Name a foreign born actor who has adopted an American accent

[MrScorpio]

Charlize Theron: For a woman that could only speak Afrikaans at one point in her life, she's the winner.

[Enrique]

1. Russell Crowe n/t

[vadawg]

2. worst is the git called sheena easton, gawd i hate that women

no idea why i just do.

[Enrique]

3. you really know how to hold a grudge

that's a name out of the distant past. :-)

[vadawg]

7. you have no idea, my buddy cant believe that i hold a grudge that grew out of something that happene

back in the 1700's, i guess its in the blood.

[jobycom]

49. It's been decades. Let it go.

:rofl:

[vadawg]

56. hell no ill never let it go, as i said i dont even know why ive to hate her

i just remember my mother telling me that she was no good and its stuck

[nomorenomore08]

4. Christian Bale seems to use one in all his roles, but in interviews he still sounds Welsh.

So I guess he doesn't count. :shrug:

[vadawg]

5. i dont know, i dont think he sounds that welsh anymore, theres something else in his accent

that i just cant quite place, not sure if its bristol or what.

[nomorenomore08]

9. Hmmm... not even sure what a Bristol accent sounds like...

Can you give me any examples of notable people who have one? I always use John Cale as a mental example of a Welsh accent, but I'm no expert there either.

[vadawg]

11. was going to say i dont know any, but heres from a website

Cary Grant
Jeremy Irons
Paul McGann
James Redmond
Mark Watson
Stephanie Cole
Anthony Head
Dave prowse (Darth Vader)
Hugo Weaving
Justin Lee Collins
Lee Evans
Bill Bailey
Matt Lucas and David Walliams (Little Britain)
John Cleese
Derren Brown
Tony Robinson
Ewan Blair (Son of Tony Blair PM)
Adam Hart Davies
Thomas Chatterton
Sophie Anderton (Model)
Tony Benn (MP)
Tony Bullimore (Mariner)
Robin Cousins
J K Rowling
Beryl Cook
Damien Hirst
Keith Floyd
Robert Southey
Nick Park
Colin Pillinger
Johnny Ball
Carol Vorderman
Sir Humphry Davy
Blackbeard the Pirate (Edward Teach)

[Aristus]

35. Well, an exaggerated version of the Bristol accent is Long John Silver, as played by

Robert Newton. Right down to the "Arrrrgh" and the "Ar-men" prayer closing.

[MrScorpio]

6. It freaks me out when actors like Bale and Jamie Bamber portray "Americans" so well

And when they're not in character the accent comes out to play

[LynneSin]

99. Bale has said when he does post production promotion he'll stick with the accent from the movie

If the movie he is promoting has him doing an American accent then he'll use it for all the related interviews and what not.

[Archae]

8. Hugh Jackman

When I first saw him as Wolverine, I had no idea he was an Aussie.

[Rhythm]

45. He can turn on and off accents like a faucet...

One minute he's Aussie, the next he's Midwest American... give him another minute, and he'll be English or something else...

[TommyO]

109. While being interviewed about his role in Origins

Howard Stern asked him about his accent and what he had problems with.

Right, or as spoken by Jackman, "royt" was his reply.

[realisticphish]

10. Hugh Laurie

freaking great american accent on House

[Sebastian Doyle]

53. People don't believe it when I tell them House is British.

Guess they never saw any of his pre-House stuff from the "old country".

[realisticphish]

118. which, honestly, is better

though I do like House

[zanne]

73. You're kidding me!

I never would have guessed. I watch that show (and the repeats) all the time. How is it that British actors can perfect an American accent and American actors find it so hard to manage a British accent?

[realisticphish]

115. watch "Blackadder"

or "A Bit of Fry and Laurie"

two great comedy TV shows with Laurie (Though you should skip season one of Blackadder)

[Mad_Dem_X]

102. I had to show my husband clips on YouTube

so he'd believe me that Hugh was British.

[sakabatou]

111. Yep

Even saw his early work.

[realisticphish]

116. I'm a big Blackadder fan

he plays an idiot very well... makes his character on House that much more amazing an acting job

[bigwillq]

12. Madonna

Oh wait. :rofl:

[driver8]

89. Ha Ha -- first name that popped into my head, too!! n/t

[JVS]

13. Bob Hope

[OhioChick]

14. Julian McMahon

Never would've guessed he was from Australia after watching him on "Charmed" and "Nip/Tuck."

[MrScorpio]

15. The same goes for the LaPaglia brothers

I can't tell that either of them are Aussies from listening to them

[Tikki]

16. Anthony LaPaglia.....

from "Without a Trace" does real well, but Poppy Montgomery's accent slips through
nearly every episode.


