Best and Worst Accents

[jaw2929]

So I was thinkin' about who in Hollywood can do the best accent that ISN'T their original one.... And then of course those who've done the worst ones.... Here's my lists off the top of my head:

Best Accents

-Ewan McGregor (Scottish - Pretty good with the english and american accent)

-Colin Ferrell (Irish - Did a helluva job with the american/NY one in Phone Booth)

-Olivia D'Abo (English - Played Kevin Arnold's sister in The Wonder Years TV show - I had NO idea she was english!)

-Naomi Watts (Aussie - Born in England, but speaks normally with an Australian accent since that's where she was raised - Does on helluva yank accent!)

-Kate Winslet (English - Does a damn fine american accent)


Worst Accents

-Clive Owen (English - Embarassingly bad at attempting the american accent, he just shouldn't try)

-Harrison Ford (American - Tried the Russian accent in The Hunt for Red October and it was laughable)

-Shaun Connery (Scottish - Attempted I believe a Russian accent in Highlander and was just as bad as Ford)

-Tim Robbins (American - Whatever the fuck that accent he's trying to use in the "Catch A Fire" trailers, it pains my ears to hear it!)


I'm sure there's PLENTY that I'm forgetting right now... Just thought I'd throw this up there, see what ya'll think :p

[Pulp_Joker]

I'll throw in a couple from Orson Welles movies-
Welles trying to do Irish in The Lady From Shanghai
Charlton Heston as Mexican in Touch of Evil

Still Brilliant movies and Welles is fantastic in his role, but that shit was laughable.

[Cronos]

worst

Renee Zellweger - Bridget Jones films
Keira Knightly - The Jacket

[JackassFan]

BEST:

Daniel Day Lewis (English - American in Gangs Of New York)
Johnny Depp (American - English in POTC and Scottish in Finding Neverland)
Tim Roth (English - American in most of his movies)

WORST:

Sean Bean (English - American in Silent Hill)
-
Well, someone had to say it... :rolleyes:

[BorderEevilIII]

Originally posted by Trail_Blazer


Worst Accents

-Harrison Ford (American - Tried the Russian accent in The Hunt for Red October and it was laughable)





huh........... what?!?!?!?


Trail, ya may wanna cross reference IMDB if youre unsure on actors and movie roles ;) Ford who played Jack Ryan did NOT make his debut in the role until PATRIOT GAMES which came after HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER.
So me thinks you meant to refer the HORRIBLE >>> K-19 WIDOWMAKER <<<<<<


Also I wanna add pretty much every actor's accent when talking seen in OLVER STONE's ALEXANDER.... Some of them came off awfully Scottish being of the time and place the movie takes place in but I gotta nominate Angelina Jolie. Love her but the role she plays was soooooooooo not her and the accent. BLEAH! Don't get me started

[jaw2929]

Oops, sorry yea... I mean K-19 movie, not Hunt for Red October in regards to Ford's shitty accent :p

And yes, Knightley in the Jacket was OK, but a bit flawed... Angelina's (what the fuck was it, Russian?!?) accent in Alexander was horrid.... I thought Depp's Scottish accent was quite flawed in Finding Neverland....

Though I think Angelina did alright with her English accent in Tomb Raider, for what it was...

Another two who do a solid yank accent would be both aussies Hugh Jackman and Mel Gibson....

[dalomini]

i LOVE how forrest whitaker sounds in the Last King of Scotland trailers so far.

i also think brad pitt's is hilarious in snatch.

[Brando @$$ Fat]

I heard that British people ridicule Terrance Stamp for his accent in The Limey.

[X-Nightcrawler]

I actually don't think it's terrible but at least funny.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a316/X-Nightcrawler/1b.jpg
"Did you actwally wead the websites Wose?"

[The FamilyJulas]

Best:
Liam Neeson & Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List
Liam is Irish and Fiennes is British and both were German in the movie

Worst:
Nicole Kidman's american accent in Bewitched was horrible. The movie sucked too.

