I have to preface this by saying non North American actors because I don't want to see a list of the 400 or so Candian Actors working on american TV...Jason can start that topic if he wants  ;)


This thread is about people from countries (other than Canada) pulling off- or attempting to pull off- an American accent.  Past and present TV shows. 


Hugh Laurie- House (does a great job)
Simon Baker- The Mentalist (does a fine job tho sometime I catch the odd pronunciation of a word or two- its rare tho)
Jason O'Mara- Life on Mars (another fine job)
Yvonne Strahovski- Chuck
Alan Dale- Ugly Betty
Anna Friel- Pushing Daisies .... Excellent job! I was actually shocked when I heard her talk at an event

I hit send by accident...


Poppy Montgomery- Without a Trace. There is something about her that bugs me...its like she's trying to do a VA accent but it gets lost in the Aussie... it's just not very good.  :(

Poppy Montgomery- Without a Trace. There is something about her that bugs me...its like she's trying to do a VA accent but it gets lost in the Aussie... it's just not very good.  :(


Wow, Poppy Montgomery is Australian? I had no idea. But yeah, according to her imdb.com page, that's where she's from. I don't watch "Without a Trace" that much, but I've never noticed any flaws in her accent. I'd have never guessed that she wasn't from the United States.

It's funny, but there's actually a discussion on the message board of her imdb.com page about how convincing her accent on the show is:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0599889/board/thread/95675498

But I remember a few years ago, there was this Australian guy on "General Hospital" who was trying to play someone from the United States, and his accent was terrible! It was really bad. You could tell he was from Australia!  ;D

Wow, Poppy Montgomery is Australian? I had no idea. But yeah, according to her imdb.com page, that's where she's from. I don't watch "Without a Trace" that much, but I've never noticed any flaws in her accent. I'd have never guessed that she wasn't from the United States.

It's funny, but there's actually a discussion on the message board of her imdb.com page about how convincing her accent on the show is:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0599889/board/thread/95675498

But I remember a few years ago, there was this Australian guy on "General Hospital" who was trying to play someone from the United States, and his accent was terrible! It was really bad. You could tell he was from Australia!  ;D


If you're talking about John J. York. He played Mac Scorpio- he's American trying to play austrailian but couldn't quite pull it off so they just let him drop the fake accent...claiming he assimilated or something  ;D



maybe the poppy thing is just me  but what I hear is a blend of the aussie and the lame attempt at VA or W. VA... I don't recall but there was an ep a couple years ago that told us where she was from... I just don't hear anything genuine in her voice.

Jane Seymour has done well with her accent. (She's british)

Rachel Griffiths is Australian and has played American characters on "Six Feet Under" and "Brothers and Sisters."  She is awesome.

Jane Seymour has done well with her accent. (She's british)


did she play an american in Dr. Quinn? I never watched it

Also, Rufus Sewell plays an American on "Eleventh Hour."  You may remember him as the mean bad guy on "A Knights Tale."  He does pretty good, but occasionally flubs up, putting an "r" on words ending in "a" like some Brits do.

To date, the only movie in which Colin Farrell was allowed to speak with his Irish accent was 'Daredevil' because the character of Bullseye is Irish

James McAvoy is a Scot with a thick accent.  In the movie 'Wanted', he played an American, flawlessly.  You'd never know he's from Scotland

British actor Mark Addy as Bill Miller on the sitcom 'Still Standing'.  He hid his accent very well

Kate Beckinsale hides her British accent well in many of her films.




I have to preface this by saying non North American actors because I don't want to see a list of the 400 or so Candian Actors working on american TV...Jason can start that topic if he wants  ;)


Canada gets lumped into North America anyway because most Canadian actors don't have a Canadian accent

To date, the only movie in which Colin Farrell was allowed to speak with his Irish accent was 'Daredevil' because the character of Bullseye is Irish

James McAvoy is a Scot with a thick accent.  In the movie 'Wanted', he played an American, flawlessly.  You'd never know he's from Scotland

British actor Mark Addy as Bill Miller on the sitcom 'Still Standing'.  He hid his accent very well

Kate Beckinsale hides her British accent well in many of her films.



Canada gets lumped into North America anyway because most Canadian actors don't have a Canadian accent







Well I Canada gets lumped into North America because of its proximity to the continent.  ;D  I planned on calling the thread non American actors on TV but I had to change it to non north American because I knew people were going to list about a hundred people I had no clue as Canadian....


