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Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

#31
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10/4/08 at 5:03pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Not as well known as others, but Mark Addy from the sitcom "Still Standing" is British. Typical mindless sitcom, but I found it enjoyable, still do in reruns.

Always thought his accent was a little strange, then happened to catch "The Full Monty" a few weeks ago, now I know why.

Some actors, like Jonny Lee Miller can pull it off perfectly. Glad that "Eli Stone" is coming back, really liked it and it was the only survivor of the new shows I watched last season.

Others, like Addy, Louise Lombard and even Hugh Laurie just can't quite do it. Laurie is good, but there was always just the tiniest hint of something that wasn't right, but I could never quite place it. Once I found out he was British, it clicked.

Stan

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#32
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10/4/08 at 5:34pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Joely Richardson, from Nip/Tuck, is British.

Also, Olivia d'Abo, from The Wonder Years, is British, and her British accent can be heard on Justice League.

I can remember finding it odd that a bunch of British singers sound American when singing. It was only when they talk, I learn they are British.
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#33
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10/4/08 at 8:42pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Australian actress Nicole Kidman who has played many American characters was actually born in Hawaii, USA.

Ellen's girlfriend (now married to Ellen) I don't remember her name at the moment who also stars in Tip Tuck, isn't she Australian?
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#34
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10/5/08 at 9:27am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter-PP
Ellen's girlfriend (now married to Ellen) I don't remember her name at the moment who also stars in Tip Tuck, isn't she Australian?

Yes (according to Wikipedia): wikipedia.gif Portia de Rossi
Quote:
De Rossi was born Amanda Lee Rogers in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, the daughter of Margaret, a medical receptionist, and Barry Rogers.[1] She was raised in Grovedale, a suburb of Geelong.
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#35
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10/5/08 at 9:37am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
I intentionally left Lombard out because her American accent is just so bad.
Blimey, I must get my ears checked - I thought it was meant to be British Home Counties. EDIT: my mistake, I was thinking of the woman in CSI: New York.

I'm happy to be corrected, but isn't the guy who played Frasier's father in Frasier originally British? I believe he gave advice to Jane Leeves on Daphne's accent (which in case you don't know, is meant to be from around the Manchester area in northern England - which makes the execrable attempts at cockney from some of her relatives in the series even more inexplicable; in American terms it'd be like Daphne having a Bronx accent and her brothers and mother having deep Texan drawls).

Interesting take on 'who has the worst American accent?' from the following British site: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0518321/news#ni0241392 . Incidentally, the Radio Times, in spite of its title, is a popular TV guide in the UK.
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#36
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10/5/08 at 10:47am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian Lipscombe
Blimey, I must get my ears checked - I thought it was meant to be British Home Counties. EDIT: my mistake, I was thinking of the woman in CSI: New York.

Claire Forlani's character on CSI: New York was indeed supposed to be British, hence the use of her real accent.

Quote:
I'm happy to be corrected, but isn't the guy who played Frasier's father in Frasier originally British?

Yup.

"John Mahoney is an award-winning American actor who was born during the Battle of Britain in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The seventh of eight children, Mahoney's family had been evacuated to the sea-side resort to avoid the Nazi bombing of their native Manchester. The Macunian Mahoneys eventually returned to Manchester during the war. Visiting the States to see his older sister, a 'war bride' who had married an American, the young Mahoney decided to emigrate and was sponsored by his sister. He eventually won his citizenship by serving in the U.S. Army."

-- Internet Movie Database

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#37
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10/6/08 at 6:50am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew markworthy
I believe he gave advice to Jane Leeves on Daphne's accent (which in case you don't know, is meant to be from around the Manchester area in northern England - which makes the execrable attempts at cockney from some of her relatives in the series even more inexplicable; in American terms it'd be like Daphne having a Bronx accent and her brothers and mother having deep Texan drawls).

I'd forgotten how bad some of those accents were. Truly cringe-worthy.

Star Trek has had its share of Brits/Irish over the years; off the top of my head, Colm Meaney (Miles O' Brien), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Alexander Siddig (Julian Bashir) although he was brought up in Britain rather than born and, of course, Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard, the Frenchman with the English accent, very odd.). Not that I watched it much, but I recall there being a fellow Brit on Enterprise (not interested enough to Google who it was!).

Another fellow Brit: Kim Cattrall.

"There's no point in being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes" - The Doctor.

