Worst american accent by british actor

[Ceefer]

I've just watched Martin Scorcese's 'The Departed'. Very good film, but Ray Winstone's american accent is without a doubt the worst I've ever heard. I'm amazed Scorcese allowed it into the final cut. He's even worse than Hugh Laurie in 'House'.

I think on the whole american actors do british accents better than the other way round.

Has anyone heard a worse american accent by a non-american actor?

[kalniel]

I think on the whole american actors do british accents better than the other way round.

Three words: Dick Van Dyke.

[pollaxe]

I seem to recall Hugh Laurie fooled Bryan Singer into believing he was an American with his House audition tape..

With so many dialogue/dialect coaches out there, it should be a fairly level playing field these days.

Speaking of Dick van Dyke, Don Cheadle (an actor I usually admire) made a similarly dire attempt at a 'Cockerney' accent in the Ocean's series.

[Spreadie]

He's even worse than Hugh Laurie in 'House'.

...and yet most Americans thought Hugh Laurie was American...

I think on the whole american actors do british accents better than the other way round.

Oh come now. Kevin Costner (Robin Hood). John Lithgow (Cliffhanger).

I'd agree that Ray Winstone's accent was pretty terrible though.

[MrJim]

Jason Statham...in just about every American film he's ever been in

[MrJim]

Three words: Dick Van Dyke.

What about Keanu Reeves in Bram Stoker's Dracula...just hilarious

[Spank]

I can't believe nobody's said Michael Caine yet.

[pollaxe]

Ooh, Russell Crowe in Robin Hood! (I know he's an Antipodean but he deserves to be in here.)

[MrJim]

I can't believe nobody's said Michael Caine yet.

Ooh...yes, 'The Cider House Rules'...that was fairly comical (I mean his accent, not the film!).

[Ceefer]

Some US actors have managed faultless british accents. When I watched Gwynneth Paltrow in 'Emma' I was listening very very carefully for any slips in her perfectly groomed accent but there were none. Other impressive brit accents were Meryl Streep in 'The French Lieutentant's Woman', Robert Downey Jnr in 'Sherlock Holmes', Renée Zellweger in 'Bridget Jones' Diary'.

Albert Finney in 'Erin Brockovich' had a truly awful american accent.

[MrJim]

Some US actors have managed faultless british accents. When I watched Gwynneth Paltrow in 'Emma' I was listening very very carefully for any slips in her perfectly groomed accent but there were none. Other impressive brit accents were Meryl Streep in 'The French Lieutentant's Woman', Robert Downey Jnr in 'Sherlock Holmes', Renée Zellweger in 'Bridget Jones' Diary'.

They do always seem to do a 'plum' English accent though. A real test is whether they can pull off a regional English accent. Which is where Russell Crowe came unstuck in Robin Hood

Funnily enough I thought Robert Downey's accent in Sherlock Holmes was a bit off. It's a shame they couldn't have cast a British actor in such a quintessentially British role...

[PK71]

Ewan McGregor's yank accents are pants and very distracting. And he does so many of them!! I guess the Americans must think its passable but not for me.

[jimborae]

The worst by a country mile and not mentioned so far is Kevin McKidd. His yank accent is so poor that it's past laughable and is actually painful. Shame really as he's actually a good actor.....as long as he's not playing a yank. Closely followed in the bad accent stakes but not quite reaching Kevin's heights is Gerard Butler of 300 fame. Check out his accent in Olympus Has Fallen.

[PK71]

The worst by a country mile and not mentioned so far is Kevin McKidd. His yank accent is so poor that it's past laughable and is actually painful. Shame really as he's actually a good actor.....as long as he's not playing a yank. Closely followed in the bad accent stakes but not quite reaching Kevin's heights is Gerard Butler of 300 fame. Check out his accent in Olympus Has Fallen.

That's another Scot failing at a Yank accent... Gerrard's was hit n miss I agree. Mainly miss tho tbf.

[watercooled]

I think on the whole american actors do british accents better than the other way round.

Just...no...

Some are bearable, some are amusing, next to none are even remotely convincing to a native English speaker. Some of the better ones still tend to confuse accents from all over the country, and in a country where accents can be markedly different every 5 miles or so, it can be very easy to spot. May I ask, are you a native American speaker?

I'm not saying English speaking American is necessarily any better. Obviously, it's easier to spot errors with your own accent than a foreign one.

An awful lot of attempted English accents are an embarrassingly executed, sinister Received Pronunciation, reserved for villains, which tends to be miles off 'real' RP, which in turn is rarely spoken natively anyway. In fact, a markedly bad attempt I found was during a mission in the English Channel on the new Splinter Cell game, spoken by the guards. Seriously it was so bad I was trying to rush to get the level out of the way, like being forced to listen to really poor music or something!

[Kai]

I always thought this was a terrible attempt at an accent from a Brit ...

As for Brit doing American .. maybe this