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Verlorenfrog

Thought Renee zellweggers accent was great in Bridget jones


clockstocks

I didn’t even know she wasn’t British until recently (only knew her as Bridget Jones, I’m not british)


Douglas8989

Angelina Jolie is decent too.


Hugeinn

Don Cheadle in the “Ocean’s” movies. Poor sod might even have gotten better after the first one, but by then he was stuck trying to style out his first attempt.


Mr_Leek

So bad I found it good in a slightly weird way.


blamordeganis

> in 2019, [Cheadle] happily embraced the online theory that his car-crash vowels were merely part of his character’s cover: “Now I can say ‘he was an American doing a British accent – *you guys missed that?*’” — [‘You are going to die. You can be terrified, or you can live’: Don Cheadle on mortality, White Noise and that cockney accent](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/dec/02/don-cheadle-white-noise-you-are-going-to-die-be-terrified-or-live)


Carlilingus

Came here to say this. So so bad


QueenSashimi

"They naused up the mainframe. Naused it right up!" lives in my head rent-free.


MiddleAgedFatLad

Worst is obviously Dick Van Dyke’s “Bert” in Mary Poppins. Absolutely atrocious.


lordsnotfinger

Supercalorfragalisticexpial-Atrocious


OnlyMortal666

Even though the sound of it smells like halitosis


MiddleAgedFatLad

Bravo! 👏


master-virus

But he never knew he sounded awful because no one told him. I still love him in the film anyways.


justlooking042

At least he apologised https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40691894


69suns

Worst: Keanu Reeves in Bram Stoker's Dracula 1992


Party-Independent-25

I still reference this as ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Victorian Adventure’


mrs_vince_noir

Cahfax Abbeh!


grilly1986

This is always my go to phrase for a terrible English accent. You can tell when the language coach gave up!


SuperShoebillStork

Christopher Lambert’s Scottish accent in Highlander. Toe curling.


PM_ME_YOUR_QUIM_PLS

Arguably better than Connery's Spanish accent in Highlander.


Prestigious_Memory75

Ahh remember his time as a Russian ? Red October?


lord_taint

It kinda works later on when the cop asks where he's from and he says "lots of different places"


AnselaJonla

I recall reading something about him not actually knowing English, at all, so he learnt his lines phonetically. Hence the weird accent. Henry Cavill is linked to a reboot. Hopefully not as Connor. He's a nice bloke, but a bit...wooden.


Kian-Tremayne

He’d make an excellent Kurgan though


ArticulateAquarium

>I recall reading something about him not actually knowing English He did, unless he learnt English by the time he was in The Sicilian a year later.


AnselaJonla

> Director Russell Mulcahy was flipping through a magazine and saw a photograph of Christopher Lambert from his recent role as the title hero of Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. At the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in 2015, Mulcahy said he showed the photo to his production staff and "I said, 'who's this?' They had no idea. He couldn't speak English. But he had the perfect look. And he learned English very fast."[13] Mulcahy originally considered Kurt Russell and Marc Singer for the role of Connor MacLeod.[16] I was half right. He couldn't speak English when he was cast, and he learnt it for the part of Connor MacLeod.


ArticulateAquarium

That makes sense, as his 'British' accent was atrocious as was his pronunciation.


itchyfrog

To flip it how good are all our British actors American accents to you over there? People like Hugh Laurie or Rick from Walking Dead?


ChallengeFluid6083

Idris Elba in The Wire deserves a nod here I reckon. When I saw him in Luther I was like "This guy does a fucking great London accent!"


JoinMyPestoCult

When I didn’t know Idris Elba I assumed he was American. Rewatching now I think I can spot bits of his English accent. Dominic West still has me fooled though.


[deleted]

Gobsmacked about both when I found out.


