Zarish Tahir
In recent years, film audiences have grown accustomed to witnessing nonnative speakers of American English—such as Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, and their foreign ilk—confidently mimicking native-born Americans on the big screen. Now, migrant actors and actresses are beginning to dominate television shows in the United States. Every night of channel surfing or Netflix browsing during the past few seasons, you’re likely to have come across an English actor or two portraying an American who is fully born and raised in that country. For instance Andrew Lincoln, on The Walking Dead! Their American accents are sometimes soo convincing that people often mistake them for Americans. Here is a list of actors you think are American but they are actually not!
1. Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike: A Golden Globe Award winner!
Rosamund Pike is a well-known British actress. In 2005, she starred as Jane, the older sister of Elizabeth in films such as Pride and Prejudice. Her efforts were recognized with critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for her outstanding performance. Pike, has used the services of a dialect coach to improve her accent and overall performance.
2. Millie Bobby Brown: Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund, Millie is the youngest person ever chosen for this role.
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It worked for Brown, who was born in Spain but nurtured in England because she suppressed her British accent during her audition and instead used a faux American one. Miley Cyrus in Hannah Montana also helped Brown improve her US accent. Stranger Things, a Netflix science fiction-horror series, cast Brown as Eleven in 2016. She received a lot of positive feedback from the media. The star actually found it difficult to switch back to a British accent for this series.
3. Isa Fisher. You might recognize her from the movie “Wedding Crashers”, her first major break in the industry.
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Fisher was born in Muscat, Oman, to Scottish immigrants Elspeth Reid and Brian Fisher. Her father was a UN banker in Oman. She was six when her family moved from Bathgate (Scotland) to Perth (WA). In addition to appearing in films such as The Wedding Crashers and Now You See Me while keeping a passable American accent, she began her acting career on Australian television in the long-running serial series Home and Away.
4. Chris Hemsworth. Our very own “God of Thunder” is actually Australian!
Christopher Hemsworth was born on August 11, 1983, in Melbourne, Victoria, to Leonie (née van Os), an English teacher, and Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counselor. As the god of thunder Thor, you’d never guess Chris Hemsworth is actually an Australian actor from his screen persona. After rising to popularity in Hollywood at the age of twenty-one, Chris Hemsworth admitted that returning to his native accent for the film Ghostbusters (2016) was an odd experience.
5. Hugh Jackman: A Guinness World Record holder for “longest career as a live-action Marvel character”!
Hugh Michael Jackman AC is an Australian actor who was born on October 12, 1968, in Melbourne, Australia. Hugh Jackman is most recognized for his role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, in which he also appeared. Jackman has portrayed his role as an American superhero, so well that people often mistake him as an American actor!
6. Keneti James Fitzgerald Apa or more commonly known as KJ Apa is a New Zealand actor and singer!
In the New Zealand city of Auckland, Apa was born on June 17, 1997, at the Waitakere Hospital. Apa was cast as Archie Andrews in the CW drama Riverdale, which started in 2017. Riverdale revolves around American teenagers and chronicles the lives of a group of high school kids, yet the show’s star actor, redhead KJ Apa, comes from the country of New Zealand. People often mistake him for American, because of his brilliant American accent!
7. Idris Elba: A renowned actor, producer, and musician!
“The Wire’s” Russel “Stringer” Bell, portrayed by Idris Elba, garnered widespread international praise as one of the show’s most memorable characters. The Wire is widely considered one of the best television shows of all time. Many American fans were taken aback when they discovered that Idris Elba was playing Stringer Bell in the film, who had a strong Baltimore accent.
8. Andrew Lincoln. New York Times: “The center of one of the world’s biggest pop culture franchises” attributed to Lincoln’s role on The Walking Dead.
Andrew James Clutterbuck (born 14 September 1973), better known by his stage name Andrew Lincoln is a British actor. When Andrew Lincoln was cast as Rick Grimes in AMC’s smash post-apocalyptic thriller The Walking Dead, he was already a well-known actor in his native England when the role was offered to him in the first place. After that, he began working on transforming his English accent into a Southern one, and he has done an outstanding job at it.
9. Charlize Theron: An Academy and Globe Award winner.
10. Christian Bale: An Academy and two Golden Globe awards winner!
To perform his roles, the actor has undergone numerous bodily changes. He is known for his flexibility and has appeared in numerous genres. For his work, Bale has received numerous honors, such as an Academy Award and two Golden Globes. After moving to Los Angeles from his native Wales at the age of 17, actor Christian Bale set out to follow his dream of becoming a Hollywood star. Bales has previously stated that one of his favorite things to do is to surprise people with his British accent.
Were you already aware of these or were these a shocker? Let us know in the comments section below!