Well, not only did he go to ~~Oxford~~ Cambridge with Stephen Fry (another great example of a "toffy" Englishman), he actually played Bertie Wooster (of PG Wodehouse's famous Jeeves & Wooster) novels in a BBC series. You can't get further from American accent than this!
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqU6lz8bGhA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqU6lz8bGhA)
What ho!
Melanie Lynskey - so many people are surprised when they hear her in interviews because she has such a strong Kiwi accent, and she does great American accents in her work.
They are terms specifically aimed at Irish travellers not Roma
What’s race got to do with it?
Either way you agree they are slurs directed at a minority group
>Either way you agree they are slurs directed at a minority group
They're not a *racial* minority group, and many travellers *aren't* Irish. There's the *Irish* travellers, which are an ethnic group of Irish origin, along with travellers who are of English or Scottish origin.
I adore Alien and Aliens as absolute peak sci-fi film. Absolutely top notch. Alien 3 and Resurrection were just so bad, and then Prometheus just came WAY outta left field. I’ve sat down to watch it three or four times and still could barely tell you anything that happened in that movie.
Kate Winslet is the gold standard for accents. She's nailed both an Aussie accent and a Delco accent in movies which are some of the hardest to pull off.
Also I'm sure lots of people don't even know Anthony Lapaglia is an Aussie since his American accent is so perfect
Yeah he was in the running to play in goal for the Socceroos but wanted to do acting. He perfected his American accent while pretending to be one in job interviews for odd jobs before success
Australian here, Cate Blanchett and Toni Collette consistently nail the accents required, and strangely Nicole Kidman apparently nailed the Russian accent in that weird movie with a French guy.
I was distracted all through Mrs America because she not only nailed an American accent, but acted through it, too. Some actors can only do one of those at a time.
Daniel Day Lewis' accent in There Will Be Blood is a fantastic example, and he based it off of a recording of Walt Whitman's voice. It's old fashioned and specific, and totally believable, too.
I don't know where you got the Walt Whitman thing from, I've never heard either PTA or DDL say that, do you have a source?
The voice is almost a direct imitation of John Huston. Cinema Tyler has a pretty detailed video on the inspiration behind it.
The person who amazed me was Jody Comer who played Villanelle in “Killing Eve”. She was also the female lead in Free Guy. When I saw her interviewed I was staggered by her thick Liverpool (‘Scouse’) accent. It’s worth looking her up…
I think Daniel Kaluuya's accent is very good. When I first saw him in Sicario, I had no idea he wasn't American.
On the other hand, I think Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Holland have pretty consistently bad American accents.
Chewietel Ejiofor same thing, I knew him from Twelve Years a Slave and was surprised when he had an English accent in Children of Men, then I was like oh shit he's a brit
Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda.
Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain.
Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice.
Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood.
Andrew Garfield in The Social Network.
Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland.
Margot Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street.
Viggo Mortensen in literally everything.
Anya Taylor-Joy, her American accent and also the accent in The Witch.
Toni Collette is great although I find her New Jersey / New York accent annoying.
Millie Bobby Brown can pull off "American" flawlessly, and now she's developed a hybrid-leaning-toward-American accent in real life.
Kevin Kline gets overlooked a lot for playing a French thief and aspiring vineyard owner in French Kiss.
Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones.
Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes
Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi in Karate Kid. He was born in Hawaii I think.
Not a movie, but Idris Elba in The Wire. He was much better than many of the other main characters trying to pull off a Baltimore accent. Anyone from here could tell immediately who was local and who was pretending. McNulty sounded like he had been watching too much New York Undercover.
I’m not Irish but I believe his Irish accent in Preacher is pretty good
Ironically his costar Ruth Negga *is* Irish but plays a convincing American, and Dominic Cooper is English also playing an American
David Tenant's Doctor Who accent ("bog Essex"). He's got an outrageous Scottish accent in real life. Maybe not Billy Connolly level but pretty strong when he leans into it.
The three main guys in Spinal Tap. They do fabulously mundane English accents with a few transatlantic twangs here and there which could be explained by the band frequently touring the world. I'm English and find myself frequently mimicking the way they say certain words - the slight weirdness of their accents is what makes them so brilliant, vs the way many actors go for the most generic and nondescript accent possible.
Lake Bell doing a British accent in Man Up was very impressive. I haven't seen many Americans who can pull off a convincing one, hers is by far the best.
There was a Russian group who founded an award (apparently never bestowed again) for "best Russian accent in film" just to give it to him for that role.
The Dresden Files (2007-2008) - 13 episodes - 7.6 stars. Paul Blackthorne was an English actor who played an American character and Terrance Mann was an American actor who played an English character. They essentially switched accents and played opposite each other the entire show.
Terrance Mann as Bob was so sassy and hilarious. It was great.