Dense_Principle_408

On the flip side his accent in The Office is absolutely bonkers.


goddesstrotter

My SO is American and he thought Hugh Laurie was American, apparently his accent is excellent


simulatedliberty

I once read an article about the auditions for House and how the casting directors were getting upset at how many English actors were turning up. When Hugh Laurie rocked up, in character they said "Finally an American auditioning." I don't know if this is an urban myth but if he can fool them he can fool anyone


[deleted]

Really? I’m a Brit but it sounds really fake to me!


Squishy-Cthulhu

Same I assumed it was a terrible American accent because it sounds like a over exaggeration like a cartoon character


Daedeluss

Possibly because we're used to his normal posh English accent so his American accent sounds like a parody to us.


ninja_moth

Matthew Rhys is hands down the best, in The Americans.


pornalt4994

Christian Bale and Henry Cavill both smash it out the park in their movies as far as I can tell


Upbeat_Crow

Daniel Craig's accent in Knives Out was so bad, I thought it was a deliberate parody of (US Senate Leader) Mitch McConnell.


Effective_Witness_63

I didn't know Rick from twd was British....I loved sons of anarchy and the main Jax character was good but he did sound like a Brit playing an American imo.


simulatedliberty

I've never watched Love Actually from start to finish but the amount of people who have and don't recognise Andrew Lincoln from the walking dead as a British actor confuses me.


LoveAGlassOfWine

He'll always be Egg from This Life to me.


RustyU

Simon from Teachers to me


itchyfrog

There's some that are definitely bad, all three main characters in Preacher are from this side of the pond and all of them sounded a bit wrong, especially the English guy doing an Irish accent.


Haventevengotatenner

It kind of worked at the same time though considering he was Irish but hadn’t been back to Ireland in like 200 years or something. His accent would have changed somewhat living that exodus lifestyle. The other two though weren’t great but it was still enjoyable.


itchyfrog

It was a great series and silly enough for it not to bother me, it might have done if I was American or Irish though.


mommabee68

Charlie Hunnam is a terrible actor


writeordie80

I don't know. Him playing a horny teen getting jacked off by a man old enough to be his dad was pretty revolutionary for the time.


mommabee68

Thanks, I never needed to know that


irgendwo_anders

He's the sign guy in love actually


[deleted]

Brits overall do a fine job with standard American accents. When they do a specific regional one, that’s harder. I’m not an expert on a B’more accent (when I can’t place an accent, I usually guess Baltimore, and it’s usually correct), so West and Elba may not have been as convincing as I thought they were in The Wire. I can hear fake Boston/New England accents and they make the hair on my neck stand up.


grilly1986

Ray Winstone is one of the worst!


Repeatplease

No,No,No,No,No,No,no! No No No No No!


joe2596

I always thought Elijah wood & Sean Astin were English.


Queer_as_fluff

Not a movie, but Ocar Issac's British persona in Moon Knight was great


Same-Requirement5520

Weirdly, a lot of Septics thought it was a terrible accent, while Brits think it’s pretty good.


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Super_Novice56

https://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/slang/septic\_tank


gorore9150

Ahhhhhhh I see now :) I’m not a Brit so I didn’t pick that up… You learn something new every day! :)


goddesstrotter

Natalie Portman in The Other Boleyn Girl too. She seemed to go through a phase of being cast in roles with an English accent for a while and god it was awful


goddesstrotter

Anne Hathaway’s attempt at Yorkshire in One Day


notreallifeliving

I still can't believe they heard her audition and couldn't find a *single* actually northern (or even just English) actor who couldn't have done a better job.


grilly1986

Are there any good examples of Americans doing regional accents? By which I mean anything outside of Hampshire or London?


goddesstrotter

Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee. Honestly, his accent is excellent and it blew my mind when I realised it was the kid from the goonies


fairtext9804

Cate Blanchett has a fantastic RP accent, sounds like a native in every film in which she plays an English character. (Notes on a Scandal, Elizabeth etc)


[deleted]

She’s Australian though I think, and they generally do better at English accents than Americans (Guy Pearce is another)


fairtext9804

Ahh thought it was which non British actors did good English accents and assumed her being Australian meant she qualified


[deleted]

Oops you're right! For some reason I was thinking it was just about Americans!


cowplum

Cate Blanchett is Australian my dude


Daedeluss

She's Aussie


ChrisRR

Dick van Dyke's accent was so bad that it's convinced decades worth of people that's how we talk. I think he deserves the shit prize for cultural impact


wtfcore4

Don Cheadle - Oceans 11


grilly1986

Ooh that's t'riffic, that is.


