Foreign actors doing American accents

[-Asdfgh-]

Who does it best? Who stinks? I just started watching the Walking Dead and was very surprised to learn Andrew Lincoln who plays the lead is English. Gary Oldman is great. Russell Crow does a good job. I'm a big fan of Hugh Laurie but I thought his accent on House wasn't very good.

Cary Elwes (Princes Bride, etc.), Damian Lewis (Homeland, Band of Brothers), Dominic West (The Wire) and a couple of other actors in The Walking Dead are also Brits. Also the actor playing Lee Adama in Battlestar Galactica. Frasier's dad - also British. Sadly in that series Daphne's British accent was terrible despite the actress being British!

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Gillian Anderson (x-files) is good too.

Given she's American I would hope so.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Also Ewan McGregor, and the guy who played Spud in Trainspotting.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Zellwegger's English accent was pretty ropey.

Anderson's is good, but then I would hope so as she's British as well as American.

 

[macaroni tony]

Isla Fisher is the first one I thought of

 

[Richland123]

Lennie James (plays Morgan Jones from The Walking Dead among many other acting credits)

 

[Pilgrim]

I thought Hugh Laurie did an excellent job with a neutral US accent in House!

 

[Papazita]

Robert Downey Jr's rp British accent in Sherlock Holmes...yes or no?

 

[Vince Klortho]

I thought it was OK. One heck of a lot better than Brad Pitt's accent in Snatch. Yikes.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Robert Downey Jr's rp British accent in Sherlock Holmes...yes or no?

I will let you know one day how Robert Downey Jr managed. He would have to have hidden talent to submerge his usual nasal tone without going all Toff.

 

[BassyBill]

Tim Roth in Reservoir Dogs.

 

[BassyBill]

I thought it was OK. One heck of a lot better than Brad Pitt's accent in Snatch. Yikes.

I thought Brad Pitt's accent was superb in Snatch. It was ridiculously over the top "pikey", intentionally.

 

[Gorn]

Tim Roth in Reservoir Dogs.

I think his was the one weak performance in the movie especially when he was yelling in pain from the gunshot wound. It seems like he was going for a generic non-regional American accent with a hint of tough guy.

 

[Batmensch]

The late great Grham Chapman of Monty Python did , to my ears, one of the worst American accents i've ever heard in a sketch where he played an insane American movie director. Of course it could be simply that he was exaggerating it to be funny, but I really don't fully believe that.

 

[BassyBill]

I think his was the one weak performance in the movie especially when he was yelling in pain from the gunshot wound. It seems like he was going for a generic non-regional American accent with a hint of tough guy.

I was thinking more of "the commode scene". Then again, I can't really distinguish American regional accents except for the most obvious ones.

 

[RunBeerRun]

i'm not an artist! i''m too dumb and inexperienced.. you know me

 

[jimc]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins as the worst American doing an English accent of all time!

 

[elgecko]

Emily Blunt totally fooled me in Looper.

 

[Gorn]

 

[jugglingfreak]

Lennie James (Plays Morgan of the Walking Dead).

British and not only nailed a good southern accent but a near perfect Middle Georgia accent. The dude seriously sounded like he grew up near Macon.


And on the reverse:



J.J Feild who plays "Major John Andre" on "Turn: Washington's Spies" was born and raise in Colorado.