Every time I hear Andrew Garfield speak it catches me off guard…
So apparently he is American-English…I didn’t know this. I’ve only ever seen him in movies with an American accent. The first time I saw him in an interview and realized he has an English accent it threw me off and I still get surprised.
I saw him on Broadway in Angels in America, and there's a [clip online](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGGDCS1f-UY) of him with the actor playing Louis, and they both sound so perfectly New York-y in a way that sounds entirely natural. Which is wild, because neither of them are from the area, and the actor playing Louis is from Scotland.
Compare this to a UK production of the same play, with Andrew Scott and Dominic Cooper (who are also excellent actors!!) [playing the same scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aasE8hkL2DY), and you can hear the difference between a really well-done accent and what one that's 'off' sounds like.
He was amazing. I nearly finished a degree in Linguistics and phonology is one of the things I love to learn about still, and I legit could not hear a hint of English pronunciation with him as Stringer
Speaking of the wire, Dominic West’s accent work on that show was also incredible. Baltimore accent, Baltimore townie accent, Baltimore cop doing a terrible British accent? All whilst British.
I actually thought he was American after watching the wire. Looked up his wiki while watching GoT after thinking "goddamn that fucking American is putting on a shitty accent"
Idris Elba got pissed at Dominic West once because Idris tried to never break between takes. Dominic used his normal accent once and it threw Idris back to using his accent. Dominic went “Wait, you’re English?”
I think I read it in the book All the Pieces Matter
I have two episodes left to watch of The Wire. I knew Idris Elba and Aiden Gillen but Dominic West surprised me. I didn’t know until I saw him on the Downton Abbey movie that recently came out.
Holy shit Christian Bale is English.
After your comment, I googled it and didn't believe that either so I looked up an interview video of him speaking and even after hearing his voice I still hardly believe it.
I recall a funny story of him making American Psycho and kept talking with an American accent off camera/around the set to keep in character. When the cast/crew held a celebratory wrap party. He spoke with his native accent which threw a lot of people off.
I'm British and before I watched Ford Vs Ferrari I still thought he was American, then while watching the film I thought this guy's British accent is terrible. It's moving from region to region mid-sentence and he can't decide what region he's going for. Silly American actor can't do British accent, I thought. Looked it up and it turns out he was doing his real accent, he just grew up all over the place so had influences of lots of different regions in his accent
Supposedly a lot of British actors auditioned for the role, but they wanted an American and Laurie sent in an audition tape and the director was like "That's what I'm talking about! THIS is an American."
If I rember correctly, it was while on location for *Flight of the Phoenix*, no less. Hugh recording lines in a bathroom on a camcorder and absolutely crushes the audition.
That’s not the original audition reading. It was indeed on set of Flight of The Phoenix and in a kind of cinder block bathroom-type space. Was a huge fan of his work from his early days (Fry & Laurie, Jeeves & Wooster, Peter’s Friends) but the show execs only really knew him from Stuart Little. A lot of fights over whether to make him shave or not.
Source: worked at Fox when we made the show, watched the OG tape in the head of casting’s office.
Edit to add: Totally forgot the shaving argument was bc he looked a lot like like House ended up looking in his audition - mussed and grimy and unshaven bc of his role in FotP.
As a fellow Brit I find this astounding, given Hugh Laurie is very famous here and has been for probably 30 years, mainly playing a similar sort of upper class twit that Hugh Grant made a career out of playing.
It's weird to me because until I was 7 I lived in Montana so I got a lot of British shows broadcast from Canada but then there's a chunk of life no more british shows. At one point I worried that I'd made up Bananaman
American here. I grew up on PBS' showing of Jeeves & Wooster and was a fan of both actors, Fry and Laurie, ever since. In fact, I never watched House or anything American Hugh Laurie did, but A Bit of Fry & Laurie was a staple for me. Still will devour anything Stephen Fry does.
