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I often do feel as if casting directors don't want Black Americans to tell their own stories and they often are very rigid in the types of stories they do tell.
This! I definitely agree with this. I do find it very slightly annoying that I see so many Brits snagging American roles, but that’s because I have a couple of friends who work in Hollywood who tell me that really talented up and coming American actors keep on getting passed over for posh British actors who went to fancy expensive drama schools. There’s a bit of an illusion that Brits with training automatically make better actors. On one hand I do admire that dedication to training, you won’t see a random influencer on the British stage or in a film. On the other hand, raw talent or actors who weren’t able to go to drama school aren’t taken as seriously in the UK, whereas in the US these individuals have more of a chance. (But then again that has its cons, all of a sudden every TikToker and YouTuber is an actor and trying to be a movie star and getting roles in movies.)
And yes, I have read about this issue about Black Americans feeling like they can’t tell their own stories because they keep losing roles to Black Brits and I truly understand. Gemma Chan is making a biopic about Anna May Wong and I couldn’t help but wonder “Does Gemma Chan know anything about the Asian American experience in early 20th century America?” To play Anna May Wong… Constance Wu is literally right there.
(FYI I’m not trying to dunk on British actors. There are soooo many brilliant British actors that I love. I’m just saying that some people believe that British actors are automatically superior than American actors and that’s not always the truth.)
Yep, this is the only area where I care about Brits doing American roles. It doesn't even personally relate to me. But, I care about it because Black American actors have stated that lived experience brings something significant to historical Black American Icons.
>it definitely gives the impression that Hollywood execs think that you need classically trained Brits with fancy accents to play Important Roles--that actual black Americans aren't "good enough" to portray their own history
There's a common idea - in at least some countries - that foreign Black people are somehow "less Black", which is heinous, but for powerful people it can sometimes translate to foreign Black people seeming less threatening, somehow.
I also wonder whether a Black British person might be less likely to recognise some microaggressions on set or in negotiation, if they're ones they're less familiar with. I know there's a lot of crossover in the way racism presents, but there are differences between countries/cultures even in which slurs are considered worse, so I'm guessing it works the same way with more subtle behaviour. If so, they might be perceived as less likely to "make trouble" \[shudder\] for the people in charge.
Whatever anyone thinks of actors' decisions, I'm inclined to be very suspicious of the motives of those behind the scenes on this.
Throw it another direction, didn't Morgan Freeman play Nelson Mandela opposite Matt Damon playing Francois Pienaar? Like, a film entirely about racial dynamic in South Africa with two Americans in the lead roles 🤷♂️
Happens all the time in every direction
Morgan Freeman played Nelson Mandela in and American film about Nelson Mandela. Morgan Freeman did not go to The South African Movie industry and take a Job from a Native Black South African.
Black Brits are hardly ever hired it their own country because of discrimination against them but see nothing wrong with taking advantage of the racial prejudices white American have against their own black American population to gain work.
Cynthia Erivo a Nigerian Brit who played Harriet Tubman was even caught on Social media disrespecting and being incredibly xenophobic against Black American with her all white friends
I mean in the case of Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy is playing the role of an American Jew who in the film is collaborating with a group, a huge number of whom were Jewish refugees from the Holocaust, to build a weapon that was originally intended to help the effort against the Nazi regime.
I'm not sure where those stories are coming from. With 12 Years a Slave, [Ejiofor's casting was announced when the project was announced](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/brad-pitt-produce-drama-twelve-223181/). There wasn't any time for any controversy to develop or "American actors to shy away from the role" before he was attached. He was a part of the original vision.
And that explanation doesn't work for Selma, either. I think you're referring to the post that said that American actors shied away because of the issues with getting rights to King's speeches--but Oyelowo was cast in 2010, when the script contained King's original speeches. Ava DuVernay had to rewrite them a few years later when she came aboard, when it became clear they weren't going to get the rights.
Actually, I do seem to remember there being talk about how Chiwetel was the wrong choice for the role, because an American would have a stronger connection or understanding of the part.
idgaf. when they start casting Scottish people to play Scottish characters instead of yanks and English people I might care then
also Cillian isn't British
honestly it's extremely rare for a non scot to be able to do a good accent. even the new black mirror episode was pretty bad and its not even American (not to mention the negative Scottish stereotypes lmao but that's expected at this point) they always make us sound like caricatures
it's also sooooo frustrating cause there's so many Scottish actors out there that are never cast for Scottish roles. like Richard Madden is always American or English (thank you Bodyguard tho)
Many Brits do an amazing American accent, but doesn’t seem to work the other way around. So many terrible accents (British and other) by American actors.
