American Actors doing a British accent

Here's a compilation of American Actors portraying British characters. Researched and made to help fellow actors, looking specifically at accent and speech.
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[@da96103]

Anne Hathaway sounds like a person with one British parent and one American parent who are divorced and spent alternates years in each country.

[@lisettelachat1870]

Lol

[@ZapytajFotografa]

So much stories hiden by sound of words ;-)

[@mdanayasaputra5411]

da96103 can you tell me what's song in the anne hathaway scene at cafe please.. thx

[@kevinp8175]

angels Robbie Williams

[@nicolekuc7204]

kevin p I

[@omelasbaby]

I'm a Brit & for the longest time I thought Renee Zellweger was British. Anyone else think the same?

[@DK1993]

me too! I just found out

[@IsmaelOG]

me too :O

[@Fifettey]

Me too! X

[@LilMizzRockaChick]

Wow I'm shocked! I thought she was English lol

[@madtingz2288]

Me!! It's not even just the accent she just gives me the impression she's British if that makes sense hahah

[@Tyurru360]

Renee's British accent was the best. It was effortless and unrestrained in comparison to the other actors who were focusing too hard on enunciating every syllable.

[@NTonks-xn4tv]

Tyurru360 yeah it was pretty goof

[@NTonks-xn4tv]

Tyurru360 *good

[@bentleyr00d]

I recall Hugh Grant saying that Renee sounded very affected at first but the more she talked the better she got. It took a lot of time for her to sound natural, evidently.

[@AliasUndercover]

Yup. The funny thing is that British actors doing American accents say that the way they do one is by enunciating every syllable.

[@lisak8492]

Tyurru360 I agree

[@bobzeda]

I thought Rene was English when I was young. I thought her accent sounded fake in the movie though. I thought she was a Northern girl trying to put on a posh accent. It just sounded slightly 'off' but I was sure she was English.

[@sarapatricius8473]

Bobzeda ... Same here!

[@kayleighessex6474]

And me, I cant believe it lol.

[@philipsadler1724]

PurelyAfrican Pffft, she convinced me and I'm English as fuck

[@ASFR4]

Philip Sadler exactly😂😂😂

[@jeongyeonbaby]

Bobzeda I’m a ‘northern girl’

[@XoXo475]

Don Cheadle’s “British accent “ made that movie hard to watch wow .

[@TheJaffaCake09]

Jesus christ...I thought Rene Zellweger was actually british...and I'm British myself

[@stevenhyde2476]

me too man

[@loganheath8382]

Me too.

[@VanyelStefan]

lmfao!

[@samuelsawalker6682]

As she wasn't super famous when the first BJ came out, I think we all did. Her accent was on point!

[@congojajo]

but is she..wth

[@HiThereItssophie]

its soo weird hearing renee speak in an american accent

[@Blue8spiral]

Her southern American accent in Cold Mountain was fun to listen to lol

[@johneyon5257]

since she was from texas - she was probably doing an authentic dialectic - and yes - it was fun to listen to her - the only part of the movie i liked

[@puremadness]

It’s a Texas accent too

[@user-gv9nk7oq3o]

I have always thought she was British growing up, not American and now I find out she’s from Texas! Mind blown lol I’m British Btw.

[@Alvin_Vivian]

So you never watched Jerry Maguire?

[@amenm18]

Renee Zellweger absolutely NAILED her role in Bridget Jones Diary. Her accent was really good

[@vicvic553]

I was sure she is Brit! Such a surprise for me 😯

[@anonymousindividual0]

She had the same accent coach as Gwyneth Paltrow, yet Gwyneth’s accent wasn’t good.

[@ajs41]

Yes but I don't think I've ever heard anyone talking in such a sugary accent as she has in Bridget Jones.

[@MissPachie]

She sounds so natural compared to everyone else 😃

[@JayFFAFAlesanaES]

Her Os are a bit strong, even for posh Londoners and south westerners IMO, but other than that she has the best posh accent. Lindsay Lohan in The Parent Trap has to be the generic idea that many Americans seem to think English people sound like, but in reality, I don't think anyone ever has.

[@DT-ub6ud]

Renee’s American accent sounds fake to my British ears OMG

[@sweetanarchi]

D T I was just wondering the same

[@momokoblue8032]

It's because she has a Southern/Texas accent that she normally tries to disguise but she's showing it off a bit in this particular interview.

[@andrewgraza4103]

momokoblue I go to the high school she went to 🤠

[@AddBowIfGirl]

D T That’s the weird sensation I got the first time I heard Andrew Garfield’s real accent.

[@treysaliento]

I think she was trying to put on a country accent Becasue if you notice she’s talking about “ a very small rural town” outside of Texas. Too give the story authenticity she tried to make her accent more predominant to sell the story and bit more.

[@katesmyth7940]

Anne’s was so bad! It was like a weird mix of about 4 different British accents and American thrown in 😂

[@XxXxJemJemxXxX]

Kate Smyth lmao she literally sounded posh one minute, cockney the next and then Yorkshire 😂

[@Charizarzar]

JemJem I think I read somewhere that she watched a lot of Emmerdale episodes to try to get the accent right

[@XxXxJemJemxXxX]

Charizarzar Guess that’s where the Yorkshire came from!