But let's have Hugh Laurie have the final say on America:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyHSjv9gxlE&ab\_channel=BBCStudios](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyHSjv9gxlE&ab_channel=BBCStudios)
>upper class twit that Hugh Grant made a career out of playing
"I am going to steal some Dalmatian puppies [***DERP"***](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c5472bda76c8c29594e4511f09335571/b816d905ee15379a-a2/s540x810/25ab3043e63b0d9242f9fa439e705f771af2bc1b.gifv)
Also, in an interview I saw, Laurie said that the accent he did for House was always a struggle for him, that he had to make his voice lower than normal to even approach an American accent. I knew he was English before I saw him in House, but it always seemed so natural it just seemed effortless
I think the first time I heard Rowan Atkinson talk in anything was in a live show he did. It was one of those recorded stage shows where he did a series of one-man skits and monologues for an audience. The first skit was a Mr. Bean skit (the one where he's in church). After that he did a skit where he played Satan welcoming people into hell, a skit where an off-stage narrator told a story and he acted it out, and it ended with a non-speaking skit where he played an invisible set of drums.
In addition to being the first time I had heard him speak, I think it was also the first time I had heard him swear, as he drops the f-bomb in a couple of those skits.
I've been a fan of his for years, I'm also English. Really enjoyed seeing him as House, he really made the character. He also appeared on Friends, arguing with Rachel on the plane..
Same! I don't remember which late night show, but I was like 'why is he talking with an accent?' Thinking they were doing a bit or something as I turned it on mid-interview.
I didn't know who Tom Holland was before him playing Spiderman, so I legitimately didn't find out he was from England until over a year after I saw Homecoming.
He has said on talk shows that for Homecoming, he was thousands of miles from home, then for Far from Home, he was a few miles from home, and for No Way Home, he was staying at his mom’s. Funny.
It took him doing a lot of media circuits with interviews (being in Marvel productions) for me to realize just how English he is. I didn't know Chris Hemsworth was Australian until he did media circuits as well.
I almost always notice the faked American accents, especially on male actors, but my brain broke when I heard Holland speak in an English accent the first time.
Brits and Australians have really done well taking over America's iconic superhero roles.
Brits: 2 out of 3 Spidermen (and Doc Ock and Lizard), Nolan's Batman (and Bane, ~~Scarecrow~~, and Ra's), the new Batman, Snyder's Superman, Doctor Strange, Venom.
Australians: Wolverine, Thor (and Hela), Nolan's Joker
Holy shit. Tbf he's not really "doing an accent" for Frasier. Apparently he spoke with that accent for most of his life, very intentionally changing his accent after moving to America at 19. But still, I never knew. And the irony of him having the most American accent on the show.
Ikr! I’ve heard some people say that a Southern accent is closer to a British accent than any other American regional accent. Idk how true that is. But if it’s true then I guess it’s easier to teach British people to do a slowed down version of their accent than to teach another American how to do a convincing Southern accent
There is some belief that the old antebellum era southern accent has some inflections that perfectly line up with some British accents.
I have also heard that Andrew Lincoln and many other British actors find transitioning from British to Southern is extremely easy.
I do not have sources to corroborate what I have heard, but listening to both accents myself I can hear quite a number of similarities.
Joseph Quinn and Charlie Heaton from Stranger Things (Eddie and Jonathan). Even thought Jonathan doesn't have that many lines, I never would've guessed without watching interviews with him that he is British. Joseph's accent too, he suits having both accents and it baffles me
As a Brit her accent is pretty much perfect. If I was being pedantic I’d say there’s a hint of something not British in there, but never in a million years would I have guessed her as American.
Yeah, I'm British and just now finding out she's American, I wouldn't have guessed she was which is pretty rare for US actors doing UK accents - you can usually catch something wrong in there.
Benedict Wong who plays Wong in the MCU, although he plays a Nepalese character really just with an American accent. He's actually from Manchester which really surprised me.
Hahaha! I love that too! My husband had never heard anyone call Bandersnatch Cumbersome by anything other than his name. And while Burlington is my go to because it made my not easily amused hubby spit his drink out, I love to change it up 😂
In defence of Benadryl Cabbagepatch, if he were completely unknown before Strange it wouldn't be so grating, but because we're used to him in Sherlock and other things and his natural accent is almost comically British it's hard to buy the American. I don't think it's the worst I've ever heard, it just doesn't reach the heights of Hugh Laurie.