[powersauce]

best: Renee Zellewegger in Bridget Jones' Diary
worst: Tom Hanks' Boston accent in Catch Me If You Can

[Hannibal21]

BEST:
1. Meryl Streep in basically anything, this woman is the queen of accents.
2. Cate Blanchett (runner-up for that "queen of the accents" title) in basically anything.
3. Naomi Watts in 21 Grams & Mulholland Drive (her American accents are so authentic, I'm always fooled into believing she is American)
4. Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind
5. Nicole Kidman in To Die For (another Aussie who's brilliant with American accents.................Cold Mountain and Bewitched aside)


WORST:
1. Mel Gibson in Braveheart
2. Drew Barrymore in Ever After
3. Jennifer Love Hewitt in The Audrey Hepburn Story
4. Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own, Seven Years in Tibet, & Troy
5. Charlton Heston in Touch of Evil

[therealjohng]

Originally posted by Pulp_Joker
Charlton Heston as Mexican in Touch of Evil



First one I thought of. What a fucking joke.

[DarkKnight81]

Best: Brad Pitt in Snatch

Worst: Kevin Costners "non-english" accent in Robin Hood

[Backstabba]

Originally posted by Trail_Blazer


Best Accents

-Colin Ferrell (Irish - Did a helluva job with the american/NY one in Phone Booth)

Worst Accents

-Clive Owen (English - Embarassingly bad at attempting the american accent, he just shouldn't try)

YEESSS on Colin, and ....Did Clive Owen even ever try an American accent?
What movie was this in?

[Lazy Boy]

Best:

Cate Blanchett in anything, like Hannibal said.
Kate Beckinsale in The Last Days of Disco (didn't even know she was British, that was the first film I saw her in)
Gary Oldman in True Romance (the man is a chameleon)

Worst:

Tim Roth in Reservoir Dogs
Richard Gere in The Jackal

[ilovemovies]

Best:

Hugh Laurie in House. I know it's tv not movies but he HAS to be mentioned because I was STUNNED to hear his normal voice. His american accent on House is AMAZING!



Worst:

Kevin Costner in Thirteen Days. His boston accent was truly terrible, especially early in the movie. Great movie, but Costner's accent was awful.

[ilovemovies]

Is it me or does it seem that actor's from other countries do really with american accents but american actors aren't always able to do accents as well?

[Buck Turgidson]

Beckinsale and Colin Farrell each deserve special acclaim. Farrell has buried his thick brogue several times, but most amazingly in Hart's War.

Having known who Hugh Laurie was since he used to show up on The Young Ones and Blackadder III, I was also blown away by his work on House.

I'll give you another couple of Britishers who had me fooled until I heard them speak conversationally, outside of their roles: Eamonn Walker and Jamie Bamber. I had literally NO idea those guys weren't from Oak Park, IL or somewhere like that.

[jaw2929]

Originally posted by ilovemovies
Is it me or does it seem that actor's from other countries do really with american accents but american actors aren't always able to do accents as well?

It's not just you.

[BadCoverVersion]

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
Having known who Hugh Laurie was since he used to show up on The Young Ones and Blackadder III, I was also blown away by his work on House.

Yeah Laurie really surprised me with his near-perfect American accent too.

I think Gary Oldman is always very good...as is Day-Lewis.

Toni Collette is great too.

Howzabout Anthony LaPaglia? Does the dude even have a true Aussie accent? His accent in Without A Trace is pretty flawless to mine ears...whereas Marianne Jean-Baptiste is good, but she can lay it on a bit thick at times. Fantastic actress though...I'm gutted she hasn't done more in Britain since Secrets & Lies.

Ray Winstone just can't seem to bury the 'Cockernee Geezer' persona we all know and love...see Cold Mountain for proof. Oh I love you Ray, but just stick to what you're good at...namely being 'The Daddy'.

Huge Laurie on QI pilot with Stephen Fry - I love this show! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CX8Lll4KDY)

[KillerKlown]

Richard Gere's comical irish accent in The Jackal.

[BorderEevilIII]

Emma Thompson blew me away heavily when she did Primary Colors few years back. Thompson has a distinctive british accent and she masked it big time in this role. Was she american who plays Travolta's wife?

hmmmm......

[loggy]

only one which i can think on the top of my head is:

Renee Zellweger - Bridget Jones

Love that fake brittish accent! :P

[tsay1616]

Originally posted by DarkKnight81
Best: Brad Pitt in Snatch

helllll yeah...that was amazing

[KillerKlown]

Shit, I totally forgot about Keanu Reeve's piss-poor accent in Bram Stoker's Dracula!

