# English actors adopting American accents and vice versa **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958 "2009-03-02T02:25:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/41 "2009-03-03T06:22:12Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Huh. The single main reason I can’t watch that show is how West’s accent keeps squeaking through and reminding me that this is NOT real. Really? He doesn’t have a Baltimore accent, that’s for sure, but I never detected a trace of a British one - and I’ve watched the first four seasons quite close together. He actually sounds more like cultured New York. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/42 "2009-03-03T06:24:45Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > I hear it too. Same with the Irish actor who plays Carcetti. It can be a bit distracting, but it hasn’t lessened my enjoyment of their characters. That I did get. On the other hand, lots of people with Italian names have been here for well over 100 years - they may have grown up nowhere near people with Italian 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:** [March 3, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/43 "2009-03-03T06:38:36Z")
> [@velvetjones](#): > > He’s the guy I was thinking about as an example of someone who wasn’t quite pulling it off. Every now and then the brit thing slips through and blows the character for me. Maybe it’s just me. It’s not just you. To me it sounds like he is hardly trying to do an American accent. I think it is horrible. Sometimes I think I am more sensitive to this than most people. I could hear cracks in Hugh Laurie’s accent (he has improved over the years). Minnie Driver’s southern accent is awful (she may have improved, I didn’t keep watching). Anthony Lapaglia’s New York accent has gaps (I think his brother’s accent is better). As examples of those I find flawless: Damian Lewis in Band of Brothers would not sound out of place in Pennsylvania. I would never know that Jamie Bamber was British. I was surprised to find that the woman who plays Sofia on CSI is British. Eamonn Walker’s accent is flawless (Said on Oz). ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/44 "2009-03-03T07:21:42Z")
The problem is that most non-American actors playing Americans don’t really sound like they’re from anywhere. They most often do this vaguely neutral, I don’t know where you’re from, but you’re not from around here, or anywhere else I’ve lived - and I’ve lived in most places or heard most American accents. The most annoying example of this was the film “Black Hawk Down”, which had a number of non-American actors playing Americans. It really spoiled the movie for me and I couldn’t understand why they didn’t just go with cheaper unknowns than bring in Ewan McGregor, Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Matthew Marsden, Ewen Bremner, Kim Coates\*, Hugh Dancy, Ioan Gruffudd, Jason Isaacs, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ian Virgo\*\*, Tom Hardy, Treva Etienne, Pavel Vokoun to play American roles. Maybe Ridley Scott has a thing for non-American boys? Sure, a lot of those guys are also unknown, but seems the way he chose to do it he should have just changed the plot to having a British helicopter go down in Somalia. \*Kim Coates is Canadian, and to be fair, Canadians generally do a fantastic job of sounding like their from the USA. \*\* Ian Virgo is technically American, but moved to Wales when he was six years old and studied theater in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/45 "2009-03-03T07:28:31Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > I’ve heard some pretty pathetic American accents out of Brits. Remember the fat “Americans” in “In Brouge”? Their accents were so Irish, I didn’t know they were supposed to be Americans until they were identified as such. The only one identifiable from IMDB is Welsh, not Irish. I only saw the film once, so don’t really recall what they sounded like. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/46 "2009-03-03T07:30:27Z")
Josh Hartnett is from Minnesota. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2009, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/47 "2009-03-03T07:36:56Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > The problem is that most non-American actors playing Americans don’t really sound like they’re from anywhere. They most often do this vaguely neutral, I don’t know where you’re from, but you’re not from around here, or anywhere else I’ve lived - and I’ve lived in most places or heard most American accents. I’ve noticed a lot of Brits adopt a husky, pillow-talky tone when doing an American accent. Maybe its easier that way. Example, Lennie James from _Jericho_. Very few can do a regional accent. Most try to do Newscaster American. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/48 "2009-03-03T15:22:17Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > Josh Hartnett is from Minnesota. Are you trying to tell me that Minnesota is part of the United States now? When did this happen? Why wasn’t I informed – I saw _Fargo_, I know that Minnesota is a province of Southern Ontario – what do you mean that Fargo isn’t in Minnesota? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/49 "2009-03-03T19:33:20Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Maybe Ridley Scott has a thing for non-American boys? Wouldn’t surprise me–Scott is non-American himself. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/50 "2009-03-04T00:43:34Z")