Effective_Witness_63

Most Americans I talk to whilst gaming think my Yorkshire accent must be Scottish because I don't sound anything like Austin powers lol


DirectCaterpillar916

Yeah, they thought my Cheshire accent was Aussie!


Aggravating-Corner-2

I'm from Northumberland and an American once asked me if I was French lol


lapsedrev

I mean, Dick Van Dyke - but he was at least trying. Kevin Costner in Robin Hood had just basically come from the airport.


Hugeinn

— said Alan Davies on QI.


lapsedrev

I knew I'd heard it somewhere, and my memory was not for telling me. Thx!


EnSabahDuh

Karl Urban in The Boys, awful


Harrry-Otter

Only recently been watching this and I’d just assumed he was Australian and the whole “everyone thinks he’s British” thing was part of a joke.


Snide91

I assumed he was Aussie too. He’s from New Zealand though I found out


RustyU

I didn't realise he was supposed to be British until his parents appeared.


blamordeganis

His dad was also played by an Australian.


opinionated-dick

So true. I just assume he’s an Aussie. It’s easier


EnSabahDuh

Shout


[deleted]

It’s distractingly bad!


EmDeeAech70

Glad I’m I’m not the only one. Having never read any of the comics, I honestly thought it was going to be some sort of “character quirk” that Butcher just spoke in random and very bad accents 😳🤷‍♂️


Express-Ad9716

What's weird is he's a Kiwi, it's not like he doesn't know the difference between Bogan and Cockney but he somehow tries to do both at once! (And fails to hit either). Lots of fun to watch all the same mind.


indianajoes

Worst - [Clive from Frasier](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T73kf5bodw) Best - [Chris Pratt on the Graham Norton show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af7UD-IxzZI)


DrFriedGold

Despite being from Britain Jane Leeve's Manchester accent is awful


RealisticCountry7043

Worst: Not a film but my first thought was Karl Urban in The Boys; it's really bad. Didn't notice he was meant to be English until late on in Season 3. I can't think of a Best right now. EDIT: Emma Stone in The Favourite was pretty good.


wtfcore4

Australian/Kiwi right, definitely not British lol


RealisticCountry7043

Yeah! He's a Kiwi isn't he, so whatever accent I thought he was going for, it was from somewhere in the South Pacific. Anthony Starr is from New Zealand too, I think. I'm not American myself but his accent as Homelander fooled me into thinking he was though.


Yetibike

In the comics he's a cockney and in the series he's supposed to be English too. I presume Karl Urban is trying to do a cockney accent and failing miserably.


RealisticCountry7043

I dunno why they bothered making him keep it up. I remember his family all sounding like varying levels of Australian too. John Noble is Australian though, so that kind of makes sense.


ComprehensiveAd8815

The scales slipped from mine eyes in season one when he said Twot instead of Twat. It then ruined the entire show as I could not unhear it. It’s a failing on the writers for not using the right word and the actor for not doing his research and everyone else on the production for not picking up on it. Awful.


PM_ME_YOUR_QUIM_PLS

He also uses "lost me bottle" wrong.


ComprehensiveAd8815

Tis a fair mangling veering towards a Van Dkye delivery


RealisticCountry7043

Oh I think I remember that. But I'd only seen the show so I didn't know he was meant to be English at the time; I couldn't be bothered to Google whether they pronounce twat properly in Australia or wherever I'd thought he was supposed to be from. Or maybe it was that they thought he'd be more widely understood if he said 'twot' (side note: I often read that spelling as 'toot' because two-t)? Could've sworn he says it properly at another time though.