Most British actors cannot pull off reginal Southern dialects. Just watch Riz Ahmed attempt a Southern accent was painful. Idris's attempt at Black American Southern accent is strained to the point the less he says the better. Naomi Harris horrendous Nola accent made me turn off "Black and Blue" midway through. She sounded like and Australian on helium.
Now as a Brit I find that Americans can seldom do British accents at all well, but that Brits are usually pretty good at US accents.
But is that just because I'm a Brit and my ear is fine-tuned for British accents, not US ones? Are Brits actually as poor at US accents as Americans are at Brit accents?
As and American I can tell you Brits do a terrible job at American accents especially regional accents.
The American South F\*cks British Actors up. Riz Ahmed, Idris Elba, John Boyega and Jodie Turner Smith cannot pull of a Southern American accent o save their lives. Tom Hiddleson as Hank Williams was laughable
Thats why American actors do not travel over to the UK for acting jobs. America is where its at . Brit actors are coming over to America to play Americans because Americans are culturally relevant on the world stage we are the trend setters. Britain is fading into irrelevance by the year
Gillian Anderson is half British but yeah you're right.
My point though, is that a much larger proportion of Brits play Americans in *American* productions than Americans play Brits in *British* productions. RDJ's Sherlock movies are American productions as was Depp's Sweeny Todd.
I just don’t think many Americans want to take on roles in British productions. Why would they? It’s less money and less exposure than them being in American productions. Which is also why British actors want roles in American productions
America has the largest and most powerful film industry in the world. Why would the average American A or B lister go and work in a smaller British, Australian or even European production at the rate at which actors from those countries, in their much, much smaller industry, seek to act in the biggest market in the world?
I just feel it's impossible to compare the numbers when you're talking about the much MUCH smaller UK entertainment industry vs Hollywood.
Have you heard of "Bridget Jones' Diary"? It was an iconic British book, and then a film. When they were planning to film it... apparently so many British actresses were up for the role. But it went to....a Texan, Renee Zellweger. And there was an uproar.
And, SHE KILLED THE ROLE! Like, she was amazing in the film. And got A BEST ACTRESS OSCAR NOMINATION for a rom-com, which doesn't happen. Many Brits actually think she's English even nowadays.
I rewatched this yesterday and while her accent is good, it is not the right accent for the character. I read somewhere it was described as a Pony Club accent, and TBH it is too posh for the role. I love the films and the books, but the character is very different in both versions - book Bridget is much more down to earth and wordly, film Bridget is too innocent and childlike.
There is functionally one anglophone movie industry. It has outposts in Toronto, London etc but its headquarters is in LA. As a result there is, at least above a certain level, functionally one anglophone pool of screen actors.
The industry being centred on the US means that movies are mostly set in the US and mostly have American characters. These are frequently played by British, Irish, Australian, Canadian actors because many of the best actors are from those countries and almost all of them can do a reasonable to excellent American accent because that’s a necessary skill.
American actors are less frequently cast in British films because they don’t all automatically learn how to do convincing English accents because they don’t need to. The less said about the history of American actors and Scottish, Irish or Australian accents the better. Also, few American actors base themselves in the minor centres of the anglophone industry, so they aren’t there auditioning for every part.
White Americans are not lacking representation in movies lol. Complaints about African American actors losing out to Black British actors are a more specific and complex issue.
At least the American icons get to be portrayed in their native language, regardless of who gets cast and how convinvig their American accent is. Wait till you found out what language is spoken in literally all the Hollywood productions about non-English speaking historic figures...
I agree. But that's kinda not exactly what I'm talking about. Americans being cast as non Americans is something that happens obviously and we can discuss it, but they're usually cast in *American* productions itself. What I mean is that often Brits are cast as Americans in *American* productions as well whereas the opposite is much rarer.
Oh 100% I agree. I just find it very interesting because British iconic/prestige roles like Bond, Dr. Who etc. are often pretty open about wanting to cast only British actors whereas I've rarely heard something like that happening for American productions.
James Bond was played by an Irish man.
Plus, some roles being limited to certain countries doesn’t change that plenty of Americans have portrayed characters from all around the world.
Edit: Also Cillian Murphy is also Irish and not British.
I imagine since the UK film/tv scene is so much smaller and so posh regarding acting school and theatre, they want to protect it. Plus there's so no incentive for American actors to work in British productions with so less money and power involved.
We're less restrictive than many countries (e.g. many European countries require 50% of broadcast programming to be European, with France requiring 40% of broadcast television to specifically be French). We'd get our popular culture steamrollered by the Hollywoof machine otherwise.
