# Brits: Are there any Yank actors who can play a convincing Brit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587 "2008-11-07T03:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![The\_Tof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@The\_Tof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tof)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/61 "2008-11-08T10:55:37Z")
I read that Renee Zellwegger secretly took a job in London under an assumed name to perfect her accent. Something she managed to pull off without anybody suspecting anything. So- I’d say her accent was done pretty well. (Before I posted, found this confirmed on the [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243155/trivia) page- just to be sure I remembered correctly.) ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/62 "2008-11-08T12:38:13Z")
> [@The\_Tof](#): > > I read that Renee Zellwegger secretly took a job in London under an assumed name to perfect her accent. Something she managed to pull off without anybody suspecting anything. So- I’d say her accent was done pretty well. I was never sure if that story indicated her perfect accent or how polite the English are. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/63 "2008-11-08T13:33:29Z")
The most jarring thing i ever noticed about James Marsters was his pronunciation of the insult ‘Poof’ (derogatry now somewhat archaic term for homosexual) . Which he used repeatedly. He always said it to rhyme with ‘Roof’. It’s actually pronouced more well ‘Pouffe’ is the closest i can think off written down, it doesn’t really rhyme well with anything i could use to make clearer. Not that you should really be using it anyway. ``` A trivial thing really, but it really broke the 4th wall for me whenever he used 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:** [November 8, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/64 "2008-11-08T15:35:12Z")
Count me in as one who did not recognize anyone in the Splunge doing an American accent. Not even the Texan. Except for Terry (he was the second from the end, right?). It’s the vowels. They are pronounced so differently. But I see where they get all those 'r’s from. It’s because they hear so many of them from Americans that they themselves do not pronounce. The British pahk the cah. Even Bostonians, who have that aaaah sounding vowel, pah®k the cah®. The ‘r’ sound is not as strong as most American accents but it’s still there. Perhaps it’s the same with English speakers across the pond? Or maybe it’s something else. At least the British can tell Americans are trying (and failing) for a British accent. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/65 "2008-11-08T19:18:53Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > Don’t forget Christian Bale, whose American is impeccable, and who stays in-character (accent and all) throughout shooting. I’ve heard that people who work for him for the first time often don’t find out he’s English until after they’re done filming the project and he starts speaking naturally. > > ETA: If you’re looking for it, you can tell he’s straining it a little during the more frantic scenes in _American Psycho_, but he seemed totally convincing in _The Dark Knight_. > > I’m curious: what, exactly, does a badly-mimicked American accent sound like? Does anyone have some YouTube links they can share? Honestly, there are times when John McCain’s accent reminds me of a bad British attempt at an American accent. Not always, but sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![jtsPimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@jtsPimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtsPimp)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/66 "2008-11-08T21:54:04Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Are there any American actors who can do as convincing-to-British-ears a job in a British character? Bradd Pitt: while his “pikey” accent was a little off in Snatch, he did make an excellent job of it. He did get it technically correct, although the sound was a bit off in places. And the dialect was spot on, you could tell that he totally did his homework on it. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/67 "2008-11-09T01:16:52Z")
> [@jtsPimp](#): > > Bradd Pitt: while his “pikey” accent was a little off Here it comes. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/68 "2008-11-09T01:33:58Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > Here it comes. Is “pikey” really that offensive in this usage? (Meaning, not being shouted at someone as a term of abuse.) According to this article ([How offensive is the word “pikey”?](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7446274.stm)), it doesn’t seem like that big of deal. I mean, it’s derived from “turnpike.” ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/69 "2008-11-09T01:57:23Z")
“Pikey” is tricky because it has only recently come into very widespread use. At least, I hadn’t heard it myself until four or five years ago, and it it is difficult to gauge whether people are using it ironically, as was probably the case in the Brad Pitt film, or if they really dislike whoever they mean by “pikeys”. I think that’s where the sports pundit in your link got caught out, using it in a light-hearted fashion but not realising that to some people, particularly those targeted, it is almost like saying “nigger”. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/70 "2008-11-09T01:58:47Z")
In other words, we should deny its racial connotation because of its etymology? That’s absurd. How often do you use the word “niggardly”? ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/71 "2008-11-09T04:43:49Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > Hmm, well I suppose the writers did their best, but somebody who went to Eton would have been a commissioned officer in the army, not a mere NCO. And “Jonathan Quayle Higgins III” - that roman numeral is decidedly Not British. In fact we use it ourselves as comedy shorthand for the spoiled offspring of moneyed American families. As I recall, his first war stories involved him being a ‘batman’ for an officer, but as the Magnum series went along, Higgins got posher. Not much posher, but a little. I thought it was a barely passable accent. Barely. But it was still a fun show, she said wistfully . . . ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/72 "2008-11-09T06:38:52Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > How often do you use the word “niggardly”? Never, and I’m willing to bet neither do you. Seriously, has anyone ever actually used that word in every day conversation? ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/73 "2008-11-09T10:16:02Z")
It’s been used publicly in its classical meaning on rare occasions, always to the great detriment of the speaker’s future career options. And that’s my point: we can’t use etymological reason to magically turn epithets into perfectly value-neutral adjectives. If a word is offensive to the people to whom it applies, it’s an offensive word, regardless of whether you or I might argue that it _shouldn’t_ be. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/74 "2008-11-09T11:19:23Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Is Pratchett’s Mrs. Whitlow (head maid at Unseen University) supposed to be American? I remember that she’s represented as talking like that. > > ETA: Maybe Mrs. Cake as well. Since no one’s addressed this one, I’ll answer. As far as I’m aware, Mrs Whitow isn’t supposed to be American, but rather someone trying to sound more upper class than their background… ---
**Author:** ![PerditaX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@PerditaX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PerditaX)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/75 "2008-11-09T17:02:03Z")
Did the SciFi network’s short-lived “Dresden Files” series ever run in the U.K.? There were two main characters whose actors’ accents switched when the cameras rolled - Paul Blackthorn, a British actor, played American Harry Dresden, and Terrence Mann, an American, played Bob, who was British. Blackthorne’s accent sounded perfect to me. How was Mann’s? ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/76 "2008-11-09T17:30:47Z")
I seem to recall reading somewhere (or perhaps hearing it in a commentary or something) that after seeing “The Princess Bride” some movie executives inquired as to whether Robin Wright could do an American accent. They were surprised to discover that she was from Texas. Of course, that means that her accent convinced some Hollywood types. How do Brits view this performance? ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/77 "2008-11-09T17:47:10Z")
I thought the two main characters in Princess Bride were English until I found out otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/78 "2008-11-09T19:05:04Z")
It’s been a while since I saw that film, but AFAIR she was very good. _:: checks out YouTube ::_ Yes, pretty damn good. I’m not sure that I realised at the time that she wasn’t British or whether I already knew. ---
**Author:** ![gnagtcha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@gnagtcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnagtcha)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/79 "2008-11-09T21:50:05Z")
Just watched Anjelica Huston in Agnes Browne. I’m not sure if she was supposed to be Irish, Welsh or Cockney English, but, she sounded convincing to me. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587/80 "2008-11-09T21:58:50Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > I thought the two main characters in Princess Bride were English until I found out otherwise. Woah, you’re in the US! Welcome! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-are-there-any-yank-actors-who-can-play-a-convincing-brit/471587.md?page=5)