[@namkhamged]

As someone said, Anne's was the way it was because she was a child of American mother and English father. That's why. :D I never saw a movie of an american actor attempting liverpool scouse accent.

[@mikerivera7509]

That shit was a hot mess

[@Barnesi94]

is jack sparrow supposed to sound british? he kind of mixes accents

[@andreamarsili3466]

he's surely british due to history, but still he's always drunk so the accent is the very least of his problems

[@Barnesi94]

im pretty sure he is british technically, but i don't know if depp was trying to play him with a british accent.. but yeah, its hard enough trying to understand what hes saying let alone decipher the accent haha

[@johneyon5257]

Depp is attempting an british accent - I'm american and know he isn't trying to sound american - however - to me his bizarre accent fits his looney character - it's like Juliet Landau's accent in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - since the character was crazed - it kinda worked (according to my british sources)

[@Barnesi94]

John Eyon well i mean, i'm british and i always thought he sounded american... which is why i was confused haha

[@johneyon5257]

Janeyyy94 i wouldn't be surprised if he sounded american to you - to me - his accent sounded like an American attempting & failing at an english accent - i'm surprised at how many brits have been fooled this reminds me of the of the time a brit was surprised when i said that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen had american accents in the first X-Men movie (but not the second)

[@CherryyChauhandotinc]

Renee Zellweger & Maggie Gyllanhaal tricked me into believing they're British for sure!

[@ellie8826]

Renee's voice sounds so much better when she is doing an accent lol

[@ninqiogagun4499]

Cantaloupe exactly...

[@niamyers6640]

Cantaloupe I think she means it sounds more normal because most people thought she was British because of Bridget Jones so it sounded weird hearing her real accent

[@Angelotube5000]

@@cantaloupe4716 But true.

[@DDChorror]

She's always doing an accent. An AMERICAN accent

[@AyAy008]

Everyone is always "doing" an accent 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@ulrikkel6363]

You should have used a clip of Angelina Jolie from Maleficent, I think her British accent was better in that film.

[@norm3844]

In maleficent she adopts a Queen’s English accent that really only belongs to a few Brits. Tomb Raider, while still fairly posh, is a lot closer to a standard accent. It seems that the posher variants are by and large easier for Americans to perform.

[@ulrikkel6363]

@@norm3844 That may be true. I'm not from England so I don't know. I just think that the one from Maleficent sounds better.

[@monk3742]

Ulrikke L You only think it sounds better because you’ve heard many Americans stereotyping the British language as posh. It doesn’t sound better at all because rarely anybody in England sound like that apart from all the MP’s.

[@AddBowIfGirl]

hamilton6935 Well, she _is_ playing an evil queen type in Maleficent so...

[@jmo5037]

@Lee she had lost her touch by Maleficent. When she did Tomb Raider, she had come out of a long relationship with her English husband. She was known to mock the British accent.

[@geoffgeoff5586]

What makes Meryl Streep so good in The Iron Lady is she not only does a British accent butMargaret Thatcher's accent which is hard in itself for the Brits to do. Add to this is that Thatcher's accent was not her original accent as she was from the Midland's town of Grantham where her father was a grocer.

[@XxchampaignxX]

I actually thought Bridget Jones was British! Omg she was the best followed by Maggie

[@NTonks-xn4tv]

Adrienne Harrison Maggie smith wasn't British?

[@georgewang2947]

#AwEsOmE persona she's been doing a fake accent all her life!

[@bunnyboonumba1]

#AwEsOmE persona Maggie Smith is British!

[@nancyomalley6012]

Adrienne is talking about Maggie Gyllenhall(sp?)

[@mcleodrockferry287]

Maggie Gyllenhall was very good in Nanny McPhee. Here she sounds very enforced.

[@erinm2114]

renee zellweger's actual accent sounds fake to me since I thought she was a brit loool

[@rosiejones9241]

Lol why do Americans always get super posh when they attempt English accents?

[@Einsamerick]

What a shame the American 'stereotypical' accent is not posh at all.

[@doobiesoda3873]

I liken the Brummie accent just to piss people off.

[@mintyhippo8125]

Well, spike from buffy the vampire slayer has a more rough accent. He was played by an American actor.

[@nomequeen8439]

That's not really true. I typically see Brits attempt accents from different parts of the US (Georgia, New York, "Valley girl"). Sure, they may still be a bit stereotyped, but at least we acknowledge you have more than 1. I'd love an American at attempt my Ned Stark accent.

[@justsumguy2u]

Rosie, as an American, I can answer that. Many Americans are so stupid when it comes to cultural things that they believe there is only ONE accent for all of England, and it's always a London accent. Oh, and to those same people, the Welsh accent is also English, even though Wales is not a part of England.

[@peachiethreadss5040]

American people either do a really chavvy slang accent or a really posh royal accent 😂

[@BingBingBongBong]

Peachie Threadss and Brits either do some Texan or southern accent...so.