[Buck Turgidson]

Originally posted by BorderEevilIII
Emma Thompson blew me away heavily when she did Primary Colors few years back. Thompson has a distinctive british accent and she masked it big time in this role. Her one-time husband, the brilliant Kenneth Branagh, can do a top notch American accent, as well.Originally posted by BadCoverVersion
Howzabout Anthony LaPaglia? Does the dude even have a true Aussie accent? His accent in Without A Trace is pretty flawless to mine ears...I don't think he does have one, but I could be wrong.Huge Laurie on QI pilot with Stephen Fry - I love this show! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CX8Lll4KDY) Two stone cold geniuses :cool:

[arto_j]

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
Her one-time husband, the brilliant Kenneth Branagh, can do a top notch American accent, as well.

His Woody Allen impression in Celebrity is near perfect. Plus him scoring with Charlize Theron was quite a bit more beliavable than if Woody had played it himself :)

Ewan McGregor has a pretty impressive catalogue of accents on him, he's always reliable on that front.

[ParanoidAndvoid]

I dont see how Tim Roth does one of the best American accents. His accent in Resevoir Dogs had so many slip-ups and i thought he did a pretty bad job....of course, he was incredible all-around in that movie and every movie he is in for that matter, but...

Claire Forlani in Mallrats is one of the worst attempts at an American accent I have ever heard.

[BadCoverVersion]

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
I don't think he does have one, but I could be wrong.

I youtubed him...he still has a very distinct Aussie twang. He was full-on Aussie in Lantana. Still he covers it pretty well.

Listen here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2qChbyfXkw)

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
Two stone cold geniuses :cool:

Fry is quite possibly the only celebrity I MUST meet before I pop it. He's a true hero of mine.

CHRISTIAN BALE??? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjZ4t-NvngE)

[jaw2929]

Originally posted by ParanoidAndvoid
Claire Forlani in Mallrats is one of the worst attempts at an American accent I have ever heard.

Abso-fucking-lutely... I totally forgot about how bad she sounds in that... Very much like Clive Owen in Inside Man... Just two brits that have NO business even attempting an accent other than their own.

[Lazy Boy]

One that just jumped to mind (how could I miss him?) was Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules.

I think he attempted an American accent years before in some Western, whose name I can't remember. He was pretty passable with a Southern twang in Secondhand Lions, I believe.

But, his "Americanized" accent (was he even trying for a New England lilt?) in Cider was not.

The Weather Man -- wasn't as distracting, maybe I just accepted it and concentrated on the film.

[dreamcurls]

Best-
Gary Oldman, in anything! But my favs are Air Force One(if I didn't know any better, I woulda swore he IS Russian), True Romance "He musta thought it was white boy day.It ain't white boy day is it?" and The Fifth Element "That's my favorite"
Worst-
Keanu Reeves in Dracula, so drab
Connie Nielsen in Basic,the accent comes and goes

[bigred760]

I think most actors do pretty well with other accents. One I thought was absolutely horrible was Leo Dicaprio in Gangs of New York - couldn't seem to keep the Irish thing going. But speaking of GoNY, Daniel Day Lewis perfected the New York accent in that movie - his performance was the only thing that made the movie watchable.

[Buck Turgidson]

Irish is the John Wayne of accents. Every asshole in SAG thinks they can do one and nine times out of ten (I'm looking at you Julia Roberts, who has done this twice), they end up sounding like the Lucky Charms™ leprechaun after he's been on the receiving end of a prison gangbang.

[ilovemovies]

I thought Julia Roberts was REALLY good and her accent very convincing in the highly underrated Marry Reilly.

Plus, some people have mentioned Richard Gere in The Jackal and Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own. I thought they were mostly convincing as well.

However, I would agree that Pitt's accent in Seven Years in Tibet wasn't good.


Also loved Tom Hanks accents for Forrest Gump & The Terminal.

[Suziecue]

Best
Guy Pearce in Momento
Christian Bale, whenever he puts on his American accent but especially in Shaft, American Psycho, Batman Begins

Worst
Harrison Ford K19

[Damone]

One for the worst...

Robert Loggia and his attempt at what I think was supposed to be a Cuban accent.

[SweetEnLow]

Best:

Colin Farrel's and Christain Bale's American accents

[SweetEnLow]

Originally posted by ilovemovies
[B]Best:

Hugh Laurie in House. I know it's tv not movies but he HAS to be mentioned because I was STUNNED to hear his normal voice. His american accent on House is AMAZING!





Definately. His American accent is amazing.

[cerealkiller182]

Dracula from Van Helsing was pretty bad.

[JackassFan]

Originally posted by The FamilyJulas
Best:
Liam Neeson & Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List
Liam is Irish and Fiennes is British and both were German in the movie
I forgot about them. Both excellent.