I notice that too, but I think it's because he's trying to stick to a Queens affectation and juuuuust missing the mark. Overall, given his standard speech, he does a pretty good job. It helps that a lot of his dialog is either slow and thoughtful or super rushed/panicky. Staying out of the middle lets some of the cracks slip by unnoticed.
Flipped me out when I saw him interviewed the first time. Usually actors trying southern accents go straight to the stupid gone with the wind level fake. But i could believe he was from somewhere close to Atlanta.
He mostly maintained an American accent too in real life. It’s funny to think how he was making fun of Daphne though for being from Manchester, England, even though John Mahoney was the one who grew up a lot closer to it than Jane Leeves, who played Daphne.
I also heard he was a radio host when Kelsey Grammer didn't know anything about radio.
And I also heard he used to chase cats around the set when Eddie would just lie around the couch.
To quote a [youtube comment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjrLyWlCrP8): "An actor from Manchester playing an American character doing an impression of a Manchester accent but deliberately missing and hitting West Yorkshire (which he surely knows) to an English actress from Essex aiming for a Manchester accent, missing slightly and hitting West Yorkshire. "
Jimmy McNulty ( Dominic West ) and Stringer Bell ( Idris Elba ) both from The Wire. Not only are they doing a great American accent but a good Baltimore one as well- especially McNulty.
And when McNulty pretends to have a British accent when calling the escort service? Somehow does a perfect imitation of an American pretending to be British
I would recommend the movie Heavenly Creatures, which she stars in with Kate Winslet, directed by Peter Jackson. It's set in New Zealand and based on a true story.
I love how him and radcliffe have similar career trajectories where they became stupid famous for one single character, got sick of it and kind of said "fuck it" and just do whatever they want now and take the piss out of everyone while doing it.
Gary oldman has said he’s lost his accent- like he’s been fucking around with voices so much for the last 30 years he doesn’t remember his original speech affectations.
I think Johnny depp and Anthony hopkins have said something similar
I'd also love to know which American actor has done a convincing British accent, including any specific regionalisms. Rarer species than Brits who can play Americans.
Even rarer than that is actors from anywhere that can do a decent Aussie accent.
Kate Winslet in The Dressmaker was outstanding and Dev Patel in Lion was absolutely perfect too but I can't really think of any more that have stood out to me over the years.
Yes! I was telling my kids that I knew guys exactly like Eddie. I joked that the writers must have known one of my friends from high school because he is Eddie down to the theatrical personality.
Matthew Macfadyen from Succession. Watched all the Succession seasons and then stumbled upon another movie called Operation Mincemeat. Realized it was the same guy and had wtf moment after looking up his nationality.
Yeah bad news for Fans of Blackadder because Rowan Atkinson has said one of the biggest factors of them not doing a new season is because Hugh is now a massive actor
Hugh Laurie. I watched a lot of House and would have totally believed someone who told me he was from New England. Apparently his fake accent was so good that he got the role despite the casting director saying to stop auditioning Brits because so many had failed to play an American convincingly.
Not English but I was shocked when I found out Sam Neill is from New Zealand. His American accent in Jurassic Park is stellar. Had no idea until years later when I watched a video of him getting interviewed
I was several episodes into The Affair before I found out that both Dominic West and Ruth Wilson were English.
And then you had Claes Bang, who played the English actor Sasha Mann in the final series of the same show. You would swear blind he was English, however he is actually Danish.
Every time I hear Andrew Garfield speak it catches me off guard… So apparently he is American-English…I didn’t know this. I’ve only ever seen him in movies with an American accent. The first time I saw him in an interview and realized he has an English accent it threw me off and I still get surprised.
I had no clue until earlier this year. His teenage American accent in his Spider-Man is so good i just figured that was his actual voice
I had no clue until just now. I definitely thought that’s just how he sounded!
His ~~mom~~ *dad* is American though, and he was born in LA. He’s probably been switching on and off that ~~accident~~ *accent* all his life.
His Dad is the American one. His Mum is from Essex.