[@ejaysanderson6955]

BingBing BongBong not really 😂

[@Sam-oo1uo]

That's true. There's no middle ground.

[@lucysmith6530]

Peachie Threadss Yh I know right it’s either Mary Poppins or Burt!

[@maxhoughtonmusic]

@@BingBingBongBong ?? I'd argue most British people who do American accents do a neutral accent

[@sophia-pg4uu]

I feel uncomfortable listening to renèe with her American accent

[@namkhamged]

You should watch her in Chicago. She sound American. :)

[@emmalouise8001]

Coming from a British person Rene Zellweger does the best job. Doesn't sound fake or over the top :)

[@RekindledBibliophile]

Renee Zellweger is the queen of the English accent and I think most English and/or British people (myself included) can agree with that. With most actors you can hear how hard they're trying to speak with the correct dialect and their voice becomes so stressed, but Zellweger's is so natural and basically faultless.

[@tenpammys]

Shannen Carter meryl was amazing as Maggie!

[@TheSummerLoverJESS]

I've only just discovered that Renee is American.

[@GUITARTIME2024]

Jessa bizarre

[@daisyc1741]

Anybody else think meryl Streep did really well? Sounds just like thatcher to me

[@ggthewhale]

She won an oscar for the part

[@LegionIvory]

I've never liked Streep's British accent, personally. It sounds too theatrical.

[@flynnlong9998]

@@LegionIvory It's more so Thatcher's actual accent, which was very much theatrical and "put on".

[@Outnumberedbykidsandcats]

@@LegionIvory well that’s accurate then because Thatcher did speak that way.

[@ushoys]

@@Outnumberedbykidsandcats Indeed she did. Thatcher’s manner of speaking was completely theatrical.

[@Izzy-uc7bn]

Sean Astin is such an incredible actor. His British accent really threw me off, I thought it was brilliant. It literally took me years to realise he was the same actor who played 'Mikey' in the Goonies and 'Sam' in Lord of the rings. Thing is, I grew up watching lord of the rings and the Goonies and I never once clocked on. HAD NO IDEA

[@shortepl9561]

I genuinely thought he was from a farm in the countryside too!

[@devinthierault]

​@@shortepl9561His accent reminds me of George Washington's hypothesized accent

[@mikeyanno457]

For the love of Christ please tell me you’re being sarcastic.. Sean Astin Ruined LOTR for me.. he’s so bad

[@TonyCSilvaFilms]

Zellweger is amazing. From her british accent to her southern one in cold mountain.

[@Udontkno7]

She is from Texas

[@Katie2595]

Johnny depp was doing a British accent in pirates of the Caribbean??? Are you sure

[@DustAuror3]

Sounds British to me, for ages I thought he was a brit

[@willdanibegood]

I'd say he's doing an alright aussie-english

[@DustAuror3]

Will MG I kinda get where your coming from

[@themelonsoup]

I just thought it was a "pirate accent" XD

[@NTonks-xn4tv]

Katie2595 I mean I know that it was in the Tudor era (I think) but I didn't really notice

[@ladyfoxwf1075]

Sean Astin pulled off a West Country English accent perfectly

[@Cllocopine]

Yeah, I feel like some people may judge the accents in this video because they don’t all sound like the stereotypical posh english or rough london accents they’re used to. But they forget that britain is a big island that has a LOT of different accents and it’s way more impressive when someone pulls off a very specific accent than just a generic one.

[@cbiz384]

For the English people saying that Renee's American accent is strange, it's a very soft texas/southern accent. She is from Houston, which is in Texas. As you may or may not know Texas is famous for cowboys, western movies, etc. I'm from North Carolina, our southern accent is a bit harsher. When most people outside of America think of a "southern accent" it's typically Texas. However, the "Yeehaw!" style of accent isn't always the norm. This is a southern North Carolina accent: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6LJh2Vudtlohtk&ab_channel=EllenGooch This is a southern Texas accent: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIioYZmLmb19rdk&ab_channel=EllenGoochEllenGooch Southern accents vary incredibly, depending on state :D

[@Obskydian_MC]

When Renee says ‘get out dad’ in Bridget Jones’s diary she gets the glottal stop so perfect and makes it sound so natural that it truly makes her the queen of British accents!

[@Jbm0230]

Did Anne Hathaway even use an accent? haha She just used a couple of R colored schwa's

[@Rock-Metal91]

She was doing a Yorkshire accent in One Day

[@maddieh1878]

Her accent was the best British accent

[@samuelsawalker6682]

I thought it was really bad.

[@Rock-Metal91]

Samuel S A Walker It wasn't that good. But was a good attempt TBH.

[@spgtenor]

Not really, but she isn't a very good actress. The best actors are the best at the accents (usually, not always) which is why Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Jr. nail them. Renee Zellwegger is the one exception, in my opinion, who also does a great job, but I think is a mediocre actor. And look at great British actors like Kate Winslet, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth who almost never speak in British accents anymore, but you would swear were born and raised in America.

