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Watching Bram Stoker's Dracula again recently (Winona Ryder, and especially Keanu Reeves sounding like his Bill and Ted character doing a English accent) made me think about this. What are some others that have ruined a movie for you?
As someone who often hates movies and TV shows with Texan characters in them, because usually the actor is a Californian or Yankee doing a horribly bad and/or overdone drawl, I can empathize if it ever drives you nuts. Even when I was a kid, the TV show Dallas was just unwatchable.
I'd say Kevin Costner and Christian Slater in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is another awful one, but they didn't even try.
Awful British accents in flim history on 19:24 - Apr 27 by londonlisa2001
I'll try them both - I think they have Line of Duty on the iplayer.
Favourite at the moment is the Blacklist. I like the a Good Wife as well although this series isn't as good (Alan Cumming is another Brit who does a pretty good American in that actually).
I think I tried that a while back but didn't go back. Can't remember why.
I'm going through the whole 8 series of Dexter at the moment. Very addictive. On S5 now.
Bram Stoker's Dracula is an abomination of a film. Possibly the worst I've ever seen. It doesn't have a single thing to recommend it unless you count Oldman's unintentionally hilarious scenery chewing ham act. And it f*cks badly with the source material.
Costner didn't even try to put on an English accent in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. He played Robin as an American for reasons known only to him. Another truly terrible film.
Awful British accents in flim history on 18:47 - Apr 27 by union_jack
The cast of Spinal Tap were great (in all respects as well as their accents).
I didn't know they were American when I first saw the film in the 80s.
Jonny Lee Miller does a good American accent I think. Saw him on S5 of Dexter recently.
The black actress who plays the lead cop in Blindspot has to do a NY accent. I dont think it's too good but would welcome a native's opinion (Tummer / Dav?) if anyone's seen it.
First, sorry I punched the down arrow. Absolutely did not mean it.
Questions for you or anyone. What was the accent the Tap actors used? [No surprise that I couldn't place it.] Were they all on the same accent?
Awful British accents in flim history on 19:32 - Apr 27 by exiledclaseboy
Bram Stoker's Dracula is an abomination of a film. Possibly the worst I've ever seen. It doesn't have a single thing to recommend it unless you count Oldman's unintentionally hilarious scenery chewing ham act. And it f*cks badly with the source material.
Costner didn't even try to put on an English accent in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. He played Robin as an American for reasons known only to him. Another truly terrible film.
Have to disagree with your assessment of Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.
It was saved from 'truly terrible' by an outstanding performance from Alan Rickman who was fabulous in it (as he was in everything).
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Awful British accents in flim history on 19:36 - Apr 27 with 1564 views
Awful British accents in flim history on 18:50 - Apr 27 by Highjack
I saw an interview with Hugh Laurie who said he regularly gets letters off American fans who have just seen blackadder for the first time saying that his English accent is really convincing considering he's American.
Stephen Fry visited him at his home when he was filming House and got really irritated by him, as Laurie was in character all the time perfecting the accent.
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Awful British accents in flim history on 19:37 - Apr 27 with 1562 views
Awful British accents in flim history on 19:12 - Apr 27 by Tummer_from_Texas
I made the same mistake with Damian Lewis. I just assumed he was American when I was watching Band of Brothers. Then I saw him in something with his real accent years later and thought "wow, he does a pretty good Brit."
Speaking of which, Band of Brothers had a bunch of Brits who do a pretty good job as Americans. Another one was Stephen Graham, who was also great as Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire.
[Post edited 27 Apr 2016 19:17]
The guy who played Meyer Lansky in Boardwalk Empire (Anatol Yusef) is also a Britisher.
American TV is also chock full of Australians.
Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or f*cking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back.
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Awful British accents in flim history on 19:43 - Apr 27 with 1544 views
Awful British accents in flim history on 19:36 - Apr 27 by airedale
Stephen Fry visited him at his home when he was filming House and got really irritated by him, as Laurie was in character all the time perfecting the accent.
I saw an interview with him when he said that he changed the leg he limped on from time to time :-)
Great show.
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Awful British accents in flim history on 19:45 - Apr 27 with 1537 views
Rhys Ifans as Peter Cooke was unbelievable for me, at first I thought somebody had dubbed the posh voice.