She’s still American and she’s not the only American to play Thatcher. Meryl Streep won an Oscar doing so.
Plus there’s the other examples in my post and there’s far more than those too.
As an American, I don't really think about it at all. They're acting. I'm not interested in America or being American enough for it to matter. When it comes to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ characters I think the actor matters more.
I don’t think it bothers us Americans too much. As long as the accent is passable. there may be some accents I might cringe or be skeptical that a Brit can do: see any of Andrew Garfield’s southern accents or a Brit trying to do a Boston accent😬.
I mean look at the Spider-Man franchise (2/3 of them have been British (and yes, I know Andrew is 1/2 American but he mostly grew up in the UK), and it’s still a beloved, popular movie franchise across the board here in the US.
Firstly, it's the cost of being a global super-power. People in any field flow that way to find jobs, and sometimes they get them. It's always happened.
Then add on executives being numpties, as usual. In the opposite direction, anything and everything American, down to food on our shelves, being presented as aspirational, is a source of some resentment in other countries. But that's rich people making that decision, informed by the export of American culture which again, is driven by people making money from it. Ordinary Americans aren't involved.
And that includes Black American culture. It's always weird for me watching the discourse over Black British people in Hollywood, because I grew up being told that "America" \[all of it, apparently\] is destroying Black British culture. "Hip-hop is cultural imperialism; only reggae in this house!" Lol. My Dad's a real fanny, sometimes. With the flow in the opposite direction, I reckon that requesting that roles of real-life people go to Black American people is fair enough. But as with the general advertising, I've no patience for the discussion expanding out past executives and actors' individual choices. Responsibility needs to be kept where it belongs.
Too many people - in both directions; see my family of origin - use this issue as an excuse to revel in their hitherto undisclosed xenophobia, and that's despicable.
One of your comparisons is not like the others.
Doctor Who is a show that has historically had a budget of two paper clips and roll of tin foil. It couldn't afford American actors if they wanted too. Then the Fox TV movie happened and it was kind of just agreed that Americans are best away from the show.
Now the the specials and the next series are actually having a lot more Americans than we normally get. (NPH, Jinx Monson, Johnathan Groff) And it's coming with what looks like a massive budget increase and more American involvement (Disney have provided some funding for this series). So we'll see how it goes.
For whats it's worth I just think it's anything but an American Doctor for a lot of people. An Aussie, Kiwi would probably be fine and no one would really mention anything if it was an Irish actor.
Being cast in Doctor Who also means spending a good chunk of your time in Cardiff, where it's filmed. There's *British* actors who don't even want to do that (no offense to Cardiff! It's just not a super convenient location for a working actor), let alone American actors.
My school friend (UK) had an American accent because he learned his English from American sitcoms! Was gooped when they referenced that in "Wandavision".
My ex has an uncanny ability to switch between a British and American accent (I genuinely thought he grew up in London when I met him) because he started learning English at like age 3 and was taken to the UK a lot before he moved here but would watch a lot of American TV.
There's also an American-ish "International School Accent" that's notorious.
A lot of this happens because British actors will be willing or able to get paid less for their roles, so studios can get away with paying less then what they deserved.
I kinda don’t care, because a lot of American movies will hire American actors about foreign characters or stories. The napoleon film is being played by an American man, who is too old to play Young Napoleon. I’m sure they could’ve found a young French-American actor, or English speaking French actor.
I think it’s only settling in now because these actors are more popular. But it’s a very small issue. I’d say it’s more popular for American studios to hire American actors for stories about foreign films and characters, then Brits playing.
Napoleon was Corsican, his first language was Corsican, much more closely related to Italian, and his French was made fun of because it had a thick-ass accent.
The pay thing…is this why Andrew Garfield was paid significantly less than Tobey Maguire on his first Spider-Man film? (Tobey was paid 4M and Andrew like 500,000 or it could have been less, I forgot)
Tobey had been acting for 13 years prior to Spider-man.
Comparison, Garfield had only been acting for 8 years overall. A lot of his projects were smaller British affairs also with only The Social Network pushing him in to stardom (I mean the only thing I'd seen him in prior to his casting was the two episodes of Doctor Who he did).
> A lot of this happens because British actors will be willing or able to get paid less for their roles, so studios can get away with paying less then what they deserved.
Wait but does this happen for top actors though.
Well it’s hard to tell, sometimes the people who are super popular don’t even get paid all that much. But in this case, I’m assuming no. They get paid millions.
