Use of so many British & Australian actors/actresses? (1 Viewer)

[Jason Seaver]

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.

 

[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?

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

 

[Malcolm R]

Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) is British.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

/htf/images/misc/wikipedia.gif Wentworth Miller (the guy that plays his brother) was born in England.

 

[Nick Martin]

Masi Oka was and occasionally continues to be a CG artist for Industrial Light & Magic.

 

[Peter-PP]

Supposedly, he is a genius and has a very high IQ from what I have heard.

 

[Nick Martin]

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.

 

[Yee-Ming]

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.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

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.

 

[John_Lee]

And count me a fan of her two burgeoning co-stars.

 

[Stan]

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.

 

[Walter C]

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.

 

[Peter-PP]

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?

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

 

[andrew markworthy]

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.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

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

Regards,

Joe

 

[Jonathan Kaye]

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.

 

[Walter C]

So this actually has been done as far back as the 80's. Only recently, it has increased a lot.

 

[Marianne]

I wonder why? Aren't there enough American actors/actresses who could use the work?

 

[Nick Martin]

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.