# Worst attempts at British accents by American actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 23, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884 "2016-02-23T16:04:55Z")\ **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:** [February 23, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/41 "2016-02-23T23:09:45Z")
I had no idea Dinklage was attempting a British accent. I thought it was just a voice he did. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/42 "2016-02-24T00:14:33Z")
How about Heather Graham in [From Hell](https://youtu.be/o2xprwwIMXM)? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/43 "2016-02-24T00:15:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I was at a meeting over the weekend where one of the participants observed that “Americans think I have a British accent. Australians think I have an American accent. Only the British seem to realize that I have an Australian accent, although it’s not a standard one.” I know this is a stab in the dark, but was it Dan Schreiber? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/44 "2016-02-24T00:24:42Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Come to think of it, that _does_ seem to be the rule for who ‘sounds Australian’ (to Americans) in the show, and who doesn’t–that is, it’s the working-class characters who have the Aussie sound. (And the show _is_ set in the 1920s.) Yes, sounding ‘Ocker’ is definitely a class marker…and also a bit of a country/city divide. And 1920 … half of Melbourne was probably born in the UK or Ireland anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/45 "2016-02-24T00:41:02Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > His attempt in Mary Poppins was bad, but he didn’t even really try in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He made it a condition of being in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang that he NOT be asked to do an accent. He wasn’t trying because he wasn’t required to try, and it was a relief all around. > [@sachertorte](#): > > Can we discuss the reverse too? It seems to me that British actors tend to do fine with American accents (House MD). I have trouble thinking of examples of bad fake American Accents. > > Is it because there are so many American actors that Brits faking American accents is less common? Or maybe the bar is higher so that to get an “american” role one has to nail the accent? Watch actual British TV, particuarly comedy shows and low-budget affairs. Lots of shit American accents. _Doctor Who_, particularly in earlier decades, had some Van Dyke levels of bad accents. So did the _Benny Hill Show_ but I’m not entirely sure they were trying that hard anyway. The likes of Hugh Laurie are an exception, not a rule. There are probably a few more exceptions than there used to be due to a combination of more people in the profession and better voice coaching these days, but I wouldn’t expect a random British actor to be able to “pass” as an American by way of accent. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/46 "2016-02-24T01:03:36Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > QFT. My first thought when I read **sachertorte** ’s post about bad American accents was “Daleks In Manhattan”. Those were some _awful_ attempts at American speech. Eh, given the episode, I think they’d have had terrible accents if it were American-made, too. It’d just be a bunch of West coasters doing terrible New York accents, not a bunch of Brits doing same. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/47 "2016-02-24T02:06:41Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Does it have to be British? Brad Pitt’s [Irish](http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/video-news/video-the-worst-irish-accents-in-film-history-brad-pitt-as-rory-devaney-in-the-devils-own-31073265.html) accent was horrid in _The Devil’s Own_. That’s surprising. I was watching a Facts video on YouTube and they were judging American actors doing Irish accents. And the consensus was Pitt’s Irish accent was the most authentic. That said, they were judging his Irish accent from _Snatch_ rather than _The Devil’s Own_ so maybe Pitt had worked on it more. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/48 "2016-02-24T02:11:46Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The likes of Hugh Laurie are an exception, not a rule. There are probably a few more exceptions than there used to be due to a combination of more people in the profession and better voice coaching these days, but I wouldn’t expect a random British actor to be able to “pass” as an American by way of accent. For what it’s worth, Damian Lewis on _Band of Brothers_ and Dominic West on _The Wire_ are every bit as good as Laurie in their American accents. I didn’t even realize the two of them were English until I heard them somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/49 "2016-02-24T02:14:02Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > Can we discuss the reverse too? It seems to me that British actors tend to do fine with American accents (House MD). I have trouble thinking of examples of bad fake American Accents. Believe it or not [Ray Winstone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIxQFUV_AcA) once tried to do an american accent :smack: (sorry this clip with surrounding discussion was all I could find, actual accent starts from 1:50) ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/50 "2016-02-24T02:37:48Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The likes of Hugh Laurie are an exception, not a rule. There are probably a few more exceptions than there used to be due to a combination of more people in the profession and better voice coaching these days, but I wouldn’t expect a random British actor to be able to “pass” as an American by way of accent. There are lots of British actors in Hollywood and for 99.9% of them the ability to affect a near-perfect American accent is important. This gives British actors far more impetus to be able to work on their American accent than for American actors to work on their British accent. Additionally other factors British people are probably a bit more use to hearing American accents than vice versa may give them a little head start. Quite often you will not realize that some parts are being played by Brits Of course doing accents convincingly isn’t easy so there will always be failures, though this will usually be those actors with the lower quality training. Hugh Laurie is interesting as he started off as a comedian/comedic actor and despite the fact that he didn’t (as far as I am aware) have any early formal training and in his career in England tended to play archetypal British characters was able to affect a very good American accent. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/51 "2016-02-24T02:49:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > That’s surprising. I was watching a Facts video on YouTube and they were judging American actors doing Irish accents. And the consensus was Pitt’s Irish accent was the most authentic. That said, they were judging his Irish accent from _Snatch_ rather than _The Devil’s Own_ so maybe Pitt had worked on it more. I watched Snatch yesterday and Pitt’s Irish accent is not good. I’ve never been to Ireland, but I know plenty of Irish people and certainly have spoken to Irish travellers enough times to know the particular accent he is trying to do, but ultimately its not very convincing. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/52 "2016-02-24T02:49:49Z")