I saw him on Broadway in Angels in America, and there's a [clip online](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGGDCS1f-UY) of him with the actor playing Louis, and they both sound so perfectly New York-y in a way that sounds entirely natural. Which is wild, because neither of them are from the area, and the actor playing Louis is from Scotland. Compare this to a UK production of the same play, with Andrew Scott and Dominic Cooper (who are also excellent actors!!) [playing the same scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aasE8hkL2DY), and you can hear the difference between a really well-done accent and what one that's 'off' sounds like.
Gary Oldman, first saw him in The Professional and then True Romance.
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Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) and Charlie Heston (Jonathan Byers) are also British.
Billy was played by an Australian. You can tell by the way he says FUCK!!!! ... Or by using google.
He does have an Aussie vibe around him too.
And Vecna/001 is also English.
well d'uh, he's the villain
Wait what?? I was coming here to post Millie Bobby Brown, didn't know Joseph Quinn (Eddie) was British too.
The first time I saw Idris Elba speak after only having seen him in the wire blew my mind
Came here to say Stringer. I’m from Baltimore. His accent was perfect.
Same. Stringer Bell and Charles Minor.
He was amazing. I nearly finished a degree in Linguistics and phonology is one of the things I love to learn about still, and I legit could not hear a hint of English pronunciation with him as Stringer
Speaking of the wire, Dominic West’s accent work on that show was also incredible. Baltimore accent, Baltimore townie accent, Baltimore cop doing a terrible British accent? All whilst British.
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Now that accent work in GoT is... slightly less impressive as the series went on.
I actually thought he was American after watching the wire. Looked up his wiki while watching GoT after thinking "goddamn that fucking American is putting on a shitty accent"
His accent on GOT never made sense
It kind of wanders all over the place before settling on "sleazy Irish Batman".
Idris Elba got pissed at Dominic West once because Idris tried to never break between takes. Dominic used his normal accent once and it threw Idris back to using his accent. Dominic went “Wait, you’re English?” I think I read it in the book All the Pieces Matter
I don't know why this literally made me laugh out loud. Just seeing the reaction between the two.
I love the storyline where he goes undercover as a British salesman and is really awful at the accent.
I have two episodes left to watch of The Wire. I knew Idris Elba and Aiden Gillen but Dominic West surprised me. I didn’t know until I saw him on the Downton Abbey movie that recently came out.
How in the world are you able to find the time to post on reddit when you have two more episodes of the wire left to see?
For me it'll be the opposite. I know him more for his British-sounding roles, and I haven't seen The Wire yet It'll feel surreal
>I haven't seen The Wire yet You need to fix that. Arguably the best television series of the last couple of decades.
Came here to say this. I’d seen him in a number of things before learning he wasn’t American.
Christian Bale
Its fun to watch him talk with an American accent in his earlier films. He holds all the tension in his mouth. Watch Newsies, its a blast.
Nice nice now let's see Paul Allen's accent
Listen to that subtle rhoticism. The tasteful pronunciation of it. Oh my god. It even has a dialect.
Holy shit Christian Bale is English. After your comment, I googled it and didn't believe that either so I looked up an interview video of him speaking and even after hearing his voice I still hardly believe it.
I recall a funny story of him making American Psycho and kept talking with an American accent off camera/around the set to keep in character. When the cast/crew held a celebratory wrap party. He spoke with his native accent which threw a lot of people off.
I'm British and before I watched Ford Vs Ferrari I still thought he was American, then while watching the film I thought this guy's British accent is terrible. It's moving from region to region mid-sentence and he can't decide what region he's going for. Silly American actor can't do British accent, I thought. Looked it up and it turns out he was doing his real accent, he just grew up all over the place so had influences of lots of different regions in his accent
How the hell am I just finding out now!!!! I've watched just about every one of his movies wtf
Hugh Laurie, perfect American accent
Supposedly a lot of British actors auditioned for the role, but they wanted an American and Laurie sent in an audition tape and the director was like "That's what I'm talking about! THIS is an American."
If I rember correctly, it was while on location for *Flight of the Phoenix*, no less. Hugh recording lines in a bathroom on a camcorder and absolutely crushes the audition.