Another classic was Tony Curtis as Robin Hood landing at Dover East and saying in his broad [New York?] accent, 'tonight we dine at the castle of my father in Nottingham'
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Awful British accents in flim history on 19:46 - Apr 27 with 1535 views
Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or f*cking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back.
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Awful British accents in flim history on 19:49 - Apr 27 with 1527 views
Awful British accents in flim history on 16:12 - Apr 27 by Davillin
If you mean by "do the reverse" to do the same kind of silly "American" accent, I agree.
I have posted something like this before: just as there are countless "British accents," there are also countless "American accents." In both instances, there is no one of either and the only result of someone trying to use the other is a hodge-podge indistinguishable.
There are at least a half-dozen in Swansea alone that even I can identify. Doubtless many more that I cannot.
The variety in both countries makes them all the more fascinating. Just not in movies or TV.
Possibly the most excruciating instance of an American doing a regional American accent has to be Rod Steiger in Run of the Arrow. Can you remember it, Dav? A '50s film where New Yorker Steiger plays a Southerner.
He'd brushed up a bit by the time In the Heat of the Night come around twenty years later but his first stab is bloody awful!
An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it.
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Awful British accents in flim history on 22:21 - Apr 27 with 1455 views
Awful British accents in flim history on 17:44 - Apr 27 by londonlisa2001
The horror of Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins will probably never be surpassed Tummer.
One of the best I've ever heard was (or is actually as the new one is being released this year) one of your fellow Texans, Renee Zellweger in the Bridget Jones films who does an excellent Britsih accent - she could pass as British.
A lot of the U.S. TV shows and films recently (the big ones) actually have a lot of British actors playing Americans in them - obviously Hugh Laurie in House but also both leads in The Affair are British, the main characters in The Wire are British, the current Superman is British, all the young leads in the Star Wars film are British (one does a British accent and one an American accent). The leads in Selma were all British, same with Twelve Years a Slave etc etc. Sex & The City one is British, obviously Gillian Anderson from the X-files is half British (and grew up here). I have no idea whether their accents are good or bad (I imagine they are fairly generic) but many Americans seem to think they are American actors so they can't be that bad.
You'd need to go some to beat the current accent of one of Swansea's finest exports, Catherine Zeta Jones, whose accent veers from pure Swansea to weird pastiche American depending on, it seems, which programme she's on and how many drinks she's had :-)
Wassisname from Sons Of Anarchy is English.
‘……. like a moth to Itchy’s flame ……’
Awful British accents in flim history on 17:32 - Apr 27 by CountyJim
Talking about this funny enough when an American does a Brit accent it always come over as a Cockney yet the British actors seem to do a better job just look at Hugh Laurie in House even some Americans thought he was American
Andrew Lincoln David Morrissey Lennie James all very good as well
Tom Hardy's smashed it!
Each time I go to Bedd - au........................
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Awful British accents in film history on 01:54 - Apr 28 with 1393 views
None of it is anywhere near as bad as these silly little kids these days talking like they live in the hood in Jamaica, carry a gun, but still rely on mummy for their tea.
Nolan sympathiser, clout expert, personal friend of Leigh Dineen, advocate and enforcer of porridge swallows.
The official inventor of the tit w@nk.
Awful British accents in flim history on 22:21 - Apr 27 by Lohengrin
Possibly the most excruciating instance of an American doing a regional American accent has to be Rod Steiger in Run of the Arrow. Can you remember it, Dav? A '50s film where New Yorker Steiger plays a Southerner.
He'd brushed up a bit by the time In the Heat of the Night come around twenty years later but his first stab is bloody awful!
Sorry, Lohengrin, I don't remember it.
Never liked Steiger's style, so if I did see it, I've blocked it out.
Also, as you know very well from experience, there are countless different "southern accents," which get garbled up by outlanders trying to "do" them.
Awful British accents in flim history on 22:21 - Apr 27 by Lohengrin
Possibly the most excruciating instance of an American doing a regional American accent has to be Rod Steiger in Run of the Arrow. Can you remember it, Dav? A '50s film where New Yorker Steiger plays a Southerner.
He'd brushed up a bit by the time In the Heat of the Night come around twenty years later but his first stab is bloody awful!
No chance of nodding off when Steiger's on screen. He doesn't half shout a lot and chew up the scenery. Great actor on his day though.
Special mention for Burt Lancaster's German accent in "Judgement in Nuremberg".
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