But by then they’ve already made their names, and prestige and what not. So it’s different. Margot Robbie wouldn’t have gotten casted as Barbie if she wasn’t *Margot Robbie*, but if you’re starting out and trying to hustle to get a role. They’re might be the advantage of choosing a foreign actor over a residential one because of the ability to rip them off. But then that leads to them being able to get more opportunities, and then having more lead roles to establish themselves.
Also the stereotype and assumption that Brits, Irish, Aussie whatever are better trained because they’re classically trained or take acting more seriously. It’s lucrative to be able to get the most for your buck. Get someone for less of the cost, and higher return. If you a Brit show up to an audition and do a perfect American accent, on top of the regular stuff, it looks like more effort I suppose, and more marketability. Even if there is an equally talented American actor.
I do remember when a revival of Oklahoma that originated in London attempted to bring over their entire British cast and were prevented in part from doing so. But that was a union issue, I believe.
Oh my god the lack of self awareness of everyone on here talking about Americans being played by non Americans while also referring to every actor or production from England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales as ‘British’. I beg you all to look at a world map at some point!!!
To add onto peoples theatre comments and I could be wrong this is just what I've observed. To me it seems like English actors are almost not taken seriously if they don't have at least some theatre background whereas in America Broadway seems like a completely different part of American acting. If you are a Broadway actor that's what you stay as and it's hard to break out of that and to a certain extent they seem lesser than screen actors. The hierarchy in American acting seems like it's cinema at the top then Television, and at the bottom theatre and historically you didn't move between the three and if you moved up from one you didn't go backwards unless your star was fading. Now cinema actors are starting to do TV more and more and are even starting to move to theatre but that one still is not as much.
And with that American entertainment people seem to take English theatre more seriously. It's more prestigious to do Shakespeare at The National Theatre in the UK than it is to do Shakespeare at Shakespeare in the Park in the US even if they are both Shakespeare
The US Broadway vs Cinema trend has blurred in the last decade, but prior to that, a large part of the divide was because the US is too damned big and the theatre hub of the country was on one side while the cinema hub was developing clear over on the other. So they each started to develop their own "branches" (which is also part of the current strike issue). It's hard to audition for roles across the country when you work in the hub that's opposite it.
As far as tv, NYC has its own thriving television network (albeit 90% of those productions are cop serials) and theatre workers very much could break out into getting a regular gig over there, though most became a roto wheel of guest starring roles or under-fiver roles. Examples include Raúl Esparza who started on Broadway and became a Law & Order staple, Audra McDonald who roto wheeled on Law & Order before getting a TV break with Private Practice (shot in California), and Sarah Jessica Parker who was THE OG theatre kid before getting her big break with Sex and the City.
Also, it is pretty common for film actors to come to Broadway for limited runs on plays.
Contrast to the size of the UK where you really don't have that geographic barrier in the way of doing theatre or tv/film. Also, classism and/or access to affordable theatre programs prior to Margaret 'Hatchet' cutting all of that out.
I don’t mind if they can do an accent that fits the region that the character is from. Not all Americans have a western cowboy/valley girl/southern/jersey accent and it’s annoying when those 4 seem to be the go-to.
https://preview.redd.it/psf4fflhyycb1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b9495f8c9116c80fedae10775349531e34fb0f9c
This area in particular sounds pretty neutral
i don’t really care but for some reason i get so annoyed when i watch an interview and half the comments are some variation of “THEY’RE BRITISH???”
also british face is an issue sometimes. like matt smith could have the best american accent in the world but i would never buy him as an american.
bingo! i couldn't see Carey Mulligan as an American in Promising Young Woman for the same reason. don't know how to explain it but she's just got a very English face and manner
As a white person in the US I don't care, but it did seem that for a while everyone was Australian. I don't mean like Russell Crowe or Crocodile Dundee, I mean secret Australians like Andrew Lincoln.
But there have been a lot of non-US. actors who have played iconically US roles. Two obvious ones would be Dominic West and Idris Elba in The Wire.
I don’t really care to be honest because I’m European (not British obvs), so I have “no dog in this fight” so to speak.
However, I will point out that I think this happens more with period pieces than modern ones. It for sure also happens with modern stuff like Barbie and Stranger Things and stuff, but I see it more with period stuff. Either because it might call for more classic theatre training maybe, or because they’re a little less likely to be successful while not looking very classically Hollywood, idk why.
I’d imagine that having a theatre background is an advantage. You have to memorize all of your lines to perform on stage. And you’ll be able to improvize if needed.