[@Dario_aman]

maggie did a great job

[@IngloriousBitches]

the best

[@spgtenor]

Yes she did.

[@nancyomalley6012]

Nasty attitude, pal!

[@JokinglySerious]

Sean Astin did it. God.

[@pebbles987]

His was the most realistic- the rest sounded like wankers

[@clsisman]

Have you been to the UK? Sean's accent was a horrible Irish-Somerset mashup that nobody has.

[@JokinglySerious]

I happen to be British, yes.

[@clsisman]

Well from what part of the country do these people who apeak like film sam gamgee live? I went to school in the westcountry, and it sure isnt there

[@SakuraUploads]

Gangoo, I'm British too and I was about to comment that Sean Astin's was the best but then I came across this comment. He doesn't sound Irish, I see what you mean about it sounding kind of Somerset-ish, but I think that's what makes it more believable. Everybody else did your basic run of the mill Southern accent, the same accent all Americans think of when they think of British accents. The fact that Sean's accent actually had a specific dialect made it so much more believable in my opinion. But I am kind of biased because I'm a huge lotr fan.

[@ellajackson4272]

Everybody's freaking out about Renee Zellweger being American and I'm over here with no clue that Robert Downey Junior wasn't British 😮 Damn he's good 😂

[@reactions5783]

Then, much like RDJ's world-renowned Iron Man character, you both must have spent some time living in a cave.

[@fabolousjada5070]

@@reactions5783 some people don’t watch little kid movies

[@mohanambala6888]

​@@fabolousjada5070 haha

[@ryantarbadildo8765]

​@@reactions5783Probably thought he's a reverse christian bale.

[@abiqailortiz5271]

Meryl Streep her british accent on Iron Lady was amazing, she's acting like a real british girl ❤.

[@imeikbro9711]

Omg Anne is horrible, lol.

[@theHalfBloodPhoenix]

i'm honestly surprised peter dinklage isn't here

[@kyroblanck1563]

he's not British??? Ö

[@jenniferhiemstra5228]

+Kyro Blanck nope he's not ;) he's one of a few who had me fooled, Winslet had me fooled for YEARS! Way longer than I care to admit...

[@kyroblanck1563]

hahahaha

[@theHalfBloodPhoenix]

Peter was born in the US.... i forgot which state though...new jersey??

[@Shakester71]

Another one is Lindsay Lohan when she was a child in The Parent Trap. I thought she did a decent job, but I'm also surprised Dinklage didn't make this list. Maybe it was just for movies and not tv series? Who knows.

[@philsadler9810]

Real Brit here! :)They're all very good actually, apart from Anne Hathaway. They're all trying to do different things in those roles. Gwyneth Paltrow, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr and (to a lesser extent) Sean Astin are speaking in accents people don't really use anymore so it's hard to critique them. Meryl Streep is doing an amazing specific impression, but she does a better English accent in French Lieutenant's Woman. Angelina Jolie and Forest Whitaker are fairly good but if I met those characters in the street I'd know they weren't really English. Don Cheadle and Maggie Gyllenhal are excellent, really convincing, but still also both a little over the top, you can tell they're trying really hard, especially Don Cheadle.. The queen of British accents is Renee Zellweger, she is 100% perfect. Better than perfect actually :) Poor Anne Hathaway though. I love Anne Hathaway but if I met someone talking like her character in the street I'd be like ".... Where the fuck are you from? Are you from some part of England I've never heard of?" Her intonation is all wrong. It's as if she watched Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and thought "Okay, I'll just talk like that!" And Drusilla's accent was atrocious. Wow, this comment is long.

[@TheRossu]

Cool comment, thanks for sharing! (:

[@philsadler9810]

TheRossu You're very welcome :)

[@PumpkinMozie]

I find it interesting that so many real British people find Renee Zellweger's British accent to be so good. I'm American, and I remember cringing the first time I saw Bridget Jones's Diary because I thought her accent stood out to be so incredibly fake-sounding. But then again, I already knew before I saw the movie that she was American. I dunno. I guess I can't really judge since I'm not British. But it's just really surprising to me.

[@philsadler9810]

PumpkinMozie If someone said to me "Win a million pounds, guess where this woman is from" I would never, ever, EVER have guessed Renee was American :)

[@hanna-lousivell5210]

As an English Briton, she really does it well, for the pure fact it's consistant. With Anne Hathaway, you can hear her American tongue slip in and out, which gives away that she is not naturally British. The accent that Bridget is from would be classed as a middle class London accent, well spoken, and calm. I think you're right in saying that you cringe because you know her to be American, where in England, her rise to fame here was in Bridget Jone's Diary, so quite a few did not know that she wasn't actually British. There are still some people today that do not know that she is American, and are shocked when they discover the truth. I feel that same with Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange, I cringed a bit at his American accent, but from watching countless trailers, I don't cringe now.

[@eduardomerino8098]

Julianne Moore's British accent in The End of the Affair was also outstanding too. To me Renee Zellweger, Julianne Moore, and Maggie Gyllenhaal played some of the best English sounding characters I have ever seen.