Most Canadians- the ones I've seen don't have a Canadian accent but definitely have Canadian pronunciations of certain words....besides *aboot*  ;)
surry and a- gain  come to mind.  ;D

Canada gets lumped into North America anyway because most Canadian actors don't have a Canadian accent






Don't you think that you just don't realise that they do have an accent.

In "The wonder Years", the girl who played Karen (Kevin's sister) is british..did a pretty nice job with the american accent.

In "The wonder Years", the girl who played Karen (Kevin's sister) is british..did a pretty nice job with the american accent.


that's right. I forgot about Olivia d'Abo....thanks!

that's right. I forgot about Olivia d'Abo....thanks!


She was born in Britain but went to High School in the US.  I can't find out when she moved to the US and whether it was permanent.  I bet that has a bearing on her accent

Another good one is Hugh Jackman.  He pulls off a great American accent in alot of movies


Don't you think that you just don't realise that they do have an accent.


If they do, then they fake it even on Canadian TV LOL.  Alot of Canadian actors out there, I bet you would assume they were American if you didn't know they were from Canada

Down here in Oz we think its utterly hilarious at the amount of roles in US shows that are being played by Aussies with fake accents.

Some more for you:

Anthony LaPaglia - Without a Trace

Jonathan LaPaglia - Seven Days, plus lots of guest roles everywhere

Jesse Spencer - House

Portia De Rossi - Ally McBeal (aka Ellen D's wife)

Kimberley Joseph - Cindy in random eps of Lost

Ryan Kwanten - Summerland and True Blood

Chris Vance - Prison Break

Melissa George - Alias, Greys Anatomy

Tammin Sursok - Young And The Restless

Christopher Egan - Kings

Justin Melvey  - Days of Our Lives

Julian McMahon - NipTuck

Murray Bartlett - The Guiding Light

Elizabeth Lackey - Parkmans wife in Heroes

And when it comes to Aussie actors in US films - far too many to name! The late Heath Ledger, Mel Gibson (been doing his US accent for 25 years !), Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Eric Bana, Nic Kidman, Russell Crowe, Sam Neill (ok the last two are Kiwis but we claim them !) too many to list hmmmmmmmmmmm could be here all night !

Down here in Oz we think its utterly hilarious at the amount of roles in US shows that are being played by Aussies with fake accents.

Some more for you:

Anthony LaPaglia - Without a Trace

Jonathan LaPaglia - Seven Days, plus lots of guest roles everywhere

Jesse Spencer - House

Portia De Rossi - Ally McBeal (aka Ellen D's wife)

Kimberley Joseph - Cindy in random eps of Lost

Ryan Kwanten - Summerland and True Blood

Chris Vance - Prison Break

Melissa George - Alias, Greys Anatomy

Tammin Sursok - Young And The Restless

Christopher Egan - Kings

Justin Melvey  - Days of Our Lives

Julian McMahon - NipTuck

Murray Bartlett - The Guiding Light

Elizabeth Lackey - Parkmans wife in Heroes

And when it comes to Aussie actors in US films - far too many to name! The late Heath Ledger, Mel Gibson (been doing his US accent for 25 years !), Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Eric Bana, Nic Kidman, Russell Crowe, Sam Neill (ok the last two are Kiwis but we claim them !) too many to list hmmmmmmmmmmm could be here all night !








I didn't know Anthony Lapaglia was Aussie....okay- he's good.


Technically Jessie Spencer is playing a Brit on House.


Julian McMahon was also on Charmed


I forgot about Portia De Rossi.

I thought Jesse Spencer was supposed to be Australian in House?

edit:  IMDB only says his step-mother lived in Australia!

http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0015930/bio

I thought Jesse Spencer was supposed to be Australian in House?



Same here! His accent's Australian  :-\\

I thought Jesse Spencer was supposed to be Australian in House?

edit:  IMDB only says his step-mother lived in Australia!

http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0015930/bio



I stand corrected. I thought he was from England (the character not the actor.)

  I was just watching the new Battlestar Galactica and British-American actor Jamie Bamber (Lee 'Apollo' Adama) comes to mind.  He pulls off a flawless yank accent on the show...

   I was just watching the new Battlestar Galactica and British-American actor Jamie Bamber (Lee 'Apollo' Adama) comes to mind.  He pulls off a flawless yank accent on the show...


I still need to watch that!

I still need to watch that!


  It's a terrific sci-fi drama and does justice to the original, this coming from a guy who rarely watches recent TV productions...

  Watching this show makes me feel my life is in danger...

   It's a terrific sci-fi drama and does justice to the original, this coming from a guy who rarely watches recent TV productions...

   Watching this show makes me feel my life is in danger...


Yeah I think its time to netflix it!