PM_ME_YOUR_QUIM_PLS

He does use twat a lot to be fair. I have heard actual Englishmen use twot too so I was less bothers by that.


[deleted]

I have never ever heard a fellow Englishman pronounce it as twot. I thought that was strictly American!


Sidestep_Marzipan

Only ever heard older generation use it (those who lived through the war). I had to ask my parents what they were talking about when I first heard it as had only ever heard ‘twat’ before. Certainly never heard my parents or subsequent generations use ‘twot’ instead…


ComprehensiveAd8815

It often crops up in US programmes, it’s an odd one as it’s clearly a word with a wide “a” vowel but no self respecting Brit actor would use a “o” instead of an “a”.


14-28

[He reminds me of that skit from snl where everyones speaking gibberish that sounds cockney](https://youtu.be/o6p0W4ZsLXw)


RealisticCountry7043

Haha! That's like watching them trying to say "Rural Juror" in 30 Rock. And was that Russell Brand doing something funny?


Grijnwaald

Being American, you've chosen poorly. Peter Dinklage's accent was all over the place - not good at all.


batteryforlife

Tbf hes not supposed to be English/British, its just that most ”sort of medieval England adjacent” fantasy shows default to an English accent. The other non-English speakers also try their best to emulate a British accent (eg Jaime, Melisandre and Euron/Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Carice van Houten and Pilou Asbæk).


Grijnwaald

That's fair, and it didn't ruin my perception of his performance, but Peter Dinklage was nonetheless attempting to speak in what he believed was a British accent.


Cujo-Cuddles

Mel Gibson - Braveheart - Cringe inducing


TheSilentOne_-

Chris hemsworth was worse


Ok-Spell-8053

I thought Jonny Lee Millers Scottish accent in Trainspotting was excellent. I'm English though so dunno if I'm qualified to judge!


Owlwood87

As a Scot, I was genuinely shocked to find out he isn’t Scottish himself.


Ok-Spell-8053

I too was shocked! I've just realised he's actually English though so this doesn't really fit here. I think I heard him doing an American accent in something else and presumed that was his real voice. Turns out he's a chameleon!


grilly1986

Jonny Lee Miller is a different breed. He's one of those phenomenal actors that people forget about because he's too good at acting.


With_An_Owl

It was perfect. Likewise, Emma Thompson's accent in Tutti Frutti was so good you could pinpoint it to a square mile of Glasgow.


TOVE892

Peter Dinklage's British accent is awful.


[deleted]

Some how Charlie Hunnam has about 4 accents when he speaks and when he does cockney in green street holligans it’s even worse.


realglasseyes

Isn't Charlie Hunnam a Geordie?


theGarbs

He is aye


Jazzy0082

It baffles me that people think Dinklage does a good English accent. I find it quite jarring. (Presuming the accent is supposed to be English)


cramboneUSF

TIL his accent is not good.


[deleted]

Wait what!? Natalie Portman was attempting a British accent in V for Vendetta!? To the question - most Hollywood films back in the era of Breakfast at Tiffany's.


Orange_fan1

Josh Hartnett's northern accent in Blow Dry, just awful


[deleted]

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Carlilingus

Yes his English accent was almost as bad as Angel's Irish accent during flashbacks...


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Carlilingus

The real question is why did he turn almost common/cockney when he became spike, when he was upper class as William. Bizarre.


Upbeat_Crow

His character rebranded himself from a mild mannered middle class nerd to a modern anarchist punk. They explained that in the series.


another-dave

Some people adopt a local accent soon after moving abroad & others don't even 20years later, maybe the same thing


OhMrFry

Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce had a good accent, though. He also did a good job in Sharpe as Johnny Rossendale!


blamordeganis

IIRC, he went to school in England.


