble (Denethor) seems to always have a strange accent while acting. Half Blue Blood American, half RSC British. I was amused when in Legends of Tomorrow they travelled back in time and met him on the set of LoTR and he was speaking in a very Australian accent. > [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > But they weren’t necessarily doing British accents. They had perfect Shire accents. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/37 "2018-09-14T05:02:24Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Tangent: > > John Noble (Denethor) seems to always have a strange accent while acting. Half Blue Blood American, half RSC British. Did he do a South African? Even though I knew he lives here, for some reason at some stage I thought he was South African. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/38 "2018-09-14T10:38:44Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Schnetzer puts in a great performance but he also sounds, to my ears, perfect portraying an Northern Irish kid living in London. I was shocked when I found out the actor wasn’t British or Irish. And so am I now, not having realised this before! To my London ears it was entirely convincing, and I suspect there are a lot of British actors who aren’t too hot at “Norn Ireland” either. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/39 "2018-09-14T11:08:50Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > At the wrap party for _Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers_, Bernard Hill, who played Theoden, couldn’t figure out why Brad Dourif (Wormtongue) was affecting a bad American accent. > > Dourif is American, of course; he just kept his voice in character all through shooting. I’ve heard similar stories before, and I’m not suggesting you are wrong, but I have to say It would surprise me greatly to learn that Bernard Hill didn’t already know who Brad Dourif was. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/40 "2018-09-14T18:14:25Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’ve heard similar stories before, and I’m not suggesting you are wrong, but I have to say It would surprise me greatly to learn that Bernard Hill didn’t already know who Brad Dourif was. Well, maybe, but he wouldn’t necessarily know Dourif’s nationality. Dourif’s had a long, respectable career…as a character actor. He’s never been a Brad Pitt or Robert Redford. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233.md?page=3)