Best and Worst accents by an actor in a film or tv role

[caj]

Sometimes actors/actresses nail an accent in a film or tv role. They practice, take professional lessons, or just imitate a person they know.

Other times, it's hard not to laugh at how horrible the accent is.

What is the best and worst accents you can remember by an actor or actress in a film or tv role?

[AndrewCrossett]

Everybody says Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, but I don't know a genuine Cockney accent well enough to say what was wrong with his.

David Boreanaz did a pretty dreadful Irish accent on Angel, when he was in flashback scenes of his former mortal self (an 18th century Irishman). He would have done a better job if he'd imitated the leprechaun from the Lucky Charms commercials.

Best accent is any American accent done by Tracey Ullman.

Also in Angel, Alexis Denisof's British accent was pretty great... I've heard British people say they were surprised to find out he was American. James Marsters' was good too (in Buffy)... he got coached by Anthony Head.

[chicago_bastard]

So many to choose from but in terms of worst I guess Tom Cruise's attempt at an Irish accent in Far and Away takes the cake. I've seen school plays where the actors put more effort into it.

As a more recent example Affleck and Damon seemed to try to outdo each other for the worst British accent in The Last Duel. Actually they were so bad at it I'm not even sure if they were even trying a British accent (the other actors like Driver and Comer did though so one has to assume they did) or rather something else but what that something else was supposed to be is impossible to tell.

As far as the good ones go DDL nails pretty much every accent. Idris Elba's American accent is great. A not so obvious pick would be Andy Serkis' South African accent in Black Panther.

[chicago_bastard]

How could I forget RDJ playing an Australian dude playing an African American dude and nailing it.

Margot Robbie's American accents are also pretty good, well I guess Brooklyn and Jersey do sound the same for most people.^^

[ChrisIII]

Nicola Bryant's "american" accent as Peri in mid 80's Doctor Who. She's actually not a bad actress in other roles and with her real voice.

Funny thing is, in her 'death' scene (Later retconned) she gets to use her real voice, although it's pitched down as she's possessed.


Not sure if it counts as they do it in 'real life' but Gillian Anderson, Lauren Cohan and Kim Cattrall often switch between British and American accents.

[Robotman]

I recall Michael Caine saying that Forrest Whitaker's accent in The Crying Game was the best English cockney accent that he had ever heard an American do in a movie. Pretty high praise.

[Immortal Weapon]

Keanu Reeves in Dangerous Liasions

[AnthonyO'Brien]

Saw an awful Aussie accent in Chuck Norris missing in action film. In contrast Meryl Streep did a good job in evil angels (aka. a cry in the dark) she really drew out the rrrrrrrs...

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Keanu Reeves' attempt at a British accent as Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker's Dracula was godawful!

[JBatmanFan05]

Christian Bale (Welsh-born British) deserves praise for his American accent. It's so interesting how his natural accent is so very different from his Bruce Wayne, American Psycho, etc.

One of the worst Scottish accents goes to one of my favorite actors: English Michael Caine as Alan Breck in Kidnapped(1971), what should be an extremely Scottish film about a stubborn Jacobite in post-Colloden Scotland.

[j9ac9k]

Kevin Costner trying to sound English for about the first 15 minutes of "Robin Hood" was so bad he seemed to give up even bothering.

Whatever accent Halle Berry was trying to do for Storm.(before she gave up)

There've been tons of good ones, especially actors sounding American.(not you, Cumberbatch - you still need to work on it) I would have thought Elisabeth Moss's Kiwi accent for "Top of the Lake" was really good until I saw a video where the voice coach pointed out its flaws.

[caj]

Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohen in The Walking Dead.

I had no idea either one of them were British until seeing interviews with them. Their southern accents are pretty good on the show.

[AndrewCrossett]

I love how after Dick Van Dyke took so much abuse for his cockney accent in Mary Poppins, he didn't even attempt one in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and just spoke in his normal American accent... even though his father and his children in the movie were British.

[Alan2099]

Steve Martin's French accent in The Pink Panther was horrible, but then again, I think that was part of the joke.

[ChrisIII]

Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohen in The Walking Dead.

I had no idea either one of them were British until seeing interviews with them. Their southern accents are pretty good on the show.

Lennie James is British too. So basically a good chunk of the first episode is two British guys talking to each other in Southern accents.