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A Southern accent is a bit more forgiving for a foreigner. Some people have awful middle-America accents.
I've always thought it was the opposite: foreigners can do middle American accents pretty well, but southern accents not so much. That's no knock on foreigners. I think most American actors do terrible southern accents. They try just a little too hard.
Colin Farrell sounds like any regular American who could be from anywhere (to my ears). If someone told me that Chiwetel Ejiofor grew up in a lily-white suburb of Minneapolis, I would have believed them. I had no idea most of these actors were foreign until looking them up on Wiki or hearing them speak with their native accents.
Idris Elba "aka" Stringer Bell notorious black notorious Baltimore drug lord on HBO's "The Wire." Born in London who knew
Damian Lewis "aka" Maj Richard Williams (Band of Brothers) and now Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Homeland) another one from London.
Poppy Montgomery (Poppy should have been a dead give away) "aka" FBI SA Samantha Spade (Without a Trace). Sydney Australia
I know there are a lot more but why should I have all the fun...
Also, a friend and I were talking about this and we couldn't think of a single American Actor who could play a foreign role better than someone from that country, got any ideas?
I read an interview with Poppy Montgomery. She explained that her natural accent has become so Americanized that when she tries to speak in an Aussie accent her family makes fun of her. I've always liked her, but I'm not a fan of the new lips, it's hard to look at anything else.
I don't know why Americans are always so surprised that Brits can do American accents so well. They take in pretty much all of our media. When Kanye West blows up on the radio, they see and hear it. When Charlie Sheen talks about "winning" and "tiger blood," they watch him. Pretty much every Hollywood blockbuster or Billboard Top 40 song makes its away across the pond to Brits of all socioeconomic classes.
Americans generally aren't exposed that much to British media. You would have to actively seek out Chipmunk or Tinie Tempah. They're not going to play any of that on American radio unless they have a video that becomes a YouTube sensation.
If we were exposed to more British media, we would probably be able to mimic the accents better. A lot of the younger generation--from Massachusetts to Mississippi--is speaking more "neutrally" thanks to Clueless, Saved by the Bell, Nickelodeon, Gilmore Girls, etc. I'd imagine they'd be able to do British accents pretty well if they heard them more.
Americans generally aren't exposed that much to British media. You would have to actively seek out Chipmunk or Tinie Tempah. They're not going to play any of that on American radio unless they have a video that becomes a YouTube sensation.
Accents rarely come across in music though, and that's being limiting. Plenty of Americans watch Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Harry Potter, James Bond, even Game of Thrones, etc. and are very used to British accents.
Maybe part of the reason why I can see through so many of these accents is that I watch so much British media. Some people were surprised by, say, Damien Lewis being British, but I first saw him as Soames in the Forsyte Saga.
Diane Kruger speaks perfect "American" English, which is impressive considering she didn't move to the United States until she was 21. Most immigrants--particularly those that didn't grow up with English as a first language--never really develop a clean American accent. Hers is marvelous. IMO, it's tougher to lose an accent as an adult because adults are typically too PC to say anything about it (other than "it's adorable" or "where are you from?"). Kids, on the other hand, aren't the least bashful about teasing you to death until you become hyper-conscious of that accent and eventually "correct" it.
Kudos to her for learning to speak such flawless English.
I don't know why Americans are always so surprised that Brits can do American accents so well. They take in pretty much all of our media. When Kanye West blows up on the radio, they see and hear it. When Charlie Sheen talks about "winning" and "tiger blood," they watch him. Pretty much every Hollywood blockbuster or Billboard Top 40 song makes its away across the pond to Brits of all socioeconomic classes.
Americans generally aren't exposed that much to British media. You would have to actively seek out Chipmunk or Tinie Tempah. They're not going to play any of that on American radio unless they have a video that becomes a YouTube sensation.
If we were exposed to more British media, we would probably be able to mimic the accents better. A lot of the younger generation--from Massachusetts to Mississippi--is speaking more "neutrally" thanks to Clueless, Saved by the Bell, Nickelodeon, Gilmore Girls, etc. I'd imagine they'd be able to do British accents pretty well if they heard them more.
Netflix is changing that, many British shows have become popular with Americans looking for quality TV to watch.
Accents rarely come across in music though, and that's being limiting. Plenty of Americans watch Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, Harry Potter, James Bond, even Game of Thrones, etc. and are very used to British accents.
But it's not nearly to the same extent. Many more of our movies make it over to their theaters than vice versa. You could be on the Paris Metro and see ads plastered everywhere for completely terrible movies. Complete bombs. The foreign films that make it over here are usually shown in smaller independent theaters. But you could have a completely cheesy movie like White House Down or Salt do pretty well in the UK.
Just look at the Top 50 highest grossing movies of all time (worlwide). The only ones that don't have American accents are Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and arguably Shrek ("Donnnnkay!"). Adjusting for inflation, only Doctor Zhivago makes the list. Even the ones that feature foreign accents, like Harry Potter, are American productions. That movie was pushed and produced by Warner Brothers, not some British company. Same thing with Lord of the Rings (New Line Cinema). Hollywood's clout and influence is simply unmatched.
Maybe part of the reason why I can see through so many of these accents is that I watch so much British media. Some people were surprised by, say, Damien Lewis being British, but I first saw him as Soames in the Forsyte Saga.
Most Americans don't watch British media, so they're not going to be able to tell the difference. For the most part, Bajans (Barbadians) go to three places: New York, London and Toronto. I couldn't even tell the difference after hearing many British Bajans.
Netflix is changing that, many British shows have become popular with Americans looking for quality TV to watch.
That's fine. But I'm not talking about the few examples that are out there. If you look at the box office revenues for American blockbusters in England and compare it to the revenues for English films in America, I'm sure there's a big difference. We're a much bigger country and we have the most powerful media industry in the world.
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