[@melissawright1979]

All of the actors putting on British accents in the Lord of the Rings franchise, were ALL incredible!

[@mattsconscience]

@realauthority202Brad Dourif (Wormtongue) is an American and was so good that Bernard Hill said his American accent sounded “forced” when he spoke naturally on set lol

[@JimiJames92]

I remember watching Green Street after LOTR and thinking he had a shit American accent 😂 just sounded more noticeable with all the London accents in that movie

[@Trigedasleng]

Felix in orphan black

[@IfYouMeetAWolf]

YAAS

[@ZeeJeff]

Canadian here to tell you that that actor is Canadian, as are most of the main cast...as the show is Canadian.

[@galadrielherrinvonlothlori925]

+Guy Incognito 🎩 It's so unfair that Canadians keep being counted to someone else! Canada is its very own country with its own, unique culture! When will people realise!!?

[@noctusjordan8270]

+Galadriel Herrin von Lothlórien . what's so unique ? when I went people speak English and French and keep saying sorry !! no special things they do just that European lifestyle

[@galadrielherrinvonlothlori925]

Geralt OK, tell me, how long have you been there?! Like a tourist you of course don't experience the culture! I went there as an exchange student for 10 month, lived with a Canadian family and went to a Canadian high school. And before you say that it doesn't have a unique culture seriously think about that! Every country has it's own culture because every country has it's own history and with that very own ways how views and things they do develop. And to experience that it doesn't just work to look on it from the outside, you have to go and actually live a Canadian way. That is why it is very hard to tell you specific things that define it because it is the way the people think and act that defines there culture. In some way it might be similar to other countries but it is never the same. I mean Germany and France don't have the same culture either even though they are all European! When I quickly think about it, what defines the Canadian culture (even though you can't really say that in words and there is so much more to it) it is the fact that Canadians love their country and their history and that way they live. They are open, they have peace with the winter and there is so much more to add. There is so much more to add and as I explained, it can't really be said in words you have to experience it.

[@alancadwallender]

Gwyneth Paltrow's accent in 'Sliding Doors' was perfect. I had never heard of her up to that point and thought she was English.

[@EASYTIGER10]

I'd still love to hear an American actor do a more distinct regional British accent. They seem always to do this generic "proper" English that only a small minority of Brits actually use. Does anyone know of any recordings of Americans trying Geordie, Scouse, Brummie, Yorkshire, South/North Welsh, Wegian?... in fact ANYTHING other than the narrow type of English most try to imitate.

[@Charizarzar]

I liked Sean Astin's West Countryish accent in Lord of the Rings.

[@swaggdocttaa]

EASYTIGER10 to be fair English actors often make the same mistake of using on individual accent

[@EASYTIGER10]

***** That's fair comment. There are other times Brits did "regional" accents: Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind, Idris Elba in The Wire, Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave. But yeah, they generally stick to a fairly "generic" American accent. But I do think that the accent most Brits "try" to do is closer to the way a reasonable proportion of Americans speak, where as a lot of American actors "try" (regardless of how successful they are) to achieve an accent virtually no one in the UK uses. Renee Zellwegger is one of the exceptions. Her Bridget Jones accent - while a predictably South East English accent - does at least sound vaguely the way people round there speak.

[@Jakir_Hussain_1999]

Lol. I'd love to see an American try a Yorkshire or Geordie accent ahah. (I'm from Yorkshire Btw)

[@fictionalwishes]

I'm not sure that Americans know anything besides received pronounciation lmao

[@mizzwanned]

The best was Renee, maggie and Meryl streep

[@abukholid2269]

For me Maggie Gyllenhaal was the best for her British accent, she nailed it!

[@samuelsawalker6682]

Zellweger pulls it off the best, followed by Streep. I haven't seen the film with Gyllenhaal, so I am not sure but it sounds pretty decent. The others are pretty crap, but the worst is Cheadles. It's so awful, it's on par with Dick VanDyke.

[@deepblue1909]

the best was Maggie gyllenhaal

[@kerryholland4822]

by far

[@deepblue1909]

I agree

[@deepblue1909]

which part of uk are you from?

[@deepblue1909]

I like the british accent, I was born and raised in Baghdad, when I was a kid m English teacher spoke british accent and since then I've trying to speak it although I live in the US now

[@30secondstomarsMBH]

No, Renee's is the best.

[@emilygrant7288]

Renee Zellweger had me shook

[@reactions5783]

What a terrible thing for someone to do. Whoever she asked to shake you should be ashamed of themselves.

[@jackcolson4745]

*s h o o k e t h*

[@suzannesadiiqa]

I lived through the whole Thatcher era and Miss Streeps' performance and accents were stellar....

[@90sbabe47]

Meryl Streep was literally made for the British accent.

[@eleonoradeane5170]

She can do anything.

[@dumdebadaba]

A posh accent is easier and has less regionalized vocabulary. Geordie and Sconce for example are much more difficult. So is Estuary E., Cockney etc.