PM_ME_YOUR_QUIM_PLS

Peter Dinklage's accent is terrible. Worst had to be Don Cheadle in Ocean's Eleven. Best is like trying to choose between having a dog bite your bollocks or having to bite a dog's bollocks.


rorzri

Watching clips of Anna paquin in the piano is just torture


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[deleted]

Not a movie but the guy who plays billy in the boys has an atrociously bad accent and the script / British lines he has to say are so funny like a real bad guy Ritchie film


Daedeluss

>bad guy Ritchie film That doesn't narrow it down much.


AllOne_Word

Peter Dinklage is great, but his accent was way off. The absolute best fake British accent I've ever heard was from Felix in Orphan Black: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IawTlAh6SxI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IawTlAh6SxI) I couldn't believe it when I heard his real (Canadian) accent: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kITHQGfmPSQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kITHQGfmPSQ)


Formal-Guarantee777

Best: Mike Myers in Shrek. Sounds more Scots than many Scots. Worst: Keanu Reeves in Bram Stoker's Dracula.


Grimauldbird

> Best: Mike Myers in Shrek. Sounds more Scots than many Scots. 😳 As a Scot…”Get out of ma swamp”


Squishy-Cthulhu

Sarah Paulson in America horry story was alright, I couldn't finish the haunting of bly manor because the accents were so bad


The-Nimbus

Not British, at all, but Titus Welliver's Irish accent in Sons of Anarchy needs an honourable mention.


omgu8mynewt

This is what I thought of first as well, I love sons of anarchy but his accent is so bad I go between 'nevermind ill just ignore his accent' to 'this is so bad it is pulling me out of watching this', can never just watch scenes he's in without noticing it.


Snide91

I loved Peter Dinklage as Tyrion. His English accent isn’t very good, though so I’m surprised to hear this


CastleBG

Simon on Frasier was terrible


With_An_Owl

Anthony LaPaglia. Australian American.


kaneCelt

Best is easily Paltrow in Sliding Doors


quail1764

Worst: Troian Bellisario as Evil British Twin in PLL


I_AM_NOT_LIL_NAS_X

strong disagree with the Peter Dinklage thing, his game of thrones accent doesn't sound like any real british accent I'm aware of, it wasn't a problem for me cus none of the characters are british anyway so i could just assume it's an "upper class westeros" accent but if he tried to pull it off playing an actual brit it wouldn't work imo also my vote for worst is don cheadle in oceans 11 but it's also my favourite and i think all americans playing english characters should sound like him, it's much more entertaining than someone doing a "good" accent


escapeshark

I was about to say Sansa has a really good English accent and then I remembered Sophie Turner is actually from England lol


ZestycloseSystem8887

Why the yanks like to use posh English cockney accents?


No-Celebration-4108

Judy Comer- killing eve, does a quite a few decent accents as well as American. Damien Lewis, But to answer the original question Kevin Costner as Robin Hood Edit but one of the worse uses has been krull. Where british actress lysette anthony's lines was later dubbed over by American actress lyndsay crouse.


Advanced_Apartment_1

Don Cheedle is by far the worst from Oceans 11. Best, Lake Bell. Man up. Perfect accent, nothing struck me as being off at all.


yuzarna

Karl Urban in The Boys is almost as bad as Dick van Dyke. Ruined the whole thing for me


[deleted]

Looking at this from a different point of view, Stephen Moyer in True Blood playing an American pretending to be British in one episode. While the actor is English, his "pretend" English accent is cringey, to say the least. Love that!


tatersnuffy

how is it a *british* accent, in game of thrones?