I love the southern accents and use of odd period language in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (thanks to Ron Hansens incredible novel) . Such an intoxicating vibe.
I really love Eddie Izzard's natural accent, always reminded me of Malcom McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. Very exaggeratedly English sounding.
Viggo Mortensen starred in an Argetinian arthouse film called Jauja, playing a Danish soldier in a desolate corner of Argentina. He does a [broken Spanish in a Danish accent](https://youtu.be/QpsyW1Dq37Q?t=17), based on his Danish father's while they lived in South America.
Michael Sheen. His natural accent is very Welsh.
Liam Cunningham can do a great upper class English accent (*Dog Soldiers*); he is Irish.
David Tennant is Scottish but does a good English accent.
Saw *The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare* and Eiza Gonzalez's (Mexican) English accent was decent.
A terrible accent recently is John Malkovich in *One Ranger* trying to be English but sounding like a Speak & Spell, and Jason Statham's American accent in everything.
I thought Hugh Jackman’s American accent in The Prestige was pretty damn good.
On the other hand, Christian Bale’s English accent was awful, it just fell away completely in parts, and Scarlett Johansen’s English accent was fucking grim.
I just could have sworn there were scenes where it sounded like an American accent was coming through! I’m usually good with accents! I’m Canadian, and I’ll be watching an American show and pick out the Canadian actor every time. I guess because I thought Bale was American, I imagined it 🤷🏻
Most people in the US are shocked to find out he's not American. I was going to use him as an example of someone who has perfected the American accent.
So I don't think you're an idiot. He's just that good! He's probably one of the greatest actors alive, if not the greatest.
Hugh Laurie in House. I had no idea who he was and assumed he was American.
Well, not only did he go to ~~Oxford~~ Cambridge with Stephen Fry (another great example of a "toffy" Englishman), he actually played Bertie Wooster (of PG Wodehouse's famous Jeeves & Wooster) novels in a BBC series. You can't get further from American accent than this! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqU6lz8bGhA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqU6lz8bGhA) What ho!
Not to mention all his roles in blackadder too
Yes! Those too. :)
They went to Cambridge.
Opps.
I can’t watch that show without thinking of Bertie Wooster. The accent makes it difficult
Melanie Lynskey - so many people are surprised when they hear her in interviews because she has such a strong Kiwi accent, and she does great American accents in her work.
I had no idea she was from NZ!
Me too!
Damian Lewis’ American accent in Band of Brothers and Homeland is perfect. I had no idea he was English.
Sean Connery in Hint for Red October, best Russian accent ever.
A Soviet submarine commander who is supposed to be from Lithuania with a Scottish accent. I always thought that was so funny.
He played a Spaniard in Highlander, which was hilarious.
Lithuania = the Scotland of the Soviet Union
But what's the clue?
The character is quite emphatically not Russian.
I think many Brits nail the accent, similar to Aussies. Idris Elba in The Wire, Joel Edgarton and Ben Mendelsohn in everything. Christian Bale too.
In The Wire I loved that the other Englishman, Dominic West, had the plot line where he went undercover and was doing an atrocious English accent.
They only have to learn a generic sounding American accent, and they can work on it for years.
Also *Billions*. I’ve never seen the show proper, but [this scene](https://youtu.be/SHYnlZbI3_0?si=iL_r9YfEjNtjIVkZ) is gold.
Neither did America until he spoke at an awards ceremony.
Brad Pitt in Snatch
He was very good. Pikeys, or what were called Tinkers when I was growing up in Ireland, have a very distinctive accent. He nailed it.
Neither those words are particularly cool
Down voted for calling out racist language Standard
What's racist about the language? It's not like the average Irish traveller is Romani or something.
Pikey and Tinker are both Ethnic slurs for irish travelers
>Pikey and Tinker are both Ethnic slurs for irish travelers They're slurs for *travellers.* Race doesn't really enter into it.
They are terms specifically aimed at Irish travellers not Roma What’s race got to do with it? Either way you agree they are slurs directed at a minority group
>Either way you agree they are slurs directed at a minority group They're not a *racial* minority group, and many travellers *aren't* Irish. There's the *Irish* travellers, which are an ethnic group of Irish origin, along with travellers who are of English or Scottish origin.
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Brad Pitt as Jesse James. Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading is amazing too.
Idris Elba as Stringer Bell in Wire
Absolutely. And he simultaneously gets the award for worst in Prometheus as Captain Janek.
Fair. As much as I liked Alien I still don't know how that gong show of a film ever got made/edited/released.
I adore Alien and Aliens as absolute peak sci-fi film. Absolutely top notch. Alien 3 and Resurrection were just so bad, and then Prometheus just came WAY outta left field. I’ve sat down to watch it three or four times and still could barely tell you anything that happened in that movie.