[@kopecci9678]

I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing more actors adopting Estuary in the next decade. The BBC has started pushing Estuary *very* hard because it spans classes and sounds approachable, it's rapidly becoming the new face of southern English speech

[@dumdebadaba]

Kopecci Thanks for the tip, I suppose I should look into Estuary E. then

[@kd84afc]

That's true, don cheadle struggles with the cockney accent

[@da96103]

Chris Pratt does a great Essex accent.

[@amberminott6098]

"miss me, what am I your mother"😂😂

[@pranambhavani570]

Don Cheadle one of the most deplorable English accents in cinematic history.

[@--REGULAR--REGULAR]

His accent is what most americans hear when british people speak. So too me its one of the best displays of a british accent done by an american in cinema ever. He sounds just like he was born and raised in London.

[@thomasskinner240]

@@--REGULAR--REGULAR he sounds like an American doing the worst cockney accent ever

[@kaisagrr]

I thought Renee Zellweger was actually british. Her british accent is my favorite in the whole wide world.

[@annmitchell4663]

I think they all did really well especially Maggie,Renee,Meryl,Johnny and Sean,who did a good regional accent in LOTR.

[@izzierose2]

Renee was amazing. I never would have known and I’m English. It’s perfect. Maggie’s was very believable too

[@lelab8471]

I thought Paltrow's accent in "Emma" was poorly done.

[@carlybishop6160]

It ruined such a great book. It is my second favourite after "Pride and Prejudice"

[@charlottebruce979]

I thought she was good and I'm English.

[@mrcrackdonald_1]

I mean it was supposed to be an extremely upscale old fashioned british accent

[@silvioconci]

She has a better accent in Shakespeare In Love

[@MegaCOYS]

Don Cheadles is the worst accent I have ever heard

[@MegaCOYS]

side note, it's like all he said was "wankers, tossers, bloody this bloody that, top of the mornin guvna" just another Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins

[@loulie1997]

I don't know, did you ever hear Amy Adams in American Hustle?

[@spgtenor]

Actually his accent was quite good.

[@momosaku16]

to be fair, what he`s saying isn`t really up to him, cause he`s just saying what`s in the script, he can only influence how he`s saying it

[@MegaCOYS]

Diana Stefankova it's still how he says it. He says wanker like an Aussie is saying Winker

[@AmyMayHuntCFit]

Renee nails the accent. I genuinely hadn't heard her American accent before this, It's insanely strong for someone who does such an effortless British accent.

[@sneepsnorp4278]

I love how people get mad when others say "British accent" yet still generalize the American accent when there is tons of regional accents

[@captainbryce1]

Exactly. It's like there is only ONE American accent but 50 British accents, lol.

[@Whoeverheardof]

Yep lol

[@amapparatistkwabena]

I know, right? An island the size of a state, but they somehow can't get that a country of 330 MILLION people and the size of Europe essentially has tons of accents. Hilarious.

[@lewishamilton2522]

@@amapparatistkwabena Most of the time when Americans talk about "British" accents they mean English, so why not just say English. Just like in America there are many different versions of the English accent. But Welsh and Scottish accents are completely different.

[@Outnumberedbykidsandcats]

@@amapparatistkwabena I’m not sure why you think that we don’t understand you have tons of varying accents. We have loads of them in a tiny area and so it’s obvious you do too. I can’t recognise all of them personally but I can usually tell if someone is from Texas, Louisiana or any other area that has a strong accent. Where on here does it say that we think all Americans sound the same?

[@TributPeeta]

Would've loved to see James Masters in here :D think he did a great job on Buffy

[@dunkbiscuit]

Totally. I was amazed he was American. Could have sworn he was British. And I'm British.

[@mrandrewhumphrey]

To my English ear. Paltrow and Cheadle don't sound authentic, while the rest do sound like native speakers.

[@DarkRain110187]

Whoa, that's surprising! I was doubting Anne Hathaway for a moment there. I love Meryl Streep. I have to watch that movie now!

[@sheevathediva27]

Haha it was actually quite a big thing in the UK, just how terrible Anne Hathaway's accent was. She kept swapping between various British accents, Northern, Southern, posh, "normal"...

[@DarkRain110187]

LOL. I'm guessing they didn't have enough time to work with her. I thought it was pretty shoddy just from the short clip. I dunno how much more for the entire movie, lol.

[@user-ci9ec5mp3z]

We thought Renee Zellweger was one of us. We’ve been living a lie.

[@eduardomerino8098]

Renee Zellweger is a Texan like me.

[@ladhkay]

wait wait wait...the bridget jones diary chick isnt british? wtf...my whole life is a lie!!!

[@Janexcalibur]

Chris Pratt doing a TOWIE accent should be added to this XD

[@51gan788]

As a brit, sean astin's accent is low-key the best of the lot. Its not just british, its west country english. I don't even think i can pull off that accent

[@kaseryn]

Oh.. and check out Chris Pratt on The Graham Norton Show doing TOWIE. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

[@kaseryn]

Maggie's English accent blew me away when i heard it in Nanny McPhee and she's continued that in The Honourable Woman. I thought Streeps Thatcher imitation was pretty damn good. Depp does a great cockney. Hadn't seen One Day and was quite impressed with the clip of Hathaways' accent. Very few American actors pull of British accents convincingly and i'm sure the reverse can be said too. I don't think she's used it in any roles but i once heard Julianna Marghules do a pitch perfect pisstake impression of a London cabbie. Jennifer Ehle was my benchmark for Americans doing English accents before i heard Maggie.