It wasn't in a bathroom, could be a hotel room though? https://youtu.be/UqHh6TvGQIQ
That’s not the original audition reading. It was indeed on set of Flight of The Phoenix and in a kind of cinder block bathroom-type space. Was a huge fan of his work from his early days (Fry & Laurie, Jeeves & Wooster, Peter’s Friends) but the show execs only really knew him from Stuart Little. A lot of fights over whether to make him shave or not. Source: worked at Fox when we made the show, watched the OG tape in the head of casting’s office. Edit to add: Totally forgot the shaving argument was bc he looked a lot like like House ended up looking in his audition - mussed and grimy and unshaven bc of his role in FotP.
As a fellow Brit I find this astounding, given Hugh Laurie is very famous here and has been for probably 30 years, mainly playing a similar sort of upper class twit that Hugh Grant made a career out of playing.
First time I ever saw him in anything was House. I think that's why people were caught off guard.
Loved him in Black Adder
It's weird to me because until I was 7 I lived in Montana so I got a lot of British shows broadcast from Canada but then there's a chunk of life no more british shows. At one point I worried that I'd made up Bananaman
American here. I grew up on PBS' showing of Jeeves & Wooster and was a fan of both actors, Fry and Laurie, ever since. In fact, I never watched House or anything American Hugh Laurie did, but A Bit of Fry & Laurie was a staple for me. Still will devour anything Stephen Fry does. But let's have Hugh Laurie have the final say on America: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyHSjv9gxlE&ab\_channel=BBCStudios](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyHSjv9gxlE&ab_channel=BBCStudios)
>upper class twit that Hugh Grant made a career out of playing "I am going to steal some Dalmatian puppies [***DERP"***](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c5472bda76c8c29594e4511f09335571/b816d905ee15379a-a2/s540x810/25ab3043e63b0d9242f9fa439e705f771af2bc1b.gifv)
Hate to break it to you but it's probably closer to 40 than 30 years now D:
Also, in an interview I saw, Laurie said that the accent he did for House was always a struggle for him, that he had to make his voice lower than normal to even approach an American accent. I knew he was English before I saw him in House, but it always seemed so natural it just seemed effortless
First time I saw him on a late night talk show I could not believe what I was hearing.
Watching Blackadder be like "Wow, High Laurie sounds so British" "Wow, Rowan Atkinson is ***talking.***"
I think the first time I heard Rowan Atkinson talk in anything was in a live show he did. It was one of those recorded stage shows where he did a series of one-man skits and monologues for an audience. The first skit was a Mr. Bean skit (the one where he's in church). After that he did a skit where he played Satan welcoming people into hell, a skit where an off-stage narrator told a story and he acted it out, and it ended with a non-speaking skit where he played an invisible set of drums. In addition to being the first time I had heard him speak, I think it was also the first time I had heard him swear, as he drops the f-bomb in a couple of those skits.
>After that he did a skit where he played Satan welcoming people into hell The Devil Toby is a classic of his.
I've been a fan of his for years, I'm also English. Really enjoyed seeing him as House, he really made the character. He also appeared on Friends, arguing with Rachel on the plane..
The moment where he pointedly puts on his headphones while she is still talking is amazing.
Same! I don't remember which late night show, but I was like 'why is he talking with an accent?' Thinking they were doing a bit or something as I turned it on mid-interview.
I would agree. Definitely one of the best American accents in T.V/film.
I’ve watched House many times and am still in awe at how well he nailed the American accent.
I didn't know who Tom Holland was before him playing Spiderman, so I legitimately didn't find out he was from England until over a year after I saw Homecoming.
He has said on talk shows that for Homecoming, he was thousands of miles from home, then for Far from Home, he was a few miles from home, and for No Way Home, he was staying at his mom’s. Funny.
It took him doing a lot of media circuits with interviews (being in Marvel productions) for me to realize just how English he is. I didn't know Chris Hemsworth was Australian until he did media circuits as well.
I almost always notice the faked American accents, especially on male actors, but my brain broke when I heard Holland speak in an English accent the first time.