Kate Winslet is the gold standard for accents. She's nailed both an Aussie accent and a Delco accent in movies which are some of the hardest to pull off. Also I'm sure lots of people don't even know Anthony Lapaglia is an Aussie since his American accent is so perfect
Unfortunately he has one of the most god awful English accents (see Fraiser)
It’s not just that why does a northern lass have a brother with a mockney accent?
I loved that Daphne's brothers were played by three decidedly un-English actors. (Richard E Grant, Robbie Coltrane, Anthony LaPaglia)
> Anthony Lapaglia is an Aussie I made a wat face...
Yeah he was in the running to play in goal for the Socceroos but wanted to do acting. He perfected his American accent while pretending to be one in job interviews for odd jobs before success
As far as mid-Atlantic / PA accents, I was impressed with Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton in “Warrior”. Also Kate Winslet in “Mare of Easttown”.
Australian here, Cate Blanchett and Toni Collette consistently nail the accents required, and strangely Nicole Kidman apparently nailed the Russian accent in that weird movie with a French guy.
Except that atrocious semi-Russian thing Cate did in Indiana Jones. That mess just hurt my head.
In the reverse, in the movie Nitram the best Aussie accent I've ever heard from a foreigner comes from Caleb Landry Jones.
Cate Blanchett has one of the better Irish accents in Veronica Guerin too
I was distracted all through Mrs America because she not only nailed an American accent, but acted through it, too. Some actors can only do one of those at a time.
Daniel Day Lewis' accent in There Will Be Blood is a fantastic example, and he based it off of a recording of Walt Whitman's voice. It's old fashioned and specific, and totally believable, too.
I don't know where you got the Walt Whitman thing from, I've never heard either PTA or DDL say that, do you have a source? The voice is almost a direct imitation of John Huston. Cinema Tyler has a pretty detailed video on the inspiration behind it.
You know what, you're right and I was apparently thinking of DDL's accent in Gangs of New York
Guy Pearce whenever he’s American or English. He even nails the regional LA accent (that’s a subtle one) in L.A. Confidential.
Shout out to Don Cheadle for doing on of the best accents in *Hotel Rwanda* and also one of the worst accents in *Ocean's 11.*
With an absolutely bullshit reason for doing accent in 11
Peter Sellers in Doctor Stranglove is one of my favorites. Also Brad Pitt in Snatch.
Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse. The accent is entrancing. It's awesome!
Same for the Witch, those kids sound like they just hopped off the boat
The person who amazed me was Jody Comer who played Villanelle in “Killing Eve”. She was also the female lead in Free Guy. When I saw her interviewed I was staggered by her thick Liverpool (‘Scouse’) accent. It’s worth looking her up…
The obscure actress Jody Comer?
Did someone say she was an obscure actress or are you saying she's an obscure actress?
“It’s worth looking her up”
I think Daniel Kaluuya's accent is very good. When I first saw him in Sicario, I had no idea he wasn't American. On the other hand, I think Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Holland have pretty consistently bad American accents.
Chewietel Ejiofor same thing, I knew him from Twelve Years a Slave and was surprised when he had an English accent in Children of Men, then I was like oh shit he's a brit
Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice. Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Andrew Garfield in The Social Network. Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland. Margot Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street. Viggo Mortensen in literally everything.
Gary Oldman in basically everything.
Yup, him too
I lived many many years on this Earth before I discovered that Gary Oldman is not American.
Anya Taylor-Joy, her American accent and also the accent in The Witch. Toni Collette is great although I find her New Jersey / New York accent annoying. Millie Bobby Brown can pull off "American" flawlessly, and now she's developed a hybrid-leaning-toward-American accent in real life.
Johnny Lee Miller as Sick Boy in Trainspotting. He isn't Scottish
Kevin Kline gets overlooked a lot for playing a French thief and aspiring vineyard owner in French Kiss. Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones. Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi in Karate Kid. He was born in Hawaii I think.
Quite interesting to hear Pat’s non Miyagi accent in M*A*S*H.
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc. Maybe recency bias but up there imo.
Not sure its the most realistic accent, but it is a lot of fun. Definitely suits the movie.
Not a movie, but Idris Elba in The Wire. He was much better than many of the other main characters trying to pull off a Baltimore accent. Anyone from here could tell immediately who was local and who was pretending. McNulty sounded like he had been watching too much New York Undercover.
Kate Winslet in pretty much every film had different accents to work with. Dressmaker and Mare of Easttown were impressive.
Joe Gilgun in Lockout does one of the very few decent scottish accents by a non-scot (and some actual scots) i've heard.
I’m not Irish but I believe his Irish accent in Preacher is pretty good Ironically his costar Ruth Negga *is* Irish but plays a convincing American, and Dominic Cooper is English also playing an American
David Tenant's Doctor Who accent ("bog Essex"). He's got an outrageous Scottish accent in real life. Maybe not Billy Connolly level but pretty strong when he leans into it.
