# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**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, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/41 "2018-09-14T18:21:59Z")
> [@blob](#): > > 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. No he’s Australian. I don’t remember ever hearing him do his real accent while working. Here’s the actual scene. The demon they are fighting sounds like John Noble (because he’s voiced by John Noble) so they go back in time to get John Noble to voice some lines to fool one of the bad guys. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-sMAKnG2sEM/maxresdefault.jpg "Legends of Tomorrow | Ray Palmer and John Noble Scene (3x17)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sMAKnG2sEM) ---
**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 14, 2018, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/42 "2018-09-14T18:22:53Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Dourif’s had a long, respectable career…as a character actor. He has, and a great one. But let’s be honest - that’s not what he’s \*best \*known for. ---
**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, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/43 "2018-09-14T18:34:57Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > He has, and a great one. But let’s be honest - that’s not what he’s \*best \*known for. Okay, I’m completely missing your allusion. Does Brad Dourif have some scandal in his background? Chicken felcher? Satanic abuse survivor? Satanic abuse inflictor? ---
**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 14, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/44 "2018-09-14T18:50:30Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Okay, I’m completely missing your allusion. Does Brad Dourif have some scandal in his background?[…]Satanic abuse inflictor? [Something](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/Chucky_%28Child%27s_Play%29.jpg/220px-Chucky_%28Child%27s_Play%29.jpg)like that… ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/45 "2018-09-14T20:45:50Z")
To second some of the others: Alexis Denisoff (sounds bizarre as an American, agreed) James Marsters - except for the historical bits where he’s trying to do RP and fails. He very occasionally goes American but that’s more realistic for his character, given how long he’d been living in the US Renee Zellweger - yes, it’s a particular home counties accent, but that’s what her character would have Meryl Streep (like Lithgow, it’s sort of an impersonation, but it still counts) > [@MrDibble](#): > > [Something](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/Chucky_%28Child%27s_Play%29.jpg/220px-Chucky_%28Child%27s_Play%29.jpg)like that… I had no idea he voiced Chucky - wouldn’t be surprised if a British actor didn’t either. Interestingly, I just looked up a couple of things and am amazed to hear that Kate Winslet was supposed to be doing an American accent in Titanic. She didn’t sound like she was trying an accent at all. Did anyone else notice her being anything other than English? ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/46 "2018-09-15T00:22:59Z")
How about a horrible attempt at a British accent? Canadian Dave Thomas as Uncle Trevor in _Arrested Development._ (“Mista F”) ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2018, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/47 "2018-09-15T05:42:51Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > How about a horrible attempt at a British accent? > Canadian Dave Thomas as Uncle Trevor in _Arrested Development._ (“Mista F”) Its perhaps the least authentic thing in the whole of Wee Britain. Just watched The Ghost Writer. Very good but Kim Cattrall, who plays the Not-Tony-Blair’s executive assistant affects a British accent that’s all over the place [except possibly England]. ---
**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 15, 2018, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/48 "2018-09-15T11:04:41Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I had no idea he voiced Chucky - wouldn’t be surprised if a British actor didn’t either. As a british movie fan I had no idea of that either, probably not a massive “thing” over here (and I was smack-bang in the middle of the target demographic for that). So no, he wouldn’t be best known for that over here. Perhaps OFOTCN, or Mississippi Burning, or Deadwood or certainly TLOTR series. Heck he’s been in so many things and often disappears into the part that it isn’t surprising perhaps that he manages to avoid being categorised as an american actor. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/49 "2018-09-15T16:12:01Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Interestingly, I just looked up a couple of things and am amazed to hear that Kate Winslet was supposed to be doing an American accent in Titanic. She didn’t sound like she was trying an accent at all. Did anyone else notice her being anything other than English? Supposedly her character was based on the ceramicist Beatrice Wood, who was American. Wood should have sued James Cameron for slander. I think she was still alive at the time the movie came out. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/50 "2018-09-15T16:13:19Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Its perhaps the least authentic thing in the whole of Wee Britain. > > Just watched The Ghost Writer. Very good but Kim Cattrall, who plays the Not-Tony-Blair’s executive assistant affects a British accent that’s all over the place [except possibly England]. Kim Cattrall was actually born in Liverpool. She grew up in Vancouver, though. