# Worst American accents in mainstream roles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 19, 2015, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357 "2015-03-19T04:43:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/41 "2015-03-19T16:34:02Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > That’s one thing I liked in Kindergarten Cop–even though there was no explanation for Kimble’s accent, when his partner showed up pretending to be his sister, she spoke with an accent. He looked a little shocked. When he was super frustrated earlier in the movie, he even spoke to him self in German. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/42 "2015-03-19T16:38:39Z")
Hugh Laurie on HOUSE---- WHAT accent is that supposed to be? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/43 "2015-03-19T16:39:17Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > When did Liam Neeson ever try to do an American accent? Next Of Kin? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/44 "2015-03-19T16:41:30Z")
Well there are many different American accents. I remember at least one movie where Jean-Claude van Damme was cast as a Cajun to explain his French-ish accent. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/45 "2015-03-19T17:01:36Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Moore lived in Boston for awhile and said there were people who actually spoke that way. I believe her. This sort of thing works the other way, too. In the wake of Leonard Nimoy’s death, the local PBS station reran portions of interviews with him, and he says that he had an atrocious Boston accent. “If I came right out of Boston to the set of _Star Trek_,” he said, “It’d have come out ‘I’m Spaaaahk from Staaaahh Trek’” He apparently spent a lot of time “erasing” his Boston accent. He did a good job of it, too. I’d never have guessed he grew up three blocks from the Museum of Science. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/46 "2015-03-19T17:06:56Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > When did Liam Neeson ever try to do an American accent? “Suspect” Jus kidding. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/47 "2015-03-19T17:20:19Z")
In the classic _Doctor Who_ episode “The Chase,” there’s a tour guide at the top of the Empire State Building who tries to do a New York accent. It sounds like an alien, and makes Dick Van Dyke in _Mary Poppins_ a model of accuracy. There also was a BBC miniseries called “Sprockets” (IIRC) that featured a Jewish Hollywood executive who always mispronounced “Oy vey.” ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/48 "2015-03-19T17:20:32Z")
The British House of Cards has an American newspaper owner character, Ben Landless (Kenny Ireland), whose accent is just plain awful. The sexist, greedy, loudmouthed, bloody beef guzzling characterization is so far over the top, though, that the crap accent just adds to the pageantry. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/49 "2015-03-19T17:21:50Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > The British House of Cards has an American newspaper owner character, Ben Landless (Kenny Ireland), whose accent is just plain awful. The sexist, greedy, loudmouthed, bloody beef guzzling characterization is so far over the top, though, that the crap accent just adds to the pageantry. Probably all that bloody beef he’s been guzzling. He should try medium rare instead. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/50 "2015-03-19T17:46:52Z")
Sorry - should’ve said that I exclude very regional accents. I believe Bostonians and Southerners are contractually obligated to complain about people doing their accent, even if someone from down the road claims the person is doing a good accent. Saw Horns. I don’t remember anything off, but it takes place in NH\* and yet most of the actors are British. So I guess they did a decent job? \*Which is _totally_ different from the book’s author’s dad’s beloved Maine 🙂 > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Same with Hugh Laurie, Gillian Anderson, Christian Bale to name a few. I wouldn’t say they don’t do “good” American accents; they just sound like Americans with annoying voices. Yes, some of them overdo it. It doesn’t sound “wrong” so much as excessive. > [@](#): > > With that, I’ll just cut to the chase and mention Charlie Hunnam whose accent was just as cheesy and fake as his character name on Sons of Anacrchy - “Jax Teller”. Same thing - I was probably more surprised to find out he was English. One thing that I might mention is that in S1, where plotlines occur in Nevada, he was one of the few characters to pronounce the state correctly, which impressed me considering many of the other actors were from the US and couldn’t do it. Forget who the other one was; Perlman did it wrong. But then in the (final?) season, Hunnam was back to Nevaaahdaaah. What’s wrong with his name though? I’d say it’s very realistic. Not my choice of baby names, but sorry to scare you… Jackson is the #1 (NUMBER ONE) boy’s name in the US right now. Or else (shudder…) Jaxon. > [@AK84](#): > > Dude, its unfair to pick on Doctor Who, they have notoriously poor. … well acting. Yeah, nothing from the period where British TV or radio just didn’t give a shit. Likewise no Arnold or Sean Connery. They don’t bother doing accents ever. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > When did Liam Neeson ever try to do an American accent? Forgot that one, and since there is already on Family Guy out there, [here’s another](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xowMFnb9MxU). ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/51 "2015-03-19T17:51:56Z")
