Nov 04 2008
Eight Foreign Actors with Great American Accents
Actors often try to adopt accents that don’t suit them at all. Normally this is an American trying to pretend they’re sophisticated like say, Elijah Wood in the Lord of the Rings (annoying), Ben Affleck in Shakespeare in Love (awful), or Keanu Reeves in Bram Stroker’s Dracula (dear God no).
On the flipside however, foreign actors often have to sound like they were American born and bred, and often, they do a much better job of it. Sometimes the cover-up is so good, that you might not have known that they were foreign at all. Here are eight great examples to examine:
1. Hugh Laurie
This one catches most people so off guard, it was actually the topic of debate at the Emmys recently (second video).
Sounding American - A compilation of the best House/Wilson moments
Being English - At the Emmys with Zack Braff
2. Colin Farrell
Most people do know Farrell is Irish, and he only drops his accent in a few select roles.
Sounding American (New Yawkish to be exact) - A deleted scene from Phone Booth with Jared Leto
Being Irish - Getting interviewed about Pride and Glory
3. Jamie Bamber
This one really threw me for a loop, I had no idea that Apollo from BSG was really flying for the Queen.
Sounding American - Sparring with Dad on Battlestar Galactica
Being English - Men’s Fitness interview
4. Daniel Day Lewis
He sounds so meek and mild mannered in real life. Compare and contrast that with most of his movie roles.
Sounding American (or something like it) - Talking about milkshakes
Being English - Accepting his SAG award
5. Alan Dale
He’s been in everything from Lost to The OC to Ugly Betty to Entourage. He’s usually playing a rich American bastard, but he’s just a rich Kiwi bastard in real life. Just kidding, he seems cool.
Sounding American - About to get married on Ugly Betty
Being New Zealand-ish - BBC interview
6. Russell Crowe
Born in New Zealand, but raised in Australia, he only conceals his accent for a few select roles. Most recently he hillbillied it up for Body of Lies.
Sounding American (a good ol boy) - The Body of Lies trailer
Being Australian - On Inside the Actors Studio
7. James McAvoy
I mean, he was the star of The Last King of Scotland for godssake so you know he’s Scottish. But he proved he could fake it realistically this past summer in Wanted.
Sounding American - The infamous Wanted chase
(wanted chase)
Being Scottish - Co-hosting with Craig Ferguson
8. Hugh Jackman
He gets to unleash his inner Aussie in Australia with Nicole Kidman soon, but he’s best known for his turn as the quintessential American (well, Canadian) hero Wolverine.
Sounding American - Getting shot in the head during X-Men 2
Being Australian - Showing up at Comic Con to promote Wolverine much to everyone’s delight
- 10 Clips of Hugh Laurie Before he was Gregory House, MD
- Eight American Actors with Great Foreign Accents
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- 10 Forrest Gump Mashups For No Reason At All
What, not McNulty, Stringer Bell or Mayor Carcetti? All from The Wire, all British.
no Christian Bale?
Where’s Christian Bale?
This list is incomplete, useless and pointless without Christian Bale!! :/
Daniel Day Lewis is Irish….
Not English
should of added keira knightley
her in pirates is how she talks normally
but if you see her in the jacket she talks “american” and has a small interview about it and how she made her self do it
Jonny Lee Miller!!!!!!!!!!!!
pretty good list … has most of the ones i would have imagined … but you have one glaring omission … should be highest on this list (mainly because it threw me for years and years) is … christian bale. he never ever interviews in his english accent for a non-english movie, even for sub-par, fluff interviews. the only way i figured it out finally was when i get a hold of “empire of the sun”.
LOL, I just love House. Dr house totally ROCKS!
Jiff
http://www.internet-anonymity.net.tc
I was going to suggest Daniel Day Lewis was Irish, but upon further inspection I guess he is just an Irish citizen, and grew up in England. Anyway, doesn’t matter haha
They forgot Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah from NBC’s Chuck)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWTNu3T44Tg
How about Gerard Butler from 300?
I love how the word Foreign clearly doesn’t include Canadian, or you’d run out of room in this list.
No Christian Bale or Damien Lewis?
ahhh Christian Bale! *slaps forehead*
And Heath Ledger! *slaps it more!*
Daniel Day Lewis English. He took Irish citizenship, but he was born and raised in England.
I can’t believe that Anthony Lapaglia hasn’t been mentioned…the guy from Without a trace, and like a bizillion other things where he has played an Italian American….He’s an Aussie….
I gotta nominate Damian Lewis here (lead actor in Life, Dick Winters in Band of Brothers). British actor, awesome American accent, and one of the few (if not only) cases where I prefer the fake American to real British; his accent in The Baker, which I assume is natural, sounds too much like the stereotypical joke of the uptight Brit.
John Barrowman should be on there, he’s Scottish and you’d never know it to hear him speak.
Lena Headey
Ian McShane. He played Al Swearengen in Deadwood, one of the most American characters ever created, and he’s a Brit.