[@LilMizzRockaChick]

Anne Hathaways accent is terrible 😁

[@delrey874]

Yes, but she is beauty😂

[@iamsherk2605]

Renee sounded like a Transatlantic when doing her American accent

[@jeongyeonbaby]

I’m a bit scared why are their accents better than mine,and I’m English...

[@monk3742]

Emma Clarition You can’t have a better English accent Emma.

[@reactions5783]

If Don Cheedle's 'Mockney' accent is better than yours, you must be living in Narnia.

[@vice2versa]

@@monk3742 she probably has a ghetto version of an english accent so of course a proper english accent will sound better to her than her natural accent. lol.

[@georgewang2947]

When I watched Bridget Jones I thought she was doing a terrible accent. It sounded so wrong to me. Well apparently that's what real British people sound like.

[@itswhat3v3r]

George Wang me too

[@evefranceschannel5584]

George Wang , she has a great British accent!

[@saph4373]

Don Cheadle sounds like that time Dennis in It's always Sunny tries to do a british accent

[@trypeace6579]

Does no one else think that Maggie Gyllenhaal was good too?

[@lefinlay]

She was great, except when she said “only” I heard it wasn’t consistent

[@ark1349]

I think hers was the best.

[@reactions5783]

For the most part she was okay... but she veers off-accent every other sentence. Way too inconsistent. Wouldn't convince anyone actually from England.

[@NostalgiCrazy]

Last one was great, but proves how hard it is to not let your true voice out when you're yelling/angry 😆

[@crowsandlemons]

Growing up with movies that had Johnny Depp in them and thinking he was British then finding out he wasn’t British was life changing.

[@historygirl0126]

RDJ’s accent was so convincing that I almost forgot he was an American. Same with Johnny Depp and Renee. Wow. 👏🏻👏🏻

[@hinkhall5291]

Johnny Depp sounds like a freaking Native American in his own voice.

[@mickswann357]

I really wish Americans would learn to say 'English accent' instead of 'British accent', but they just refuse to acknowledge the difference. Britain is an island consisting of three countries; England, Scotland and Wales. It has five languages; English, Welsh, Gaelic, Manx and Cornish, and countless regional dialects. When Americans say "British accent" what they are referring to is usually either 'RP' or the English Home Counties accent in general, people from other parts of Britain, like Scotland, Wales or the North of England, clearly do not sound like middle-class people from southern England. What's worse is that, whenever I mention it, someone is almost guaranteed to come along and Amerisplain why I'm wrong because watching Downton-cocking-Abbey means they know more about my culture than I do.

[@jodester9125]

Mick Swann U miss out Island although you used Gaelic. Cheerio.

[@mickswann357]

Mikami Danzo Thanks for coming by to Amerisplain it to me, now let me point out why you're wrong. Firstly, I was referring to Scots Gaelic, as spoken by approximately 57,000 people in the Highlands and Islands of Northern Scotland. Secondly, as for "Island", it's actually spelled "Ireland" and is a completely separate landmass on the other side of the Celtic Sea from Britain. If you would like further proof of that distinction, please feel free to find an Irish person and call them British...they'll be sure to set you straight, I assure you of that.

[@jodester9125]

Mick Swann thanks for the lesson. I think my confusion stems from the distinction between Britain and the United Kingdom. I'm pretty sure Ireland is apart of it. Thank you, sir. :)

[@Southernblonde1310]

I actually had someone (American) bitch at me once because I corrected them when they called a Scottish accent a British accent. I explained that, while yes...Scotland is a part of Britain and the accent in a broader sense could be called "British", that it's best to refer to it as "Scottish". I've always said "Scottish", "Irish", "English", "Welsh", etc. I have friends from all over the UK who have backed me up on numerous occasions saying they prefer the accents not to be generalized in one category. They are all entirely different accents from entirely different countries. :-)

[@mickswann357]

meh

[@Zanderthegrape]

"WOULD YOU FUCKING SHUT UP!"haha

[@TLK9419]

That was... quite the ending.

[@FIREPOSER]

Perhaps one of the reasons that Renee's accent was fairly good was because she was starring in a movie with other British actors so they helped her, and the other people who worked on the movie like some of the writers and producers were also British. That can help a lot. And yes, i do know that there are many different types of British accents, since the UK is huge.

[@yossaj]

Sean Astin's and Myrell Streep's accents were flawless

[@jonnygeez]

Sean Astin and Maggie Gyllenhaal for me were the most relaxed and natural...most the others sounded a little like supporting actors from an old Mary Poppins movie, too clipped and "royal". Very few brits have a cut glass accent like that most of us are a mix of dialects and social classes mixed into an "accent"...just like any large country.