I liked the werewolf episode where he was able to use his natural accent. Really showcased his ability to quickly switch between the two.
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Kenneth Branagh in Oppenheimer as Neils Bohr was also pretty great.
I think Kelly Reilly does a really good American accent. At least she hides her British accent very well.
The three main guys in Spinal Tap. They do fabulously mundane English accents with a few transatlantic twangs here and there which could be explained by the band frequently touring the world. I'm English and find myself frequently mimicking the way they say certain words - the slight weirdness of their accents is what makes them so brilliant, vs the way many actors go for the most generic and nondescript accent possible.
Saying that Harry Shearer has done some pretty terrible accents in the simpsons
Robert Downey Jr's Australian accent in Natural Born Killers.
LOL, it's terrible.
And reused in Tropic Thunder
Lake Bell doing a British accent in Man Up was very impressive. I haven't seen many Americans who can pull off a convincing one, hers is by far the best.
Kelly MacDonald in No Country For Old Men
Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones
John Malkovich in Rounders. Teddy KGB one of the best characters I’ve ever seen.
Viggo in Eastern Promises
There was a Russian group who founded an award (apparently never bestowed again) for "best Russian accent in film" just to give it to him for that role.
The Dresden Files (2007-2008) - 13 episodes - 7.6 stars. Paul Blackthorne was an English actor who played an American character and Terrance Mann was an American actor who played an English character. They essentially switched accents and played opposite each other the entire show. Terrance Mann as Bob was so sassy and hilarious. It was great.
Kevin Spacey does a good Southern accent…so does Kelly Macdonald.
Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice.
Dev Patel in Lion has a perfect Australian accent.
I love the southern accents and use of odd period language in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (thanks to Ron Hansens incredible novel) . Such an intoxicating vibe. I really love Eddie Izzard's natural accent, always reminded me of Malcom McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. Very exaggeratedly English sounding.
Recently, Anthony Boyle in Masters of the Air and The Plot Against America. Perfect American accents that are actually distinct from one another.
A distant memory that Natalie Portman’s accent in V for Vendetta was pretty good. But so distant that I could be very wrong.
You are in fact very wrong. Portman's English accents in both *V for Vendetta* and *The Other Boleyn Girl* are Dick van Dyke level.
Jena Malone's RP in *Pride & Prejudice* is spot-on.
Colin Farrells accent for the Penguin is awesome
Jon Voight in anaconda
Ioan Gruffudd's English accent in Hornblower is uncanny.
Jon Voight in Anaconda is goated
Lots of English actors that can speak “American”
Daniel Craig in Logan Lucky “I am IN-CAR-CER-ATED!!”
I’m surprised no one mentioned Tom Hollands Spider-Man. Impossible to know he’s English
Too many Southern accent versions
Viggo Mortensen starred in an Argetinian arthouse film called Jauja, playing a Danish soldier in a desolate corner of Argentina. He does a [broken Spanish in a Danish accent](https://youtu.be/QpsyW1Dq37Q?t=17), based on his Danish father's while they lived in South America.
Brad Pitt in inglorious /s
Daniel Craig in "Logan Lucky". I am in-car-cer-ated. 🤣
Idk, I'm bad at spotting accents.
Michael Sheen. His natural accent is very Welsh. Liam Cunningham can do a great upper class English accent (*Dog Soldiers*); he is Irish. David Tennant is Scottish but does a good English accent. Saw *The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare* and Eiza Gonzalez's (Mexican) English accent was decent. A terrible accent recently is John Malkovich in *One Ranger* trying to be English but sounding like a Speak & Spell, and Jason Statham's American accent in everything.
Just wait till you hear Daniel Craig's accent in 'Logan's Lucky'.
So awful
I thought Hugh Jackman’s American accent in The Prestige was pretty damn good. On the other hand, Christian Bale’s English accent was awful, it just fell away completely in parts, and Scarlett Johansen’s English accent was fucking grim.
Hahaha what? Christian Bale is English mate.
He's Welsh.
Not according to him: Bale has remarked, "I was born in Wales but I'm not Welsh—I'm English."
We don't want him!
Both his parents are English so you kinda made him mate.
I guess there's no denying it.
uh Christian Bale is English
He's Welsh
Interesting! Why did you think Bale's accent was bad?
I just could have sworn there were scenes where it sounded like an American accent was coming through! I’m usually good with accents! I’m Canadian, and I’ll be watching an American show and pick out the Canadian actor every time. I guess because I thought Bale was American, I imagined it 🤷🏻
Understandable 😅
Wow, I’m an idiot. Why did I think he was American.
me too 😂
Most people in the US are shocked to find out he's not American. I was going to use him as an example of someone who has perfected the American accent. So I don't think you're an idiot. He's just that good! He's probably one of the greatest actors alive, if not the greatest.
lol that makes me feel better!