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Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

#1
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10/1/08 at 12:41pm
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Let me start this by saying I have no problem with the using British & Australian actors in tv shows. I just find it funny that so many shows are using actors from Australia in shows. I am not talking big names. But, unknowns. The lead from Fringe and Chuck. Both are unknown actresses from outside the US. I just find it funny that they can't find actors/actresses from the US.

(Awaiting replies asking why I am bigoted towards foreign actors)

Bring back John Doe! Or at least resolve the cliff-hanger with a 2hr movie or as an extra on a dvd release.

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#2
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10/1/08 at 1:08pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

You've only listed Fringe and Chuck. That isn't "so many." If anyone has a problem with Yvonne Strahovski, they need to be dealt with.

You've got Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, and Hugh Jackman from Australia in the film industry, to say the least. We're just diversifying the talent pool. There's tons of talent out there, so it comes to the point of choosing from the best of the best. Sure, they can find actresses from the U.S. It's not like U.S. television is being dominated by foreign actors.


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#3
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10/1/08 at 1:28pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ThomasC
You've only listed Fringe and Chuck. That isn't "so many." If anyone has a problem with Yvonne Strahovski, they need to be dealt with.

You've got Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, and Hugh Jackman from Australia in the film industry, to say the least. We're just diversifying the talent pool. There's tons of talent out there, so it comes to the point of choosing from the best of the best. Sure, they can find actresses from the U.S. It's not like U.S. television is being dominated by foreign actors.
I can guarantee that I have no problem with Yvonne Strahovski. Todd is making an observation that I have made to my wife. There are a few TV shows with foreign born leads that I can think of, off the top of my head - Hugh Laurie in House is from England; on Without A Trace there is Anthony LaPaglia from Australia and Marianne Jean-Baptise from England; on Life Damian Lewis is from England. Again, just making an observation, not a criticism.

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#4
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10/1/08 at 2:14pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Hey, you're selling Without a Trace short - Poppy Montgomery is also Australian.

I think Thomas has basically got it: Hollywood productions will pay for the best and don't much care where they find it. There is a ridiculous amount of money in Hollywood, so if you can speak English and (optionally) do a passable American accent, you might as well try your luck there. If living far from home/the workload/the competition doesn't agree with you, the rest of the world isn't going away, but the rewards for success in Hollywood are global stardom and pretty good money.

It's akin to Japanese players showing up in Major League Baseball - the money in MLB is pretty darn good, not just for the superstars, but I doubt Hideki Okajima would be making anything close to $3M/year as a reliever if he were still with the Yomiyuri Giants.

Hollywood is the big leagues, and it's hardly surprising that people around the world want a piece of the ridiculous amount of money America throws around for its entertainment or that the individual producers will throw it at whoever can help their team the most.
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#5
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10/1/08 at 7:41pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

I just found out that the woman who plays Chuck in Pushing Daisies is British.

I think they are forced to use foreign talent because a lot of American actresses are like Lohan etc.

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#6
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10/1/08 at 7:49pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Trust me. I definitely have no problem with Yvonne Strahovski.

Bring back John Doe! Or at least resolve the cliff-hanger with a 2hr movie or as an extra on a dvd release.

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#7
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10/1/08 at 8:24pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

I wonder if there are any foreign actors/actresses whose first language is not English, but can speak with an American accent?
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#8
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10/2/08 at 6:42am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

I have theorized for a couple of years now that American producers are so concerned that their actors be "pretty" enough (men and women alike), that eventually pretty edged out a lot of talent. So, when the producers need someone who can act, they frequently have to look elsewhere.

Add to the list:
o Kevin McKidd from the late, lamented Rome and Journeyman
o Michelle Ryan from the unmissed Bionic Woman (though her "acting" does not mesh with my theory)
o Jaime Bamber from Battlestar Galactica (I don't count James Callis, who plays Baltar, he has kept his accent)
o Jonathon LaPaglia (Anthony's brother), who starred in 7 Days, and did a guest stint in NCIS last week as an FBI agent

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#9
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10/2/08 at 9:32am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugh Jackes
I have theorized for a couple of years now that American producers are so concerned that their actors be "pretty" enough (men and women alike), that eventually pretty edged out a lot of talent.