I should point out that for all the grief Dinklage gets for his Game of Thrones accent…he’s not really doing an ‘English’ accent. It’s just Peter Dinklage trying to sound remotely like his family. As for Americans failing regional accents…like Keanu in Devil’s Advocate or Van der Beek in that football movie…their dialect coaches should be fired. You’re already Americans, just effect a slight lilt and go from there. Once when I did “Of Mice and Men” I briefly considered doing Carlson with a Swedish accent. Yeahhhh…no. and I wanted to produce “Breaker Morant” but decided without real Australians it would be disastarous. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/52 "2015-03-19T17:53:26Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Anybody else remember when Lucy Lawless had a flawless fake “generic” American accent on _Xena_, while Renee O’Connor, who was from Texas, had a regional accent, and was actually harder to understand (for people not from Texas) than Lawless? Never realized Renee O’Connor’s accent was even remarkable… it just sounded normal to me. Then again, she’s literally from the next suburb over from where I grew up, so maybe that has something to do with it. And I’m pretty sure Liam Neeson’s accent in the “Taken” movies is supposed to be American; it’s certainly not a deliberate English accent, and nor is it his native Irish accent either. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/53 "2015-03-19T17:53:37Z")
Kenneth Branagh in **Dead Again** was just ghastly. I don’t know if he’s ever tried playing an American again (thank God). ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/54 "2015-03-19T18:03:09Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > What’s wrong with his name though? I’d say it’s very realistic. Not my choice of baby names, but sorry to scare you… Jackson is the #1 (NUMBER ONE) boy’s name in the US right now. Or else (shudder…) Jaxon. I suppose Jackson is a perfectly cromulent name as it stands. But shorten it to “Jax” and combine it with “Teller” and it sounds borderline soap opera. Not sure exactly how to describe it; contrived maybe? _Jaxon_, however, should seek emancipation from his parents. And then sue them. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/55 "2015-03-19T18:38:18Z")
How about Tommy Lee Jones trying to be Irish in **Blown Away**? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/56 "2015-03-19T18:42:26Z")
> [@kath94](#): > > Oh, my heavens. It’s called “Gracepoint” and it’s nearly identical to Broadchurch, even starring David Tennant as “Emmett Carver” in the Alec Hardy role. I honestly can’t say that his American accent is **bad** , it’s just wrong. His Scots accent is charming. He looks the same, acts the same, says the same words, but it’s **WRONG.** > > [pout] ninja’d by \*\*Mahaloth \*\*[/end pout] Speaking about Scottish actors doing bad accents, that reminds me of Gerard Butler. I’ve seen parts of some of his movies where he does an American accent, and it sounds like he’s gargling sand. Maybe he’s gotten better, I don’t know if I’ve seen him in anything recently, but it seems like if he’s cast in a movie it would be best for him to do his real accent, or maybe a British one. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/57 "2015-03-19T18:50:54Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Kenneth Branagh in **Dead Again** was just ghastly. I don’t know if he’s ever tried playing an American again (thank God). _Wild, Wild, West._ You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/58 "2015-03-19T19:01:12Z")
I still laugh because Jason O’Mara, who is Irish, played an American in the series “The Agency”, and there was a plot where he went under cover with the IRA, and audiences were complaining about his “terrible” Irish accent. ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/59 "2015-03-19T19:28:51Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Speaking about Scottish actors doing bad accents, that reminds me of Gerard Butler. I’ve seen parts of some of his movies where he does an American accent, and it sounds like he’s gargling sand. Maybe he’s gotten better, I don’t know if I’ve seen him in anything recently, but it seems like if he’s cast in a movie it would be best for him to do his real accent, or maybe a British one. A Scottish accent _is_ a British accent. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357/60 "2015-03-19T19:32:26Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Well there are many different American accents. I remember at least one movie where Jean-Claude van Damme was cast as a Cajun to explain his French-ish accent. A Cajun accent doesn’t sound remotely French. And my comment about Liam Neeson was supposed to be a joke. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-american-accents-in-mainstream-roles/715357.md?page=4)