Tikki

[whistler162]

103. +1

[Lydia Leftcoast]

120. And also from "Without a Trace": Marianne Jean-Baptiste

She was born in London and had her film breakthrough in Mike Leigh's "Secrets and Lies" in 1996, playing an adoptee who is reunited with her white mother.

[Duer 157099]

17. Gabriel Byrne n/t

[MrScorpio]

18. On IN TREATMENT I still hear Irish

Can't you hear it too?

[Sebastian Doyle]

54. But the character is Irish (or Irish American?)

I've only seen a few episodes, but I seem to remember Paul saying his father was an immigrant so he probably sounds more like his "real self" than he might in another role.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

121. He does an American accent beautifully, but he definitely still speaks normally with an Irish accent

The Irish is much cooler, IMHO. :)

[elshiva]

19. The man in my avatar, John Barrowman.

Born in Scotland, usually speaks in an American accent.

First time I heard him, thought he was born in America, a lot of people make that mistake.

[vadawg]

22. funny i never thought he was american, always thought he was from somewhere like

edinburgh or lothian.

[elshiva]

26. It's a strange accent. He was born in Glasgow

and then grew up in Illinois. He'll speak in a Scottish accent around his family, but almost everywhere else it's American.

[vadawg]

31. his accent is definetley not glaswegian, though it may be softer as if hes from

the outer suburbs, or had elocution lessons, but his accent is definetly not typical glaswegian patter.

[elshiva]

34. All I have here is wikipedia to go on:

He was born and spent the first 8 years of his life in Mount Vernon, Glasgow, which is the suburbs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barrowman

[vadawg]

39. pinged it, i had no idea he was from glasgow though, Mt vernon is quite posh

totally opposite of the mank hole that is mt vernon in northern virginia along route 1

[bikebloke]

72. Quick aside: Is Torchwood Series 3 any good?

They killed off two main characters and now Series 3 is a mini with 6 episodes.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

119. I don't think it's been shown yet, even in the UK

:shrug:

[no name no slogan]

96. I went to college with a guy like that

Mum was Scottish, dad Texan. He grew up in both places, but eventually he ended up in Texas when he was 14. Then he went to college in Minnesota. Strangest accent I've ever heard.

[Brigid]

20. Kate Winslet

She did a pretty good AMErican accent in "Titanic." :)

[Brigid]

21. Kate Winslet

She did a pretty good AMErican accent in "Titanic." :)

[elshiva]

27. So nice, you had to say it twice.

:)

[Brigid]

29. My mouse is acting weird tonight.

Or maybe I'm just not used to the trackpad on my new Mac yet.

[elshiva]

30. Sorry about that. I figured that. I was just being silly.

:hug:

[mentalsolstice]

23. And name an American actor who can do realistic European accents?

Meryl Streep!

[vadawg]

25. rofl, no chance streep can act but sounds american all the time

cant really think of any american actors of the top of my head.

[jobycom]

50. I still second Meryl Streep.

She's brilliant.

[Lyric]

128. Have you seen Sophie's Choice?

She studied for months and months to learn Polish and how to speak it flawlessly for that role. Polish = European accent.

[elshiva]

28. James Marsters as Spike.

I really thought the actor who played Spike on Buffy was British, but he's from California.

Also, the man in my sig line, Alexis Denisof, born in Maryland, most famous for playing the British Wesley Wyndam Price.

[vadawg]

41. problem is i thought spike sounded like an american trying to do south east london

and the dude who plays wesley i always thought he sounded more like a british educated canadian. lol

[elshiva]

42. Oh, well. I thought they did a great job.

However, I'm not an expert on accents.

[LostinVA]

67. Juliet Landau as Druscilla -- Tony Head thought she was English

[krispos42]

48. Tom Cruise!

:rofl:

[semillama]

86. Brad Dourif

He's American, but never stepped out of accent on the set of The Two Towers. Several people on the film who weren't familiar with him were shocked after filming wrapped when he started talking with his normal accent.

[driver8]

90. Brad Pitt in "The Devil's Own".

I work with a girl from Belfast and she said that his Northern Ireland accent was perfect.

[OhioChick]

24. Isla Fisher from "Wedding Crashers" n/t

[zanne]

75. Which one was Isla Fisher? nt

[OhioChick]

129. The Redhead...

[Swede]

32. Jamie Bamber was so good,I didn't know he was English

unti I saw him do an interview.

[GaYellowDawg]

36. You got that right!

A lot of the time, the accent will come out when someone is yelling... and that didn't ever happen with Bamber.

[GaYellowDawg]

37. Yvonne Strahovsky

From Chuck. I had no idea she was Australian until I looked her up in IMDB.

