Who is a celeb you thought were British but are actually American?
Posted by Vivid-Tap1710@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 92 comments
Posted by Vivid-Tap1710@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 92 comments
EquivalentNo5465@reddit
Similar vein, actors with British accents in American shows who turned out actually be British - Giles from Buffy and Daphne from Frasier, their accents sounded so OTT I assumed they were American. I was wrong
DameKumquat@reddit
Giles in Buffy was Anthony Head finally managing to shake off his reputation as "that guy from the Gold Blend adverts".
Possibly why otherwise he's mostly ended up playing posh villains.
Breakwaterbot@reddit
It's the same with Emily from friends. I thought she was putting on an over the top British accent in the show and it sounded so poorly done. Turns out she is British. She was in Cuckoo and spoke exactly the same. It's just how she talks.
phoebean93@reddit
Daphne's accent is embarrassing. Why not get an actual northerner?
Brave_Nerve_6871@reddit
I have one good example the other way: Slash. Born and lived in the UK until he was six years old. Has a dual citizenship
kilgore_trout1@reddit
Slash has to the single most exciting thing to have come out of Stoke.
Unusual_residue@reddit
I thought that the Stoke story has since been corrected
DameKumquat@reddit
He didn't get an American passport until he was about 30 and it made touring with GnR too difficult. You can imagine how US immigration reacted to him turning up with a British passport!
charliekeery@reddit
i realise i'm literally answering this backwards but i don't have an answer the right way around. i was absolutely baffled when i found out high laurie wasn't american.
i was reading an article or something and it mentioned he went to a fancy british school snd i was like ?? that's weird that he came over here for school right, and then i saw that he did fry and laurie and i was like oh shit he knows steven fry, crazy. it still took me another hour to click that it's because he's british.
this was like 6 seasons into house too, which just solidified that he was american bc no one's accent is that natural surely, but nope. i was wrong, he's been lying to me and he's a genius.
it's like uncanny vally when i hear him speak for real, i'll never get used to it
Difficult_System1264@reddit
I grew up watching him in Blackadder so I found it bizarre watching him in House. I can completely understand why people not familiar with his earlier work (young people!) would assume he's American.
charliekeery@reddit
i don't know how much blackadder he's in but i've seen that!! like i know i'd seen him before house in small clips but it never registered that it was him.
he's in a friends episode and it throws me when i hear him in it now because i know who he is, he's just such a great actor
Difficult_System1264@reddit
He's in series three as Prince George and then in Blackadder Goes Forth as Lieutenant George. I think he has minor roles in some other series as well but those are the main two.
Mav_Learns_CS@reddit
Can’t say I’ve ever thought an American actor was british, it’s much easier to do the other way around
Mediocre-Smile5908@reddit
I know Christian Bale is British but hearing him speak in his normal accent is quite the revelation. Also Rafe Spall. ☺️
Dharl61@reddit
Was at school with CB, played rugby against him.
RockFourStar@reddit
I thought he'd be more of a cricket guy.... seems like a..... bat man.
I'll get my coat.
Dharl61@reddit
🤣😎🫡
killer_by_design@reddit
Brad Pitt in snatch. Made me ask questions!
Mediocre-Smile5908@reddit
Mainly 'what the chuff is he saying?' It's in an interview with Guy Ritchie that Brad's attempt at an Irish accent was so bad they just got him to mumble and have others translate for him 😄.
Breakwaterbot@reddit
It's like when I learned Steve-O is British. Mind blown.
Ok-Pepper-Ok@reddit
I'm still not clear in Gillian Anderson
Riskit_4_Biscuits@reddit
Came to say the same. She's American but does British well.
Contrarian1234567@reddit
She was born here (UK).
benscott81@reddit
Born in the states but spent a large amount of her childhood in the UK.
Contrarian1234567@reddit
oops. Confused her with Kim Cattrall.
benscott81@reddit
TIL Kim Cattrall was born in the UK
Contrarian1234567@reddit
Yes, she's did our version of finding your Roots or whatever its called. Liverpool lass.
BuncleCar@reddit
Yes, she lived in the UK in her teens as her parents worked here
Difficult_System1264@reddit
Born in Chicago, moved to London when she was little, back to the States when she was 11 and stayed there until adulthood. Now she's back living in London. She's American but I would happily accept her as an honorary Brit.
jahathebrn@reddit
She was born in the USA but spent a lot of time over here, she's known for switching accents depending on context and it doesn't seem performative, basically code switching I guess but she's an American citizen since birth.
Naughtyspider@reddit
I thought Peter Dinklage was British when I saw him in Game of Thrones. His accent was very good.
HaggisPope@reddit
I thought he was Canadian, tbh
Dennyisthepisslord@reddit
Sounded like Victor Meldrew which was a very "stage" voice tok ss I believe he was really Scottish
pootler@reddit
Oh my god, that's spot on!
pootler@reddit
It really wasn't. Decent in places but so wrong in others. Not at all authentic. Doesn't take away from how bloody brilliant he was in GoT though.
ORF1Live@reddit
It wasn't that good. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was great as Tyrion but the accent wasn't convincing. Better than Karl Urban but not great.
No-Programmer-3833@reddit
that was diabolical
ORF1Live@reddit
It did improve slightly over the course of the show.
PrincessCellyBelly@reddit
I knew he was American but hearing him talk in his normal accent for the first time was like some one dumped cold water on me 😂 surreal
Professional-Test239@reddit
Louis Theroux
Contrarian1234567@reddit
Cloudy one. Accidental American like BoJo. Parents just happened to be living here at the time.