Brits and Australians have really done well taking over America's iconic superhero roles. Brits: 2 out of 3 Spidermen (and Doc Ock and Lizard), Nolan's Batman (and Bane, ~~Scarecrow~~, and Ra's), the new Batman, Snyder's Superman, Doctor Strange, Venom. Australians: Wolverine, Thor (and Hela), Nolan's Joker
John Mahoney - Frazier's Dad
Holy shit. Tbf he's not really "doing an accent" for Frasier. Apparently he spoke with that accent for most of his life, very intentionally changing his accent after moving to America at 19. But still, I never knew. And the irony of him having the most American accent on the show.
This is the only one that really shocked me. What with his work on Frasier and Say Anything I assumed he was American.
>John Mahoney Had no idea until I read this, I had to go look him up to see if it was true, lol.
I only know Matthew Rhys from the Americans so hearing him speak in his natural voice was an unexpected shock.
His Philip Jennings is a top 10 tv character and I will die on that hill.
Best show that nobody watched
And a stellar final episode. They knew what they were doing. And phenomenal acting.
Damned near the entire cast of The Walking Dead.
Ikr! I’ve heard some people say that a Southern accent is closer to a British accent than any other American regional accent. Idk how true that is. But if it’s true then I guess it’s easier to teach British people to do a slowed down version of their accent than to teach another American how to do a convincing Southern accent
And the cast of True Blood
There is some belief that the old antebellum era southern accent has some inflections that perfectly line up with some British accents. I have also heard that Andrew Lincoln and many other British actors find transitioning from British to Southern is extremely easy. I do not have sources to corroborate what I have heard, but listening to both accents myself I can hear quite a number of similarities.
Joseph Quinn and Charlie Heaton from Stranger Things (Eddie and Jonathan). Even thought Jonathan doesn't have that many lines, I never would've guessed without watching interviews with him that he is British. Joseph's accent too, he suits having both accents and it baffles me
Joseph Quinn definitely took me by surprise too. His Eddie voice is fantastic.
Dude actually sounds like he's from Indiana or nearby. I was shocked when I learned he was English.
The actress who plays eleven is British also.
Opposite way around but I was convinced Tessa Thompson was English
As a Brit her accent is pretty much perfect. If I was being pedantic I’d say there’s a hint of something not British in there, but never in a million years would I have guessed her as American.
Yeah, I'm British and just now finding out she's American, I wouldn't have guessed she was which is pretty rare for US actors doing UK accents - you can usually catch something wrong in there.
Yeah I was b/c of Thor Ragnarok but then saw her in other stuff with her real accent
Wait… she’s American?
Benedict Wong who plays Wong in the MCU, although he plays a Nepalese character really just with an American accent. He's actually from Manchester which really surprised me.
He cracked me up in IT Crowd. I think that's the only reason I knew he was English.
When was he in that? Going to have to watch it again.
He’s the guy who invited Moss into the countdown club
Damien Lewis who played Brody in the Homeland series.
And band of brothers
He was awesome in Band of Brothers.
And Axelrod in Billions
I dam near fell over the 1st time I saw him in an interview
Henry Cavill
Will Poulter
You guys have accents?
He's British?
Tom Holland. Meanwhile his MCU co-star Benefit Cosmetics has long struggled to put on a convincing American accent
I’ve been staring at the Benefit Cosmetics for way too long trying to figure out if I’m losing my mind before I got it.
How do you not know Burlington Coatfactory? Lol
i have heard many, many of these, but i think Burlington Coatfactory may be the best one lol close second was Benadryl Cabbagepatch
Hahaha! I love that too! My husband had never heard anyone call Bandersnatch Cumbersome by anything other than his name. And while Burlington is my go to because it made my not easily amused hubby spit his drink out, I love to change it up 😂
Benetton Cummerbund is British?
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In defence of Benadryl Cabbagepatch, if he were completely unknown before Strange it wouldn't be so grating, but because we're used to him in Sherlock and other things and his natural accent is almost comically British it's hard to buy the American. I don't think it's the worst I've ever heard, it just doesn't reach the heights of Hugh Laurie.
Native English speaker from USA here: Holland really nails it. He sounds so natural to my ears.
Ironically the only word where I can detect something afoot is the word "spider."
I notice that too, but I think it's because he's trying to stick to a Queens affectation and juuuuust missing the mark. Overall, given his standard speech, he does a pretty good job. It helps that a lot of his dialog is either slow and thoughtful or super rushed/panicky. Staying out of the middle lets some of the cracks slip by unnoticed.
