# House, Hugh Laurie, Englishness, Accent **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208 "2008-10-30T03:54:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/41 "2008-10-30T16:49:11Z")
I’d noticed that he talks a bit funny, but wouldn’t have pegged him for being from elsewhere. I thought the same thing with Kate Winslet in _Eternal Sunshine_ (the first thing I ever saw her in). There were two or three syllables in that movie I thought sounded funny, but I didn’t think she was anything but 'mercan. Similarly, [Charlie Hunnam](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0402271/) is from Newcastle, and his character on _Undeclared_ was British, but he’s a native Northern Californian in _Sons of Anarchy_, and is using an American accent in interviews. He sounds funny to me, but that may be just because I know him as having an accent (and a joke from _Undeclared_ in which he was trying to use a _Varsity Blues_ accent, which his current speech remind me of). ---
**Author:** ![Sublata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Sublata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublata)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/42 "2008-10-30T16:49:56Z")
Before _House_ I knew HL only as Bertie Wooster. His America accent is so good that I keep forgetting he’s British. (I recall once hearing a pretty bad American accent in the _Inspector Morse_ series – a woman who sounded as if she’d modeled her American accent on 1930s gangster movies.) ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/43 "2008-10-30T16:56:13Z")
I’d say if you ask the average _House_ fan on the street if Hugh Laurie is American or English, they’d say American. _That’s_ how good his accent is. Hell, he even fooled the producer! As for being House on set, even when the cameras aren’t rolling, I can totally see that. It’s a whole 'nother persona PLUS an accent, and turning it on and off again would be very confusing and tiring. He walks on set, he’s House. I’ll bet he even uses the cane in between takes. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/44 "2008-10-30T16:56:51Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > The guy who played Stringer Bell is British?? That’s what I said! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/45 "2008-10-30T17:07:42Z")
All this praise (deservedly) for Laurie, I have to give a shout out to Brit Damian Lewis, whose American accent in _Life_ (as well as _Band of Brothers, Keane_, etc.) is also impeccable. ---
**Author:** ![Jelly\_Roll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Jelly\_Roll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelly_Roll)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/46 "2008-10-30T17:12:01Z")
I read that Patrick Dempsy was up for the role of House and was crushed that he didn’t get it. I am ALWAYS surpised when I hear someone playing an American isn’t American. I have never been able to pick out a fake American accent, although I can spot a fake southern accent a mile away. American actors have (to my ear) a flat, non-descript, could be from anywhere accent, which I suppose is what a non-American actor would learn, so everyone sounds the same to me. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/47 "2008-10-30T17:16:22Z")
> [@Jelly\_Roll](#): > > American actors have (to my ear) a flat, non-descript, could be from anywhere accent, which I suppose is what a non-American actor would learn, so everyone sounds the same to me. Actually, Aussie Anthony LaPaglia (_Without a Trace_) adopted a New York accent as his de facto “American” accent. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/48 "2008-10-30T18:29:51Z")
> [@Sublata](#): > > (I recall once hearing a pretty bad American accent in the _Inspector Morse_ series – a woman who sounded as if she’d modeled her American accent on 1930s gangster movies.) I listen to a lot of British radio, and I hear that accent a LOT. There’s some small subset of British actors that think we were all raised on the mean streets of Brooklyn in the 1920s. And overenunciate everything. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/49 "2008-10-30T19:16:56Z")
I’m a Doctor Who fan and this show has had some truly awful American Accents. However Laurie and Anna Friel from \*Pushing Daisies \*are dead on in their accents. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/50 "2008-10-30T19:19:32Z")
Besides the accent, Hugh Laurie also nails the mannerisms and patterns of speaking of an American. Like when he (as House) mocks someone in the tone of a snotty teenager or uses his idea of “urban” lingo with Foreman, he does it fluently. (I’m sure English teenagers have their equivalent of, “Nuh-UH, _Mom_,” but they probably don’t put it like that.) I find this even more impressive than his accent, because it’s more subtle. He’s got an excellent ear. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/51 "2008-10-30T20:33:14Z")