Professional-Test239@reddit
His father is the novelist Paul Theroux who is 100% american. Louis considers himself equally American and British I believe.
Louis was actually born in Singapore.
Contrarian1234567@reddit
Thank you for the correction! Is his mother a Brit then?
TapeDeckSlick@reddit
For some reason I thought Britney Spears was until like 2018
Solid_Codex2@reddit
Anya Taylor-Joy, kind of.
kilgore_trout1@reddit
She is British isn’t she?
Any-Fudge1837@reddit
She is joint British, American and Argentinian. Lived mostly in Argentina and UK, according to Wikipedia.
hevarella@reddit
Like some of the others mentioned - only by chance; family were holidaying in the US.
Solid_Codex2@reddit
Fair enough
Stunning-Bumblebee45@reddit
Pipl on a good girls guide to murder
Infinite_Crow_3706@reddit
Danny Dyer
jnnewbe@reddit
Danny Dyer is very much English.
malkebulan@reddit
r/woooosh
jnnewbe@reddit
Whoops
smellyfeet25@reddit
what?
jahathebrn@reddit
Gwyneth Paltrow. I have no idea why, I must have just never heard her speak and it is quite an English sounding name. Only realised when she had that whole skiing accident trial going on.
Dennyisthepisslord@reddit
There's a old Ricky gervais/Chris Martin interview where Ricky asks how does Chris speak to her when she only speaks Welsh
"Through lawyers" 🤣
msac84@reddit
Well she was married to Chris Martin..
glittery_grandma@reddit
After watching the promo for The Vampire Lestat, Jennifer Ehle!
What do you mean Lizzie Bennet is American?!
Select-Cut885@reddit
What the… on checking, you’re totally right and this fact has made me doubt everything I knew to be to true about growing up British and having Colin Firths Darcy as my first memorable romantic leading man. Although her mum is from Leicestershire which makes me feel slightly better.
Suspicious_Neck_5156@reddit
I always thought Natalie Portman was British.
Puzzled-Horse279@reddit
Sendhil Ramamurphy has a fairly convincing Middle Classed accent.
He just wouldnt blend in with lets say an Asian from Bradford.
But TV and Film usually prefer British Asian actors to not have regional or working class or "ghetto" accents
Wrong-Trash-2090@reddit
bridget jones' lady: only time I heard a convincing brit accent from an american
ZygonCaptain@reddit
My first thought, she was brilliant
Alfredthegiraffe20@reddit
Jesus,, I thought she was dreadful!
anabsentfriend@reddit
Too posh and stilted. I didn't find her speech natural at all.
Midnightraven3@reddit
Renée Zellweger was my answer too. I was most surprised to find out she wasn't British
Nosedive888@reddit
Tessa Thompson
First saw her in Thor: Ragnarok. I thought she had a fantastic English accent
kilgore_trout1@reddit
Oh wow, until your comment I genuinely thought she was British.
Flat_Speed_1243@reddit
Boris Johnson
Jaded_Ad_6658@reddit
He’s a politician, not a celebrity. People in this country would do well remember that. He’s also revoked his US citizenship, but before he revoked it he was a dual citizen anyways.
Hefty_Tip7383@reddit
He was a celebrity before politician (but a massive twat first)
kilgore_trout1@reddit
What an odd thing to say. That’s like saying David Beckham’s a footballer, not a celebrity. Why would one preclude the other?
ZygonCaptain@reddit
Heard of him before he was a politician, so I’d say he counts
justeUnMec@reddit
He only really got into political office through the celebrity status he developed appearing in things like HIGNFY. While he had been a journalist, the London electorate knew him from that.
jahathebrn@reddit
Thought you were taking the piss but no he had dual citizenship til 2016.
And yeah we know he's not a celeb in the traditional sense but save the pedantry for the politics subs
shabba182@reddit
I don't know why I thought Timothee Chalamet was English
msac84@reddit
He’s half French!
man_marine@reddit
Dick Van Dyke, his cockney accent in 'Marwy Pawpins!' was too good /s
Leopardprintbag@reddit
I thought Lee Pace was British for ages. I can't even remember why, I must've heard him doing a good accent once. And I'm British.
Love-That-Danhausen@reddit
This one still surprises me
Cheese-n-Opinion@reddit
Claire Danes did a really good accent in Stardust. But I think I already knew her as American from other roles.
Not many Americans do good British accents, and those that do are usually already well known as being American.
RamblingsOfAMagpie@reddit
Peter Dinklage.
When I first saw GoT I assumed he was British, or maybe Australian. Nay nay, he is an American
chicken_nugget94@reddit
Took me way too long to discover that the killers aren't a British band
nhilistic_daydreamer@reddit
I thought they were an Aussie band for many years.
Cult-Film-Fan-999@reddit
For some reason I thought Adrian Brody was British. I hadn't seen many of his films at the time and I have no idea how I reached that conclusion. It was only when I was so impressed at how convincingly American he sounded and read his background, I realised that he was in fact from the USA.
WIZZZARDOFFREESTYLE@reddit
jony vegas
spellish@reddit
Used to think Johnny Depp was British
60svintage@reddit
Daniel Davis, Niles in The Nanny. I felt his British accent probably a little more believable than Charles Shaughnessy, who is British (and a peer on the realm - 5th Baron Shaughnessy).
Neddlings55@reddit
Only time ive ever thought this was with a voice actor i had never heard of.
Once i knew though it was fairly obvious and i felt stupid.
generichandel@reddit
None? It becomes pretty obvious when they start talking.
qualityvote2@reddit
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