[LostinVA]

122. Me too!

[BulletproofLandshark]

33. Natascha McElhone from Californication

Born in England but I just saw her in a Neutrogena commercial using the same American accent she uses on the show.

[driver8]

91. She's adorable.

Good actress, too!

[Left Is Write]

38. Richard Dawson.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

40. Gary Oldman.

[RagAss]

106. Great actor...just saw "State of Grace" again.

He could probably teach himself to speak Italian without an accent in 3 weeks.

[Robeson]

43. Peter Sellers as President Merkin Muffley.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

81. I just saw that on the big screen.

One of my favorite movies.

[blogslut]

44. Bob Hope

:)

[DFW]

46. Natasha Richardson in Nell

Pure Nawth Ca'alahna!


On the flip side:

I don't even know if Meryl Streep really knows German, but her playing of a Pole speaking German in Sophie's
Choice was amazing. I work with Poles all the time here in Germany, and she nailed it.

I was also impressed how close Texan Tommy Lee Jones came to sounding like he was from Northern Ireland in Blown Away.

[vadawg]

57. lol, erm i dont think tommy lee jones got it at all, he tried to hard

ended up sounding like a caricature.

[DFW]

58. I knew a guy named David Trimble from Belfast

And his accent was so thick, he sounded like a caricature of Tommie Lee Jones!

[vadawg]

60. lol yup that sums up the falls road accent brilliantly

when i saw the movie jones just sounded like the drunk due in an irish bar in boston whos lived in the US for 50 years and is trying not to lose his accent.

[DFW]

61. I always figured that the reason David lost his seat in Parliament

Was that no one ever figured out what the hell he saying while campaigning.

He was never much of a teetotaler, but he's a hell of a nice guy nonetheless.

[vadawg]

64. never agreed with his politics, but at least he wore them on his sleeve

[DFW]

65. That he did.

He was always perfectly straight about where he was coming from. There are few enough
politicians about whom that can be said.

[krispos42]

47. Nicole Kidman n/t

[jobycom]

51. You claiming Obama was foreign born?

Nicole Kidman was born and reared in Hawaii until she was four. Her father is a renowned biochemist who was lecturing in Hawaii at the time.

And she will marry me one day. As soon as I finish my novel, have it published, convince her to star in the movie version, and manage to frame Keith Urban for something so icky she has to divorce him and turn to me for comfort. Not that I've thought about or anything.

[jeff30997]

63. Now that you mention it...

I would gladly kiss her rear in Hawaii too.Not that I've thought about that or anything before.:P

[krispos42]

114. Huh, I didn't know she was born here.

I thought she was Aussie-only, not a dual citizen!


I stand corrected!


You can have Nicole, I'll take Laura San Giacomo. :evilgrin:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

52. Damien Lewis was a very convincing WWII American paratrooper

in Band of Brothers.

[LanternWaste]

88. I was amazed to find out how many of those actors are British...

I was amazed to find out how many of the primary actors in Band of Brothers were British. good jobs, one and all...

[GoddessOfGuinness]

101. James McAvoy, who played Pvt. Miller in "The Replacements"

is a Scot...Never would have known.

That was a fine cast. I can't think of one character...from major roles to bit parts...who did not deliver to perfection.

[mduffy31]

55. Poppy Montgomery

Actress from Without a Trace, she was born Australian and she no longer has the accent AT ALL!

[Zavulon]

59. Linus Roache, I think his name is...Jack McCoy's underling on Law & Order (NT)

[Rob H.]

80. He's British?!

Damn, he's good--I had no idea!

[Zavulon]

126. I didn't either until

seeing one of those Page 2 Q&A things in one of those Sunday "magazine" inserts, Parade I think it was. I looked it up, and he was born in Manchester.

Knocked me for a loop, too.

[JonLP24]

62. Dominic West

He had a very good american accent in The Wire. Not sure if he ever lost his London accent as I heard it an earlier movies.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

77. I occassionally detected an accent slipping through with him, but for the most part he was good

Funny that on The Wire there were numerous British and Irish actors playing Americans--Dominic West, Idris Elba, Clarke Peters, Aidan Gillen...damn, what a terrific show that was.

[Ohio Joe]

66. Guy Pierce - nt

[raccoon]

68. Emily Lloyd in IN COUNTRY. (she's a Brit.)

It always galled me that in POLLYANNA (as well as other movies where she was supposed to be an American), Hayley Mills didn't do an American accent. Other than that, I really liked her.

[driver8]

92. She was great in that movie.

Whatever happened to her? She was "the next big thing" and kind of fizzled out.