I find that when I hear foreign actors performing with an American accent, it often sounds like they’re putting on some sort of voice, but not they they’re putting on an accent. I thought there was something slightly peculiar about the way he talked the first time I saw the show, but it never occured to me that he was British. The same thing happened with Lucy Lawless as Xena. I always thought she was just affecting a sort of deep, breathy sexy voice for the character. Speaking of suprises, check out this video of Gillian Anderson: [Gillian on the BBC](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlaUOqgZgAM) She lived in England as a child, and America as a teenager, so she speaks naturally with both accents. After the X-Files she moved back to England and went back to that accent. A while back I saw a bunch of Youtube videos of her on British talk shows and it was strange to hear her sounding British, but I got used to it. Then she came back and went around American TV to promote the X-Files movie sequel, and she had the red hair and American accent. (BTW, the other clip I was going to link to to show her English accent was this NSFW video of her on the Graham Norton show: http:/ /www.you [tube.com/watch?v=XZwwqp3FAfg](http://tube.com/watch?v=XZwwqp3FAfg) and also watch the other segments of it.) ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/52 "2008-10-30T21:44:29Z")
Sorry but Laurie’s Yank is grating and unnatural. Doesn’t mean he’s not funny and perfect for the part, but his fake accent is like a loud sweater. ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/53 "2008-10-30T22:09:51Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Actually, Aussie Anthony LaPaglia (_Without a Trace_) adopted a New York accent as his de facto “American” accent. I find his Brooklyn (or Queens or Long Island, whatever it’s supposed to be) accent quite irritating - I can nearly always hear the Australian one trying to break through. Same with Marianne Jean-Baptiste, come to think of it - I find her accent unconvincing at best. With her, it’s not that I hear a bit of London, but that she’s just laying the NYC/Long Island accent on a bit too thickly. The alternative is that _I_ sound like that, and I refuse to consider the possibility. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/54 "2008-10-30T22:12:27Z")
> [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](#): > > Sorry but Laurie’s Yank is grating and unnatural. Doesn’t mean he’s not funny and perfect for the part, but his fake accent is like a loud sweater. This is how I feel. I think it’s because I first saw him on _Jeeves and Wooster_ (for what it’s worth, the American accents on that show were awful). If I hadn’t seen him on that show, I’d probably just think his voice was really annoying, but as it is, it’s hard for me to watch since it’s such a departure from the other roles I’ve seen him in (J&W, plus _Blackadder_, which was hilarious) which have generally been comedic. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/55 "2008-10-30T22:22:54Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > This is how I feel. I think it’s because I first saw him on _Jeeves and Wooster_ (for what it’s worth, the American accents on that show were awful). If I hadn’t seen him on that show, I’d probably just think his voice was really annoying, but as it is, it’s hard for me to watch since it’s such a departure from the other roles I’ve seen him in (J&W, plus _Blackadder_, which was hilarious) which have generally been comedic. Actually not being a fan I had no basis in his Englishness – the sound was just wrong. His speech is like listening to a blender full of marbles. After a Leno appearance I found him more than tolerable as House. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/56 "2008-10-30T22:24:38Z")
> [@Flander](#): > > It also floored me to discover Jimmy McNulty and Stringer Bell from _The Wire_ are both English. And Mayor Tommy Carcetti is Irish. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/57 "2008-10-30T22:49:47Z")
Very rarely an odd syllable comes out, but he’s spot on most of the time. I remember being very surprised to learn that Vivien Leigh was English. Her Southern accent as Scarlett O’hara was very good. Most people tend to overexaggerate it and end up sounding like Eunice. (I’m looking at you, Julia Roberts, which is odd because she’s a Georgian. But I found her accent in Steel Magnolias to be so put on that it distracted from the movie.) ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/58 "2008-10-30T22:50:15Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > And Mayor Tommy Carcetti is Irish. Really?!? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/59 "2008-10-30T23:27:32Z")
It’s a pretty good accent. I had no idea who he was until I started watching the series late in its first season and then found out how many other things Laurie had done already. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208/60 "2008-10-31T00:35:17Z")
He’s good, but the one that just blows me away is Jamie Bamber, who plays Apollo on “Battlestar Galactica.” When I saw an interview with him speaking in an accent as English as bad food, I just about crapped. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-hugh-laurie-englishness-accent/470208.md?page=4)