I think that's the crux of it. The funny thing is that while this goes on, the reverse is true as well - Alexis Denisof and James Marsters acting 'English' on Buffy/Angel (while not current, is recent).
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#10
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10/2/08 at 4:11pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
I wonder if there are any foreign actors/actresses whose first language is not English, but can speak with an American accent?

Alexander Skarsgård, son of Stellan Skarsgård, and whose first language is Swedish, had a role in Generation Kill as an All-American soldier and plays the role of the oldest vampire Eric in True Blood. He has an excellent American accent.
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#11
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10/2/08 at 4:40pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Jonny Lee Miller (British) - Eli Stone

Simon Baker (Australian) - The Mentalist

Dominic Purcell (British) - Prison Break

Alex O'Laughlin (Australian) &
Sophia Myles (British) - Moonlight

Linus Roache (British) - Law & Order

Lena Headley (British) - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

To name a few.
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#12
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10/2/08 at 6:19pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Louise Lombard, CSI, British. (Caught a few minutes of an old movie she was in the other day and was briefly startled by hearing her speak with her own action - same reaction I have to Hugh Laurie when he appears on talk shows, even though I've been a fan of his since his Blackadder days and Jeeves and Wooster. I just see him and expect to hear Greg House. )

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#13
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10/2/08 at 6:43pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

I intentionally left Lombard out because her American accent is just so bad.

I mean really, it is..
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#14
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10/3/08 at 8:09am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

The producer of House, Bryan Singer, thought Hugh Laurie was American!

Quote:
Although Laurie has been a household name in many parts of the world since the 1980s, he only came to the attention of a broader American public in 2004, when he first starred as the acerbic attending physician Dr. Gregory House in the popular FOX medical drama House. For his portrayal, Laurie assumes an American accent.[1] Laurie was in Namibia filming Flight of the Phoenix and recorded the audition tape for the show in the bathroom of the hotel, the only place he could get enough light.[8] His US accent was so convincing that executive producer Bryan Singer, who was unaware at the time that Laurie is English, pointed to him as an example of just the kind of compelling American actor he had been looking for. Laurie also adopts the voice between takes on the set of House, as well as during script read-throughs.
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#15
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10/3/08 at 8:35am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Eddie Izzard (Wayne Malloy) and Minnie Driver (Dahlia Malloy) in "The Riches" are both Brits.
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#16
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10/3/08 at 8:57am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicholas Martin
I intentionally left Lombard out because her American accent is just so bad.

I generally have a pretty good ear for dialects and voices and am a decent mimic myself, for a non-pro. Lombard's accent has never struck me as "bad". In fact, I don't notice it, which to me is the hallmark of a good accent. Nothing about her delivery on CSI calls attention to itself or screams "non-American" to me. I suppose there might be a word from time to time that stands out, but the same is true when I listen to most actual Americans, since all of us have some regional or local highlights in our accents. Trust me, I've heard plenty of bad American accents from British actors (generally shows shot in the U.K. that have maybe one American character in them. There was a production of Dracula a few years ago that I couldn't watch because I'd start laughing every time the guy playing Quincy Morris opened his mouth.)

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Joe
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#17
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10/3/08 at 9:21am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
His US accent was so convincing that executive producer Bryan Singer, who was unaware at the time that Laurie is English, pointed to him as an example of just the kind of compelling American actor he had been looking for.
I wonder why he doesn't use that accent on the show itself. I really want to know just where Greg House is from, as his voice doesn't sound like any region I recognize (though in a different way from the "I'm from nowhere" accent Lucy Lawless used on Xena).

Add the star of New Amsterdam (Nikolaj Costas-Warner, or something like that) to the list of non-native speakers who did OK, although I kind of liked it when his Dutch accent slipped in more.
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#18
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10/3/08 at 9:26am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joseph DeMartino
I generally have a pretty good ear for dialects and voices and am a decent mimic myself, for a non-pro. Lombard's accent has never struck me as "bad". In fact, I don't notice it, which to me is the hallmark of a good accent. Nothing about her delivery on CSI calls attention to itself or screams "non-American" to me. I suppose there might be a word from time to time that stands out, but the same is true when I listen to most actual Americans, since all of us have some regional or local highlights in our accents. Trust me, I've heard plenty of bad American accents from British actors (generally shows shot in the U.K. that have maybe one American character in them.