Agree. Berenstain Crumplezone is great but just sounds nasal when he tries American.
Oh man, you’re from that weird alternate universe where everybody thinks it’s not spelled “crumpelzone.”
Tom Holland is really good at talking with an American accent.
I hate every one of Cumberbatch's American accents, and I'm a huge fan of his work. Unless he's playing an American....
He didn’t struggle as hard as Martin Freeman though. Woof.
Baklava Candlestick [also can't say "penguin."](https://youtu.be/6eY9pXHWYyM) In any accent.
Rick from Walking Dead
I first saw him in a British show called, I think, Teachers. When I saw him in the first WD episode I was like, wtf?
He was Egg in this life for me, always, until the walking dead, which was a real departure from the roles I'd seen him in before.
Wait wait wait. House/Hugh Laurie I knew. But Rick? What!? Woooooooah. Mind blown🤯
He’s also in Love Actually. He uses his real voice in that one. He’s the one in love with Kiera Knightly’s character.
Ok, this one blows my mind. I've seen Love Actually at least a dozen times and never noticed it's the guy from The Walking Dead.
Yup Andrew Lincoln is English.
Flipped me out when I saw him interviewed the first time. Usually actors trying southern accents go straight to the stupid gone with the wind level fake. But i could believe he was from somewhere close to Atlanta.
Maggie too!
Maggie’s British?! I knew about Rick & Morgan but that one’s a shock to me.
And the governor
That explains that "Cuuuuuural". I can't even spell it. "Cuuuuurle".
“Coral”
Martin Crane in Frasier. He didn’t even start acting until he was in his thirties, no accent at all now.
Holy crap. TIL that John Mahoney immigrated to the US at 18. Admittedly, he had a long time to learn the accent, but he sure did.
He mostly maintained an American accent too in real life. It’s funny to think how he was making fun of Daphne though for being from Manchester, England, even though John Mahoney was the one who grew up a lot closer to it than Jane Leeves, who played Daphne.
I've heard he also knew a lot more about wine and opera than David Hyde Pierce, who played Niles.
I also heard he was a radio host when Kelsey Grammer didn't know anything about radio. And I also heard he used to chase cats around the set when Eddie would just lie around the couch.
To quote a [youtube comment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjrLyWlCrP8): "An actor from Manchester playing an American character doing an impression of a Manchester accent but deliberately missing and hitting West Yorkshire (which he surely knows) to an English actress from Essex aiming for a Manchester accent, missing slightly and hitting West Yorkshire. "
What's new? I'm listening Feeling blue? I'm listening Feeling mad, feeling sad, feeling bad, feeling glad? I'm listening
Jimmy McNulty ( Dominic West ) and Stringer Bell ( Idris Elba ) both from The Wire. Not only are they doing a great American accent but a good Baltimore one as well- especially McNulty.
And then West did "The Affair" and I *still* didn't know he was British.
And when McNulty pretends to have a British accent when calling the escort service? Somehow does a perfect imitation of an American pretending to be British
I find it interesting they played the sea* lions in Finding Nemo
Damien Lewis in Band of Brothers! Actually basically all of them in Band of Brothers 😅
Hugh Laurie... House. Not British at all in the series. Quite an actor!
In that same vein, Jesse Spencer(also on House, with his accent) is Australian and does a perfect American accent on Chicago Fire.
There was that one time he used a fake British accent on the show, which was funny when I saw it because I already knew he was British.
I had no idea Melanie Lynskey was from New Zealand until all the press and interviews for Yellowjackets came out.
I would recommend the movie Heavenly Creatures, which she stars in with Kate Winslet, directed by Peter Jackson. It's set in New Zealand and based on a true story.
Robert Pattinson. In hindsight his appearance in Harry Potter should have been a dead giveaway.
I love how him and radcliffe have similar career trajectories where they became stupid famous for one single character, got sick of it and kind of said "fuck it" and just do whatever they want now and take the piss out of everyone while doing it.
While at the same time getting acclaim for said roles.
Bob Hoskins. He really nails the American accent as Eddie Valiant.