Oh, I forgot - Eamonn Walker, who played Said, the radical muslim leader in Oz. He’s a Brit too, blew my mind hearing him with an English accent.
Christian Bale?
I read this whole article thinking he would be the last one. What a waste of time.
MCNULTY AND STRINGER BELL!!!!
Seriously, both of these guys, although less known outside of The Wire viewers have excellent not only American, but Baltimore accents.
We Americans are far too forgiving of vague American accents. Colin Farrell can’t make up his mind what part of the States he comes from–his American accent is terrible. James McAvoy is another terrible example. Although not mentioned, Poppie Montgomery is friggin’ terrible.
On the other hand, Jamie Bamber’s is good. Hugh Laurie’s is phenomenal.
One that should be added to the list of good American accents–Damien Lewis.
The list is way too short! Tilda Swinton & Rachel Griffiths are two more actresses to add to the list.
For an American English accent, it really has to be flawless and not a distraction throughout a performance. Anthony Hopkins is a great actor, but labors trying to sound American - definitely NOT on the list.
How about American’s that nail the Brit talk?
What about Rutger Hauer!?
@ Rhawk - you can’t really put Barrowman on… he was born in Scotland but raised in the states, so his accent is pretty real.
Great list thanks. What about John Barrowman? I had no idea he was faking in Torchwood!
ditto on Christian Bale.
If you’re listing women, you must include Rachel Griffiths
you forgot the guy from, who framed roger rabbit? The cop. He’s British but did an excellent NY accent
No John Mahoney? Frasier’s dad is British. I couldn’t believe it when I found that out.
It’s amazing how some actors can get the accent and other never learn it. Arnold Schwarzenegger has lived in the USA for over 30 years, but still can’t modify his accent.
Dominic Purcell?
I’ve got to agree with tlaw above: Rachel Griffiths as Brenda on Six Feet Under blew me away. I watched five seasons of that show without ever knowing she ordinarily speaks with a pretty thick Australian accent.
this list sucks. who gives a shit about these people?
Alan Dale has an aussie accent even if he is a kiwi
Actually, Anthony Lapaglia was an American before he was an Australian. Kind of like Johnny Diesel or John Butler.
I love colin farrel! i wish he would do his real accent
These are very entertaining!
Never had the opportunity to know
where these folks are from.
thanks for the info from tony
No Christian Bale and no…. Gary Oldman?!
but it isn’t as if I’ll take the trouble to make my own list
Haha, the subtitles in the Wanted Chase are in Dutch, leuk!
I always thought Albert Finney and Brian Cox were 2 of the best.
Worst well regarded actor for accents is Anthony Hopkins by far. In the last 2 things I’ve seen him in he’s had about 5 different bad accents per SCENE.
I agree with not only this list but with most of the additional nominees in the posts. But I would like to add two other names, both of whom I believe to be phenomenal dialect actors:
Kenneth Branagh - I am repeatedly impressed with his facility with all kinds of accents, but was most knocked out by his work in “Dead Again”, where he played both a German composer and an American private eye and, to my ear, was impeccable as both.
Anna Friel - I only knew her as a British actress - she was in the original London cast of “Closer” - but think her work as the very American Chuck in “Pushing Daisies” is/was spot on.
You forgot Bruce Willis (german)
I would like to state that ANYONE who thinks either Christian Bale or Hugh Laurie do believable American accents are PLAINLY stupid.
I’m British and I can tell in every single movie / episode I see them in from the moment they open their mouths that they’re British.
Hugh Laurie’s problem is he simply cannot fake a Yank accent at his normal tone and pitch, and so he has to use that ‘gravelly’ or ‘bottom of the throat’ sound, in a far lower tone to mask the fact that he cannot pull it off at a normal tone. Tom Wilkinson does the exact same thing.
Now Christian Bale’s accent is about as stupid as he is. Put him beside ANY real American actor and you’ll spot the lameness in a heartbeat. If you can’t see that, then you’re lame too.
Hugh Jackman, Anthony LaPaglia, Colin Farrell are all examples of foreign actors who are able to pull of American accents excellently.
[…] in November, my man Sub-Zero wrote an article featuring eight foreign actors with great American accents. Well, I decided to flip that doodie and try to find eight American actors who do great foreign […]
how about leo di caprio in blood diamond ?
Alan Rickman
It was years before I found out he was English. He switches from the German accent to the American accent so well in Die Hard, it took me a minute to realize what was going on.
there is also matthew rhys he plays kevin on brothers and sisters he is welsh
I’m a Kiwi and Americans can’t do good Kiwi or Australian accents. I’m so sick of Americans doing their “funny” Aussie accents that sound nothing like the real thing. The only good accent I’ve ever heard is Robert Downey JR in Tropic Thunder and his isn’t even perfect. Americans also do rubbish UK accents like Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones - even an Antipodean can tell that it’s awful
Uhm….
nicole kidman
charlize theron
mel gibson
naomi watts
ilsa fisher cohen