[driver8]

93. Owain Yeoman from "The Mentalist" is from Wales and has a heavy accent.

You wouldn't know it from his character in "the Mentalist."

Simon Baker from the same show is from Australia and does a great American accent.

[mitchum]

127. I was thinking of her the other day...

and asked that same question. She really did seem to have a bright career ahead of her.

[LostinVA]

69. Interesting tidbit: that's how she speaks now

I raed in an interview that she came here with a heavy Afrikaan accebt, and learned to speak "American." However, she was getting all mesed up speaking American English in movies and English with a Afrikaan/So. African accent, so her voice coach told her she had to make a decision, so she chose to speak American English 100%.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

79. I believe Famke Janssen did the same thing..........

I heard an interview with her (I think on Letterman a few years back) where she said she worked very hard to ditch her Dutch accent to get more parts in American films. Now she speaks w/ an American accent full-time.

[LostinVA]

84. That makes sense (she's hot, btw) --

[CrownPrinceBandar]

94. Oh yeah...........

I love the boots...

[Blue_Tires]

70. John Mahoney

[Tikki]

71. Oh, you know who else is British born?

Jake Weber...the husband/dad on MEDIUM.

I don't know how long he has lived here in the States, though.


Tikki

[scheming daemons]

74. Kate Beckinsale

[Tommy_Carcetti]

76. Idris Elba

He played business-savvy drug lord Stringer Bell on "The Wire", and most recently took a turn on "The Office" as no-nonsense Dunder Mifflin Vice President Charles Miner.

He's British, but I've never seen him play anything but an American in his TV and movie roles, and you can't detect the slightest accent from him.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

82. I was surprised to find out he was British.

And he had two very different American accents in "The Wire" and "The Office."

[CrownPrinceBandar]

95. Check out "RocknRolla"..........

Its the newest Guy Ritchie film. His character Mumbles is really good.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

78. Emma Thompson did a great Hillary-esqe Susan Stanton in "Primary Colors"

Had I not known it was Emma Thompson I would probably had figured she was American.

[Rob H.]

83. Tim Roth in "Reservoir Dogs"

Had no idea he was British until much later. The woman his character shoots in the movie was played by his dialect coach.

[LostinVA]

85. Anna Paquin

[LanternWaste]

87. KKenneth Branagh in Dead Again

Kenneth Branagh in Dead Again. If I didn't know, I wouldn't have know, you know?




Aside: movie had one of the most bizarre scenes I've ever seen-- a very old cancer patient taking a hit from a cigarette through his trach tube.

[myrna minx]

97. Rutger Hauer. n/t

[MrScorpio]

117. I still hear Dutch everytime he speaks

Having a Dutch wife and in-laws has made me very sensitive to it

[TheMightyFavog]

98. Robert Llwellyn

Played Kryten with a Canadian Accent.

[ceile]

100. Anna Torv-Fringe

She's Australian. Oh, and Lena Headey from Sarah Connor Chronicles.

[whistler162]

104. Jake Weber from Medium

[bif]

105. Peter Jennings

Does he count? He's not really and actor per se. But he had to work at losing his Canadian accent.

[Sebastian Doyle]

124. Don't think he ever really did though.

I seem to remember him saying "oot" quite a bit. Though I don't remember him ever ending a sentence with "eh?"

[RagAss]

107. Knucklehead Smith

Made of Norwegian Wood.

[kwassa]

108. Damien Lewis, star of "Life" and "Band of Brothers"

I was shocked to discover he was English. He has a flawless American accent.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/ffximage/Damian_Lewis_071002101217293_wideweb__300x375,1.jpg

[KansDem]

110. Not a fair question...

All foreign actors have to do is drop their accents. Speaking with no accent makes them sound American.

...hahaha, haha, ha...

[nuxvomica]

112. Brian Cox

[Bombtrack]

113. Isn't the thread asking about an actors actual accent not one they did for acting role(s) ?

If so the 2 responses that I've seen apply best are those 2 Aussie's Julian McMahon and Dominic Purcell. Everyone else from overseas still sounds like a Feriner in their normal speaking voice.

[LostinVA]

123. And Charlize Theron

[Lydia Leftcoast]

125. Not an actor, but Martina Navratilova

for someone who grew up speaking Czech and lived there till the age of 18, her English is remarkably free and without an accent.

[muriel_volestrangler]

130. Gillian Anderson, sort of

Though she was born in Chicago, she spent most of her childhood till 11 in the UK, and got a British accent. Then she moved back to the States, and got an American accent. But interviews in Britain seem to show she grows back somewhat into her British accent when she's over here. And she certainly can act one flawlessly, eg in 'Bleak House'.