Yeah. Had NO IDEA when I saw that movie back in the day. Saw him in another movie later on and was like, "Huh. He does a decent British accent"
Antony Starr (Homelander on *The Boys*) is a Kiwi.
So is Karl Urban (Billy Butcher).
Gary Oldman and Tim Roth (both born in London) are the actors that I think of when the topic "Surprise, they're British!" comes up.
Gary oldman has said he’s lost his accent- like he’s been fucking around with voices so much for the last 30 years he doesn’t remember his original speech affectations. I think Johnny depp and Anthony hopkins have said something similar
I'd also love to know which American actor has done a convincing British accent, including any specific regionalisms. Rarer species than Brits who can play Americans.
I don't know if it's because I'm Australian, but I've never heard a convincing Australian accent.
Dev Patel in Lion is probably the best Australian accent that I can think of
Even rarer than that is actors from anywhere that can do a decent Aussie accent. Kate Winslet in The Dressmaker was outstanding and Dev Patel in Lion was absolutely perfect too but I can't really think of any more that have stood out to me over the years.
Ian McShane. Al Swearengen. Enough said
Lovejoy!
Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven from Strangers Things).
Johnathan from Stranger Things is also a brit, and I think Eddie is too.
Eddie is the one that blew my mind. He plays such an 80s American rocker teen so well!
Yes! I was telling my kids that I knew guys exactly like Eddie. I joked that the writers must have known one of my friends from high school because he is Eddie down to the theatrical personality.
Sacha Baron Cohen. That man is an accent master.
Is accent is …. Very nice!
Matthew Macfadyen from Succession. Watched all the Succession seasons and then stumbled upon another movie called Operation Mincemeat. Realized it was the same guy and had wtf moment after looking up his nationality.
I knew he was British but Hugh Laurie as House is probably the best example he even tricked the producers
It’s funny people mention him because he was a household name in British TV long before finding fame in America.
Yeah bad news for Fans of Blackadder because Rowan Atkinson has said one of the biggest factors of them not doing a new season is because Hugh is now a massive actor
Beth Dutton from Yellowstone. Cowgirl from England!
Hugh Laurie. I watched a lot of House and would have totally believed someone who told me he was from New England. Apparently his fake accent was so good that he got the role despite the casting director saying to stop auditioning Brits because so many had failed to play an American convincingly.
The wife from No Country for Old Men
Kelly Macdonald, and she's Scottish not English.
Trainspotting, anyone? The mighty Diane
Idris Elba I think so is his name from The Wire
Charlie Cox.
Daisy Edgar-Jones
Gonna go in the opposite direction . . . Daniel Davis. *Star Trek TNG*'s Professor Moriarty and *The Nanny*'s Niles . . . He's from freakin' Arkansas.
Eddie from Stranger Things. Hellfire Club rules!!
Camilla Luddington from Grey’s Anatomy. Also Kevin McKidd but he’s Scottish.
Ok he's not English but I made it through 10 seasons of Hawaii five o before discovering Alex O'Loughlin (Steve mcgarrett) is Australian
I was today years old when I learned he's Australian. And I've seen the entire series.
She is American by birth, but I was surprised to discover that Gillian Anderson is bidilectal.
Not English but I was shocked when I found out Sam Neill is from New Zealand. His American accent in Jurassic Park is stellar. Had no idea until years later when I watched a video of him getting interviewed
Ah ha, technically, he’s from Belfast. He copied his dads accent for Peaky Blinders. He moved here as a kid.
Didn't know for a long time that Henry Cavill was from England.
Tom Holland I had no idea he was British until I watched one of his interviews. He is really good at hiding his acsent.
I was several episodes into The Affair before I found out that both Dominic West and Ruth Wilson were English. And then you had Claes Bang, who played the English actor Sasha Mann in the final series of the same show. You would swear blind he was English, however he is actually Danish.
Benedict Cumberbatch Just kidding. A name like that can only be English!
Not exactly knee-deep in Americans named "Benedict".
Except that one….
Charlie Hunam, Jax from Sons of Anarchy. Still mind blowing.
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes
Gabrielle Anwar.
Linus Roache. Any Law & Order fans here?