[@U2QuoZepplin]

I hadn't realised Forrest Whitaker had done a British Engish accent in the Crying Game . I must see that film some time .

[@sorelharrison7097]

Bloody hell I thought Renee zellweger was British and I am British

[@kirstijohnson8555]

I really want to one day fully speak in an English accent. You know it’s not perfect yet I mean I can say some words in an English accent but there are a lot of words I’m still working on. & watching this video just gives me so much more faith that I will be able to one day. Because if these guys can do it so can I!

[@nic9511]

Don Cheadle sounds like the little British girl from family guy

[@RACHELTAYLOR7]

Maggie Gyllenhall does a great British accent.

[@TheXtro101]

I would like to add 2 American Actors who played British characters so well it took me years to find out they weren't really British at all. Wes Bentley in the movie,"The Four Feathers"(2002).Wes has been in,"The Hunger Games"(2012)and "American Beauty"(1999). Arliss Howard in "Jurassic Park 2:The Lost World"(1997).Arliss played Marine trooper "Cowboy", in the war movie,"Full Metal Jacket"(1987).

[@emmax8333]

Hugh Grant thought that Rennee was actually British until the premier

[@westlifefan123]

Jake Gyllenhaal does an amazing British accent as well in a play he did a few years ago

[@sjones9617]

Sorry but Jon Cheadle's accent in Ocean Eleven isn't British. I dunno what that is.

[@squidthing]

I think the reason Brits can do American accents well is a familiarity to American media. They grow up watching and listening to films, tv shows, and listening to pop music from the USA from a young age. America has a more isolationist culture where watching media from abroad is considered uncool, or in the case of extreme conservatives -- almost an act of treason. The only British films that trickle in are prestige, RP, historical dramas and Guy Ritchie London gangster films. There's also the lack of education in geography where you end up with Americans thinking Ireland, Scotland, and England are interchangeable.

[@farteater5609]

My friend is from Britain and she sucks at an American accent so wym bro?

[@SSC0002]

In general Brits can sort of pull of an American sounding accent, but Americans struggle to sound believably British

[@rebeccahicks4949]

I'm sorry, I've heard plenty of British actors doing terrible, terrible American accents.

[@signalfire15]

Absolutely no American thinks watching British media is uncool or an act of treason. Where the heck do you guys come up with this stuff from?

[@NonRegnumDei1934]

Consuming media from abroad isn't considered uncool at all, in fact barring small town xenophobia and that strange sense of hyper-nationalism that's been brought over from the Cold War (which I think is what you're referencing when you say "treason"), foreign culture in general has always been in vogue. I think of the numerous "British invasions" (One Direction being recent) and also developments such as the Doctor Who craze in nerd culture, but British media is still kind of a niche subject regardless. I think the problem is that British media in particular has to compete with more exotic foreign imports like anime and K-Pop, which are so foreign that we're able to form our own conceptions of them without ever being confronted with reality, whereas there's sort of this uncanny valley effect with British media where, when seen from one angle, it's similar enough to ours to be considered relatively unexotic (the same is somewhat true for much of European media, though they have foreign language appeal and get more exotic the further east/south you go), whilst from the very next angle it can seem utterly impenetrable, especially whenever regions and dialects and subject matters other than the ones you mentioned trickling in are concerned. I had always assumed the opposite was true (that few Brits cared about American media, either) until around high school when I started to learn how American media came to sort of dominate the airwaves during the mid-20th century. As an aside, I'd like to believe that we're better educated on geography than most foreigners seem to think, as it was one of my favorite subjects in school personally. I really would like to, but looking back on the majority of people I met in my school days and even the people I know now, I'm absolutely certain that, on average, we're just as illiterate on that subject as you say.

[@bare-bonesjoe4897]

wow Maggie probably did the best job there.

[@Noided88815]

Johnny depp has a british accent in all if his most iconic movies.

[@jillianelise5]

Robert Downey Jr. and Peter Dinklage sound the same when they do a british accent

[@justsumguy2u]

Even as an American, most of those "British" accents sound rubbish to me, I can tell the difference. Maggie was spot-on, though.

[@kirstijohnson8555]

justsomeguytoyou I thought most of them were pretty good

[@reactions5783]

Maggie was 90% there ... but the accent wasn't consistent. Each sentence has at least a couple of words that are 'off' (to an English listener). Although, I could understand those nuances slipping by a non-native listener.

[@kodidane5824]

There's no way you're American. No one says "rubbish" here.

[@justsumguy2u]

@@kodidane5824 Ok, for you I'll be British then

[@JJaqn05]

@@kodidane5824 There's no way you're British. Everyone says rubbish here. You must be a woke leftist

[@user-lm9vi9ec4p]

You can hear Tyrion Lannister in Robert Downey Jr's voice 1:37

[@ddg80sbby]

Lolita omg cannot unhear that

[@osamabad3597]

Paltrow’s accent in Sliding Doors was pretty good

[@velvetsky5117]

RDJ had a better British accent in Chaplin than he did in Sherlock. It was astoundingly effortless.