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/51 "2018-09-15T19:05:26Z")
Cattrall did, to my American ears, a pretty good British accent in that movie where she played Mrs. Rudyard Kipling. Three previous threads that may be of interest: > **[Any UK films / TV where Americans use flawless UK accents?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=646521)** > > There are a lot of American shows where a main character is played by an Brittish or Austrailian actor who speaks with an American accent. Often they do this so well that most of the audience doesn’t realize they are not, in fact, American. Some... > **[British, which American actor has nailed your accent the best.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=373120)** > > Any nominees? Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors is one off the top of my head that I can come up with. Whose your nomination? Is it harder for an American to do British or for British to do American? > **[Brits: How is Gillian Anderson's British accent?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739111)** > > I always think of her as American as apple pie, in The X-Files and other stuff, but I understand she’s done a lot of British film and TV work since. Listen at 2:53:51 here, for instance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddPlft8ve9s What say you? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/52 "2018-10-12T14:28:35Z")
Daniel Davis, who played Niles the Butler on The Nanny, is from Arkansas. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/53 "2018-10-12T15:50:48Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > 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. To English me, he doesn’t sound quite English in the LOtR films, there’s a hint of something else not quite identifiable. It’s like someone who learned a second language so well it’s almost unnoticeable, but every now and again there’s an inconsistent bit. A vowel that doesn’t fit in or something. Of course, that works perfectly for the character, being not like everyone else but pretending to be, so it’s not a problem. It may even have been deliberate. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/54 "2018-10-12T16:15:41Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > But they weren’t necessarily doing British accents. I say, old boy - there’s no such thing as a British accent. Our geography is a bit confusing - we have: United Kingdom - covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Great Britain - covers England, Scotland and Wales England - covers England (as you’d expect) ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/55 "2018-10-12T16:22:36Z")
Now there is a ‘standard’ English accent, known as Received Pronunciation. And that’s a reasonable way to compare actors. Even within England we have delightful regional accents (West Country, Geordie, Liverpool etc.) And then you have the completely distinguishable glorious Welsh, Scottish and irish accents. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/56 "2018-10-12T17:18:33Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I say, old boy - there’s no such thing as a British accent. > > Our geography is a bit confusing - we have: > > United Kingdom - covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland > Great Britain - covers England, Scotland and Wales > England - covers England (as you’d expect) Well on here we often talk about actors and how well they do an American accent. It’s no different here. There is no one American accent. It doesn’t have to be said that there are different regional accents. Just listen to the huge differences between NYC, Philadelphia and Boston. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/57 "2018-10-12T19:34:50Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Well on here we often talk about actors and how well they do an American accent. It’s no different here. There is no one American accent. It doesn’t have to be said that there are different regional accents. Just listen to the huge differences between NYC, Philadelphia and Boston. I appreciate that, but I think the four countries that make up the UK are different from the States which make up the US. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2018, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/58 "2018-10-14T21:26:11Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I appreciate that, but I think the four countries that make up the UK are different from the States which make up the US. Sure, one is on the left side of the ocean the other is on the right. But the concept is the same. There is no one national accent for the US or the UK. There is a neutral newsreaders accent for both that is recognized as from each country but its not how real people talk. Both the UK and the US have multiple regional accents, some that are extremely localized. It is still possible to speak in broad terms and say an actor does a good American/British accent. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233/59 "2018-10-14T21:42:55Z")
One of the latest Americans to give it a go is Michael C. Hall (Dexter) in the tv series [Safe.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7902072/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-what-american-actors-do-you-believe-to-have-good-british-accents/821233.md?page=2)