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#38
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10/6/08 at 7:57am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

So this actually has been done as far back as the 80's. Only recently, it has increased a lot.
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#39
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10/6/08 at 8:39am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter C
So this actually has been done as far back as the 80's. Only recently, it has increased a lot.

I wonder why? Aren't there enough American actors/actresses who could use the work?
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#40
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10/6/08 at 8:41am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

When I first found out that John Mahoney was British a few years ago I thought it was a joke, I couldn't believe it.
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#41
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10/6/08 at 8:46am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Not that I watched it much, but I recall there being a fellow Brit on Enterprise (not interested enough to Google who it was!).

Dominic Keating who played Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, the weapons officer.
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#42
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10/6/08 at 9:13am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

I was reminded last night (Brothers and Sisters), but Rachel Griffiths has a pretty good American accent (though she's an Aussie).

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#43
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10/6/08 at 2:02pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

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

Probably a lot more than you think. The first example I thought of was the lovely Connie Nielsen. Being from Denmark, Danish is her first language and she has learned English, German, Swedish, French and Italian.

Watch the behind the scene interviews on the Gladiator DVDs to hear her in her Danish accent.

Did you know she's currently dating Lars Ulrich from Metallica? Lucky bastard!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yee-Ming
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.


I just watched the entire series of The Wire this summer and wouldn't have guessed at all with Idris Elba. With Dominic West, his accent does slip through sometimes. In Alan Sepinwall's retro-reviews of Season 1, he would post what he thought was DW's worst slipup in every episode.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Sun
I was reminded last night (Brothers and Sisters), but Rachel Griffiths has a pretty good American accent (though she's an Aussie).

There's one scene on Six Feet Under when Brenda has a friend from Australia over, they take some LSD, and during the scene where they're under the influence, Rachel's Autralian accent is in full force.
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#44
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10/6/08 at 7:52pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan Kaye

Another fellow Brit: Kim Cattrall.

I think Kim C. is actually Canadian. I think there are more Canadian actors than Brits and Aussie ones.

Nicolette Sheridan is from England but she moved to the US when she was about 10 so her American accent is probably real. I know a few people who moved to the US when they were 10 or 11 and yet they still speak with a slight accent.

Charlize Theron is from South Africa and supposedly she couldn't speak a word of English when she moved to the states. Don't people living in South Africa also speak English???
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#45
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10/6/08 at 8:07pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter-PP
Charlize Theron is from South Africa and supposedly she couldn't speak a word of English when she moved to the states. Don't people living in South Africa also speak English???

I only remember her saying in an interview that since the American accent was 'necessary' for roles, she worked to completely get rid of her natural South African accent, so even in interviews now she sounds American.

Wikipedia says Afrikaans it is her first language, but I somehow doubt she didn't speak any English until so late in life -- Wikipedia also says English is the most commonly spoken language in official and commericial life in SA (just like Singapore!)

If she moved to the US at around age 19 (as Wiki suggests, which would be around 1994/5), and had a speaking role by 1996, somehow I doubt a non-English speaker could be fluent enough and without an accent (or rather, with an American accent), that quickly.

As for Kim Cattrall, Wiki says she was born in England, family emigrated to Canada when she was one, but when her granny was ill, she moved back at age 11, staying till age 16 and attending school before returning to Canada for senior year.
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#46
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10/6/08 at 8:24pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Now that y'all mention it, I did detect a slight English lilt when Kim Cattrall was howling her head off in "Porky's".

"Jee-sus, it's like Iwo Jima out there" - Roger Sterling on "Mad Men"
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#47
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10/6/08 at 9:44pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Another one - Damian Lewis of the show "Life", another Brit.
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#48
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10/6/08 at 11:50pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Yee-Ming do you have an accent?
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#49
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10/7/08 at 3:25am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Me? I'm neither Brit/Aussie, nor an actor, so how's that relevant to this thread?

Everyone has "an accent" of sorts, the real question is whether it's different from the one you (or most in your location) have.

I'm a little schizo in my accent. I actually first learned English in England, so my original accent was Brit, public schoolboy if you will. Then I 'returned' to Singapore, where it's been mostly 'lost' in so far as my speaking with any other Singaporean is concerned, but I do speak with less of a "Singaporean" accent than most here. It's still there in the background though, and when speaking with a Brit, or oddly for that matter an American or Aussie, it comes back and I suppose with a bit of work I could pass for native Brit.