Apparently I’m immune to bad accents. That didn’t sound so bad to me. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/53 "2016-02-24T02:54:04Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > There are lots of British actors in Hollywood and for 99.9% of them the ability to affect a near-perfect American accent is important. This gives British actors far more impetus to be able to work on their American accent than for American actors to work on their British accent. Additionally other factors British people are probably a bit more use to hearing American accents than vice versa may give them a little head start. > > Quite often you will not realize that some parts are being played by Brits I saw plenty of positive reviews of Henry Cavill’s performance as Superman, and plenty of negative reviews likewise – but I don’t recall any criticism of the guy’s accent, which sounded as straightforwardly American as you’d expect. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/54 "2016-02-24T03:01:28Z")
I think the biggest problem is Americans have doing British accents is that there is a lot more variation in the accent. As a British person listening to another British accent often tells me a lot of information about where the person as brought up and what social background they came from. When someone from outside the UK tries to do a British accent it usually sounds far too generic and/or may mix aspects of different accents in a way that is uncommon in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/55 "2016-02-24T03:15:23Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I saw plenty of positive reviews of Henry Cavill’s performance as Superman, and plenty of negative reviews likewise – but I don’t recall any criticism of the guy’s accent, which sounded as straightforwardly American as you’d expect. The British actors who I particularly remember as being surprised to learn they were British were Dominic West and Idris Elba in The Wire and Charlie Hunnam in sons of Anarchy. Of course other British actors like Hugh Laurie, Andrew Lincoln and even Damian Lewis who have played the American leads in American TV shows were already known to me from their early careers in the UK. Growing up watching A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster, etc it always seems distinctly odd to hear Hugh Laurie speak in an American accent, however convincing that accent may be. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/56 "2016-02-24T13:18:34Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. Many American cities have public television stations that run old Britcoms; those from ITV seem particularly prone to having bad American accents on display. > > That was truly dreadful. Ridley Scott is at fault for not realizing she simply can’t do a UK accent–he should have made the character Swedish. Do you people out there realize that when Europeans are taught English that they are primarily taught British English, and that includes whatever accent the teacher has adopted? So if the person is a true parrot, at best they will sound like their teachers. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/57 "2016-02-24T14:24:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > For what it’s worth, Damian Lewis on _Band of Brothers_ and Dominic West on _The Wire_ are every bit as good as Laurie in their American accents. I didn’t even realize the two of them were English until I heard them somewhere else. I could tell that Dominic West was foreign immediately. I didn’t think his accent was very good. I had no idea that Idris Elba in the same show was not American. He had lived in New York for years so maybe it made it easy for him. Damian Lewis not only sounded American in Band of Brothers he sounded like he was from the middle of Pennsylvania. Band of Brothers was full of Brits doing very good American accents. ---
**Author:** ![ashtayk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@ashtayk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashtayk)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/58 "2016-02-24T17:23:54Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > Can we discuss the reverse too? It seems to me that British actors tend to do fine with American accents (House MD). I have trouble thinking of examples of bad fake American Accents. > > Is it because there are so many American actors that Brits faking American accents is less common? Or maybe the bar is higher so that to get an “american” role one has to nail the accent? I have been watching “Masters of Sex” on Showtime and Michael Sheen’s American accent is quite terrible. The intrusive “r” makes it appearance once too often - pronouncing “data” as “dater”. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/59 "2016-02-24T17:37:58Z")
I’ve always carried the idea that Tony Curtis did the very worst job of any actor of any nationality with any kind of accent. I’m guessing this may stem from his work with Laurence Olivier. Was it Spartacus? Remember? But, there were many other films with many other horrible, terrible accents. Please don’t get me wrong. I really like Tony Curtis. It’s just when he tries to speak with an accent that everything seems to just go to Hell. I don’t know why. Do you know why? Can you explain it to me? I would really love to understand this. He is really just so fine in most every other way. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884/60 "2016-02-24T17:43:15Z")
I’m always surprised to see people praising Dominic West’s accent on The Wire. I don’t think it’s very good at all. Idris’ was great, but it would waver sometimes when Stringer was angry. He was all over the place [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGgRtiCVo2w). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-attempts-at-british-accents-by-american-actors/746884.md?page=4)