Speaking of _The Wire_, Idris Elba who plays Stringer Bell is certainly from across the pond. Freaked me out when I heard him speak naturally. Not a foreign accent, but Robert Knepper (the Russian in _Hitman_ and T-Bag from Prison Break) has a fantastically articulate American speaking voice. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/51 "2009-03-04T01:30:51Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > We’ve been watching the Wire, and Dominic West, who plays McNulty is an excellent case. I would have never guessed from watching the show that his is English - when he speaks in his real voice in the extra videos it is quite a shock. I especially liked the throwaway gag in season 2, where he went undercover as a john, and had to do a really bad English accent, saying stuff like “Crikey.” ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/52 "2009-03-04T01:34:56Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Very few can do a regional accent. Most try to do Newscaster American. Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I live somewhere where the natives do speak Newscaster American. Unless a regional accent is necessary for the storyline, wouldn’t it be easier to do a neutral accent? ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/53 "2009-03-04T14:00:36Z")
> [@The\_Superhero](#): > > LaPaglia’s pretty good. His “Without a Trace” co-star and fellow Aussie Poppy Montgomery does a LOUSY American accent. And their English co-star Marianne Jean-Bapstiste does a fairly passable New York-by-way-of-somewhere, but then, a lot of New Yorkers are there by way of somewhere. She sounds very much like my aunt who lived in Queens for 50 years, but came from Bermuda. Rufus Sewell and Tim Roth are two more who have the American version of RP (newscaster non-accent) down pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/54 "2009-03-04T15:22:22Z")
I think this is a casting issue more than an acting one. There are tons of American actors who do convincing British accents, and tons of British actors who do convincing American accents. However, the sort of producers/directors who hire British actors to play American characters just seem to be more concerned with getting accents right. I mean, I can’t imagine Brian Cox doing a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/55 "2009-03-04T15:26:44Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I mean, I can’t imagine Brian Cox doing a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Why not? A LOT of very good British actors will play the villain in some bad action movie, because it pays so much they can then afford to go back to the West End and do the kind of work that actually INTERESTS them. Is Brian Cox in a Jerry Bruckheimer movie much more of a stretch than Jeremy Irons or Alan Rickman in the “Die Hard” series? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/56 "2009-03-04T15:38:32Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Is Brian Cox in a Jerry Bruckheimer movie much more of a stretch than Jeremy Irons or Alan Rickman in the “Die Hard” series? I didn’t even know Alan Rickman was British. Point taken, though; I suppose Alec Guiness was the ultimate (original?) expression of “doing a movie you hate to make enough money to go do something artsy”. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/57 "2009-03-04T16:51:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I mean, I can’t imagine Brian Cox doing a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Heavens, no! Brian Cox only acts in serious movies alongside master thespians like [Steven Segal](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0116421/). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/58 "2009-03-04T16:55:20Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > master thespians like [Steven Segal](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0116421/). Oh, look! You misspelled “masturbatory”! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/59 "2009-03-04T16:59:44Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > It’s not accent that makes you sit up and notice ‘he’s not from round here:’ it’s the whole dialect. I just finished a book by a British author; half of the characters are British, half American, the story takes place in both countries. Among the people she thanks are the American expat (and her family still living in the US) who helped her with Americanisms. And who did a lousy job. The book is “ok while not earth-shattering,” but the American vocabulary is completely off. It all looked to me like the author never thought of sending a whole copy of the book over to be reviewed, she just asked about specific details. So you get Floridians speaking of “kerb” and an American cop spelling out “Drug Enforcement Agency,” to mention two I can remember right now. Sure, hunny, and Winnie the Pooh was a kangaroo… ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958/60 "2011-08-29T12:16:13Z")
Kate Winslet dose a good American accent? I suppose, but the my American friends have always thought that she sounded slightly off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-actors-adopting-american-accents-and-vice-versa/487958.md?page=4)