I can say the exact same thing about myself, and to me Lombard couldn't mask it. Same can be said of Freddie Highmore in "The Spiderwick Chronicles", a film where the young Brit played American twins, and there were certain words he just couldn't say without his accent showing through. The same could not be said of his Irish co-star who played his sister in the film, because I didn't know she was Irish until seeing the making-of extras where her accent was quite strong. Flawless.

Jonny Lee Miller, who plays Eli Stone on um, Eli Stone, I had no idea he used to be Mr. Angelina Jolie and therefore knew nothing about him or his heavy British accent, completely gone for the TV series.
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#19
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10/3/08 at 9:49am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

And there is the Japanese actor Masi Oka from Heroes. I remember being impressed when he spoke with a perfect American accent, when playing future Hiro.

There are a few others that someone said on another forum, but I'm not sure if their natural accent is American or that of their native country.
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#20
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10/3/08 at 11:36am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Seaver
Add the star of New Amsterdam (Nikolaj Costas-Warner, or something like that) to the list of non-native speakers who did OK, although I kind of liked it when his Dutch accent slipped in more.

Actually, he was supposed to have a bit of a Dutch accent. Since he was a Dutch settler in NYC who is immortal and came to the NY in the 1600's.

Well in the American as Brit. Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones. Which I remember being a big stink in the UK about an American being cast as a Brit. Turnabout is fair play.

Bring back John Doe! Or at least resolve the cliff-hanger with a 2hr movie or as an extra on a dvd release.

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#21
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10/3/08 at 12:01pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

True, but just how much he was supposed to have seemed to vary from episode to episode - some weeks he'd have a bit of a Dutch accent in the present-day scenes, other times he'd have the "guy from nowhere" voice.
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#22
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10/3/08 at 12:50pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

I didn't realize the Masi Oka was Japanese by nationality, I though he was some number of generations removed from Japan. Didn't he have work behind the camera before Heroes?

There is a woman in a cel phone radio commercial locally, who, try as she might, just cannot hide her Aussie orgins.

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#23
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10/3/08 at 1:30pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) is British.

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#24
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10/3/08 at 5:51pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicholas Martin
Dominic Purcell (British) - Prison Break

wikipedia.gif Wentworth Miller (the guy that plays his brother) was born in England.
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#25
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10/3/08 at 6:10pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugh Jackes
I didn't realize the Masi Oka was Japanese by nationality, I though he was some number of generations removed from Japan. Didn't he have work behind the camera before Heroes?

Masi Oka was and occasionally continues to be a CG artist for Industrial Light & Magic.
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#26
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10/3/08 at 8:08pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicholas Martin
Masi Oka was and occasionally continues to be a CG artist for Industrial Light & Magic.

Supposedly, he is a genius and has a very high IQ from what I have heard.
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#27
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10/3/08 at 8:31pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

He worked on all three Star Wars prequels, the last Pirates movie, helped develop the program used to make the ocean effects in The Perfect Storm...I believe it.
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#28
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10/3/08 at 9:00pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter C
And there is the Japanese actor Masi Oka from Heroes. I remember being impressed when he spoke with a perfect American accent, when playing future Hiro.

Not sure he counts: IMDB says he was born in Japan, but he appears to have lived most of his life in the US; Wiki says he moved there when he was six, so it's not unusual that his "American accent" is flawless, it's probably his 'real' one anyway.

Wentworth Miller appears to have been born in England 'by fluke', in that his father was studying there at the time, and Wiki says he moved to the US at age one.

Another that comes to mind, though he's not on air anymore, is Idris Elba, who played Stringer Bell in The Wire. British, but famous for being Bell, so apparently (according to Empire) when he was working on a Brit movie, playing an American character, during breaks he was speaking in his 'natural' accent and the extras complimented him on his excellent British accent..

Also from The Wire, Dominic West, who played Jimmy McNulty. I recently saw him in some movie opposite Sandra Bullock, where he used his 'normal' accent, but after five seasons of The Wire, it was weird to hear him as anything other than Baltimorean.
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#29
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10/4/08 at 8:40am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Malcolm R
Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) is British.

And she does a flawless, middle-of-the-road type of American accent. Especially considering the rapid-fire dialogue that she repeatedly has to utter. And she does it with nuance.
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#30
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10/4/08 at 2:53pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Seaver
Hey, you're selling Without a Trace short - Poppy Montgomery is also Australian.
And count me a fan of her two burgeoning co-stars.
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