I was in Idaho Falls recently, having lunch in a Japanese restaurant, and the sushi chef was half-American half-Japanese, son of the owners. He commented that he found it easier to understand me than half the other guys in his own kitchen...

(As another oddity, because I spent my early years out of Singapore, and my mother isn't Singaporean, I have been told that my Mandarin accent isn't Singaporean either. But I don't know enough about Mandarin accents to say what it does sound like -- some have thought I was Taiwanese, but a native Taiwanese scoffed at the suggestion. And I seriously doubt I sound like a native Chinese either. Perhaps there's an accent for the overseas Chinese diaspora?)
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#50
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10/7/08 at 4:19am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
I was in Idaho Falls recently, having lunch in a Japanese restaurant, and the sushi chef was half-American half-Japanese, son of the owners. He commented that he found it easier to understand me than half the other guys in his own kitchen...

You seem to have an extremely good grasp on the English language. It's probably better than most of us natives.
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#51
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10/7/08 at 6:13am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter C
So this actually has been done as far back as the 80's. Only recently, it has increased a lot.

Go even farther back, back to 1938. Vivian Leigh (Scarlet O'Hara) of GONE WITH THE WIND was British. Wasn't Charlie Chaplin British as well?
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#52
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10/7/08 at 6:30am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Not celebs, not actors, but I adopted two girls from Russia in 2007. A co-worker who is from Lithuania says that my oldest daughter now speaks Russian with an American accent.

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#53
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10/7/08 at 7:04am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

If we are now including actors/actresses in movies then the best performance by a Brit playing an American that I have seen recently is Kelly MacDonald (Carla Jean) in "No Country For Old Men". Her accent was spot on.
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#54
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10/7/08 at 11:33am
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

And Theron had a fake British accent in Arrested Development.

I've known people who learned English in their high school years, and able to speak it with an American accent. Whether they can switch between their native accent and American at will, that's another story.

I guess some people are just a natural when it comes to languages.

I'm more baffled by how British singers sound American when singing.
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#55
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10/7/08 at 1:33pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

We can add the lead actor to the new tv show "Life on Mars". He is English.

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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#56
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10/7/08 at 2:59pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter C
I'm more baffled by how British singers sound American when singing.
Assuming that you're talking about rock/pop singers, the first generation of British rock singers were heavily influenced by American rock 'n' roll -- Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and of course Elvis. They emulated the sound when they made their own records; I've heard Cliff Richard say that it would've sounded unnatural for him to sing, for example, "Do you want to dahnce?"
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#57
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10/7/08 at 3:22pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter C

I'm more baffled by how British singers sound American when singing.

I can tell somewhat when a non-American sings but sometimes it is difficult. I have heard that when singing, people use a different part of the brain. This is why Mel Tillis doesn't stutter when he sings.

I know enough to know I don't know enough!

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#58
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10/7/08 at 7:53pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
This is why Mel Tillis doesn't stutter when he sings.

And why Jim Nabors sounds more like Robert Merrill than Gomer Pyle when he sings.

Melanie Lynskey (Rose on Two and a half Men and Pauline in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures) is from New Zealand.

On the general subject of accents, Isaac Asimov had a funny story he used to tell on himself. He and his wife were watching the great actor Peter Ustinov on a talk show one night, and Ustinov was doing what he often did, telling a long story in dialogue form and playing all the parts (including the women) himself, using different voices. This particular story involved Louis B. Mayer of MGM, and Ustinov, a gifted mimic, did an uncannily accurate imitation of Mayer. Halfway through the story Asimov turned to his wife and asked, "If he can talk regular, why does he bother with the accent?"



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#59
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10/7/08 at 10:37pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
I've heard Cliff Richard say that it would've sounded unnatural for him to sing, for example, "Do you want to dahnce?"

Please bear in mind that not everyone in England pronounces it "dahnce". That's (generally) a southern pronunciation. British singing may sound "American" to you because you're expecting it to sound all Cockerney-me-old-china. But the best, or at least the most successful, British music has come from the northern cities (my opinion as a southerner).

Now, where's the thread about all the Irish/Welsh/Scottish actors stealing English actors' jobs with their phony attempts at accents?
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#60
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10/7/08 at 11:46pm
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Re: Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses?

Quote:
This is why Mel Tillis doesn't stutter when he sings.

I haven't thought of Mel Tillis in ages.

I love Peter Ustinov so, so much.
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