[hail2theking]

some more bad ones:

Steven Seagal in Submerged - While I appreciate Mr. Seagal trying to expand his character acting at the slump of his career, his Southern accent is simply hilarious and isn't helped by a very overused Marlon Brando-ish dubbing.

Dennis Hopper in Ticker - Hopper was on the set for one day and it shows. He keeps forgetting that his character is an Irish bomber

[Gian-Sergio]

Best:
Eli Wallach in The Good The Bad and The Ugly(Jewish American playing a Mexican Bandit)

Worst:
The Woman at the begining of Dumb & Dumber trying to sound like she is from New Jersey

[Le_Big_Mac]

Best: Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs), Eli Wallach ( The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), Sacha Baron Cohen (not really an accurate accent though) ( Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan), Liam Neeson (Schindler's List)

Worst: Leonardo DiCaprio ( Blood Diamond), John Saxon (Joe Kidd)

[jaw2929]

DiCaprio's accent in the Blood Diamond's trailers is just nauseatingly CRINGE worthy! It's single-handedly kept me from seeing the fuckin' thing, to be honest! :p

[jaw2929]

Originally posted by Backstabba
YEESSS on Colin, and ....Did Clive Owen even ever try an American accent?
What movie was this in?

The abysmal movie "Derailed"... It was LAUGHABLE!

[Philip Marlowe]

My favorite all-time worst accent has to go to Kevin Costner in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves it actually makes the movie quite fun.

[Backstabba]

Originally posted by Trail_Blazer
The abysmal movie "Derailed"... It was LAUGHABLE!

Hmm.
Either it was amazing or REALLY bad because I didn't even notice.
I just love the bastard.
:D
(In a completely non-homosexual way)...
(Of course, theres nothing wrong with being a homosexual)...
(....:confused: )

[powersauce]

Originally posted by Trail_Blazer
DiCaprio's accent in the Blood Diamond's trailers is just nauseatingly CRINGE worthy!

I hear you on that one. Speaking of Leo, I didn't quite like Tom Hanks' Boston accent in Catch Me If You Can.

However, I loved Don Cheadle's cockney accent in Ocean's 11.

[EVILxxx]

Christian Bale has a very good American accent but he still lisps when he does it.

Kevin Costner's Boston accent in 13 Days is one of the worst.

[Monotreme]

Originally posted by Trail_Blazer
DiCaprio's accent in the Blood Diamond's trailers is just nauseatingly CRINGE worthy! It's single-handedly kept me from seeing the fuckin' thing, to be honest! :p
Well, if you've ever heard South Africans (half of my family is from South Africa) you'd know that not only is that how the accent sounds, but Leo totally nailed it, DEAD on.

On the other hand, he did fuck up the Irish accent in Gangs of New York. While Clive Owen did fuck things up in Derailed, he does a good job with the accent in Sin City and Inside Man. I definitely think that Costner is the king of bad accents.

And the best? Depp does a great accent in Finding Neverland; Winslet in all her American characters; Streep in EVERYTHING; Pacino in Scarface; Cheadle in Ocean's 11 and Hotel Rwanda; Neeson and Fiennes in Schindler's List; Damon (although it's not really an accent as he's from there), DiCaprio and the whole gang from Departed; Blanchett in The Aviator and anything else - American, British, you name it; and the list of names-already-been-mentioned goes on and on.

[jaw2929]

I thought Depp's Scot accent was flawed in Finding Neverland... It was OK, but I think Mike Meyers does a better job with it in the Shrek movies :p

I thought Cheadle's accent in Oceans 11 was garbage... Just laughably bad and exaggerated...

I still can't stand DiCaprio's "Blood Diamond" accent anyway, regardless if that's how ya'll sound there in South Africa :p

All the rest I can't really argue... Noticing Cate Blanchett in a coupla different flicks, she's damn good with different accents too!

[echo_bravo]

Yeah, watching Harrison Ford in K-19 was PAINFUL. He takes my spot for worst accent ever.

The best IMO was Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York.

I got to say the best actor that can do any accent is Gary Oldman.

[Tagia_Romero]

Although it wasn't ear-bashingly-brain-stabbingly horrible, Sean Bean's New Yorker accent from "Silent Hill" could have used more practice. :p

[Jessooker]

I think Cillian Murphy is excellent at an American accent, especially since he has a really heavy Irish one to begin with.