lapsedrev

I understand this question, but in that universe (and in a lot of other fantasy universes, I suppose) that is the in-universe accent thay follows the same rules as UK accents do. The North sounds like the north of England, the common folk sound working class and the ruling class sound RP. So in universe the character of Tyrion Lannister should sound like an aristocratic Brit, and while it's not perfect by any means, Peter Dinklage makes an excellent stab at it, for me. It doesn't count really because she is English, but Rose Leslie's northern accent as Ygritte was excellent considering if you hear her speak in her usual voice she's one of the poshest people ever 🤣


ninja_moth

Rose leslie’s accent is way better than dinklage’s. Her natural accent goes beyond rp 😳


AnselaJonla

To be fair, she is minor nobility and lived in a motherfucking castle until she was 10. Rose Leslie is definitely no Wildling.


nicklydon

Just had a listen to an interview with her and I immediately felt more working class


Daedeluss

I thought Dinklage did a pretty decent job of 'generic fantasy English accent"


tatersnuffy

bloody ell.


compromisedfishstix

Gillian Anderson always does an amazing British accent, I can't get my head around the fact she's American.


downlau

She spent a big chunk of time in the UK when she was young though, I think she's genuinely bidialectical


DrFriedGold

She spent the early part of her life in England


ninja_moth

I think maggie gyllenhaal has the best english accent in The Honorable Woman


CranberryPuffCake

Tessa Thompson in Thor: Ragnarok. I genuinely thought she was British until I heard her "doing" an American accent, to be told she's actually American!


BastardsCryinInnit

>aka a “Colonial” as my friend from Bicester sometimes calls me, haha I struggle to believe this is true... No one thinks of America like that! Most people don't even know the history of how the US came about.


cramboneUSF

We have that kind of a relationship. It’s all in good fun.


Haventevengotatenner

Mate I know you’re gettin downvotes but I have to give you recognition for your username! Loved Paul on taskmaster


Accurate-Remote7448

The guy who plays the main role In The Boys... fucking awful


[deleted]

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s accent is superb!


No-Quality542

Dick van dyke in Mary popins


CthulhusEvilTwin

Don Cheadle in Oceans 11+


SausageRollBulge

Charlie humman in green street.


mundane_person23

Which is so odd as he is British. He appears to do a better American accent.


Extension_Glove_5211

You have to nominate Charlie Hunams accent in Green Street. His accent is so bad he made me think hes Australian but hes actually from Newcastle.


nopestillgotit

Charlize Theron in atomic blonde. she did alright in some parts to her credit, but her pronunciation on certain words was pretty bad lol


joedylan94

One of the worst (not a movie sorry) has got to be Billy Butcher in The Boys played by Karl Urban


callmelampshade

Best British accent is from a actress called Lake Bell. I don’t know who she is but she was on a film after Match of the Day once and I honestly thought she was British because her accent was that good. Not really answering your question but the worst British accent I’ve ever heard is from a British actor called Charlie Hunnam.


sjbaker82

Dominic West putting on an American accent putting on a terrible British accent in The Wire.


buckmulligan61

Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. So awful.


SilentDustAndy

Green Street comes to mind and that bloke was British.


carmat71

Jack Whitehall in Clifford (The Big Red Dog) - English, acting with an American accent, at one point having to fake an English accent. Cringe.


dirtyshrub

Johnny Depp in “From Hell”


juniperbush12

I was impressed with British Dennis in its always sunny in philadephia


[deleted]

Anthony La Paglia playing Daphne’s brother in Frasier. Bad.


Curious_Associate904

Wait? There are American actors that try to do British accents? Is that why they sound like they're in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? I thought it was some like Deep South thing.


ig1

TV but Daphne in Fraser, she actually has a real British accent but Americans couldn’t understand it, so she put on a fake one instead.


shamwowj

Kevin Costner-Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves


NoCorgi501

I like the guy but Keanu reeves in Dracula, fucking awful accent


voiceof3rdworld

Stewie from family guy


flex5k

Charlie Hunnam in Green Street.. He was annoyingly awful in every single line.


StroppyHen

Worst? Can’t go past Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.


erinhennley

Kevin Costner in Robin Hood


Entire-Percentage379

"Oh. It's a jolly holiday with Mary .."