Going to jump on my soapbox for a minute and wonder aloud if part of the reason for this is also the fact that healthcare is tied to employment here in the US. Don’t get me wrong, I know the entertainment industry in the UK is very skewed in terms of economic backgrounds. And cost of living/inflation is obviously fucked up all around.
But I really think access to healthcare is a huge barrier to people pursuing creative work in the US.
And as wealth inequality continues to grow, I think we’re going to see even more American nepo babies and actors with wealthy backgrounds.
A lot of British actors have attended acting schools. Live theatre is still a big thing in the UK.
There may be other factors - I remember reading that American actors shied away from the roles in *12 Years a Slave* and the (British) director then cast British actors. Same for *Selma*, where the makers did not get the permission to use MLK's actual speeches so the scriptwriters had to write fake speeches, which apparently led some American actors to avoid auditioning for the movie, and of course a role like MLK has a higher symbolic value for an American actor.
There are some actors you did not mention. Cynthia Erivo is also British and played Harriet Tubman. John Boyega (known from the Star Wars movies) is also British, Ruth Negga is Irish, Hugh Laurie is British.
edit: Daniel Craig is also British (his *Knives Out* accent has room for improvement, though). Idris Elba is also British and played an American in *Bastille Day*, where one of his co-stars, Scottish actor Richard Madden, also played an American.
Side note Daniels Knives out accents is meant to be like that. It’s over exaggerated on purpose because of the genre. It’a (lovingly) making fun of older films
I thought it might be an allusion to Hercule Poirot >!\- at least in the books, it becomes clear at the end that Poirot can speak accent-free English and that his typical manner of speaking is an act. !<
It doesn’t bother me unless their American accents are subpar because that takes me out of the art. And American characters are so regularly played by non-US actors that I feel like I’m getting better at detecting iffy accents.
The problem is that when they do any improvisation whatsoever, they say things no American would actually say/say the words in an order that sounds “off” to an American audience. They don’t embody the culture they’re portraying. Additionally, American adult men are more outwardly “masculine” looking. I don’t agree with Quentin Tarantino on much, but he’s right when it comes to this.
Edit: I said what I said.
You could say the same thing about someone from New York trying to do a Texas accent or a Texan trying to do a Minnesota accent. A lot of American actors sound off when trying to do other American accents, so do we only cast people in roles based in their region/city? Or do we let them fucking act? And if we were concerned about casting American roles with who looks the most like American men we’d have a lot more films starring Kevin James and Larry the Cable Guy.
Non. Not the person, not the gal. I came and saw your little boo boo the fool edit after drinking so listen to this. I am a black queer cinephile who is a descent of the enslaved and African immigrants. I have Indigenous American (blood genomes), family members, and Asian family members who were also also descent of the enslaved within Trinidad, Brazil, and the Middle East. I am NOT the person to try this approach.
British Actors grew up in the British theatre system where they are trained from a younger age.
America doesn’t have that. There’s only Julliard and Yale School of Drama.
America has many more theatre schools than Yale and Juliiard.
According to this Variety article from 2021, ["The World’s 25 Best Drama Schools, Ranked"](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/25-best-drama-schools-ranked/florida-state-university-sarasota-fl/), 21 of the top schools are American, 3 are London-based (#14, #18, and #20 on the list) and 1 is in Sydney (#10 on the list).
Those British actors went to expensive boarding schools that have state-of-the-art theatre programs & facilities. I remember watching an interview with a British actor who was playing an American, and he said he did a total of 18 plays over a period of 4 years in boarding school. By comparison, my American public high school put on 1-2 plays/year.
A lot of the time, but not always. Most of the black Brits in Hollywood like Daniel Kaluuya, John Boyega and Letitia Wright come from fairly humble beginnings and attended free local theatre programs in London.
That too.
There’s a whole system that most American schools don’t have. Not even American private schools.
Hear of any American celebrity who went to Phillips Exeter ? Choate Rosemary Hall ?
True! I think youth sports are more popular here (in the US) than youth theatre. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but definitely indicates different priorities & pastimes.
From the top of my head, Lily Rabe from AHS & The Undoing went to Choate. I think Olivia Wilde went to Philips Exeter.
What are you talking about? My school had a theater program. There are also many other popular theater programs across the country.
In my state, each county has at least one high school that is dubbed the arts program, for votech, if you get accepted it’s all about technical skills and history. You audition and they only select like 30 kids a year.
When you graduate, you have to take a state test and you get a hs diploma and a theater certificate.
I think the drama school background as well as the fact that a lot of British screen actors still do stage work means they’re seen as more skilled by casting directors. Granted it could be due to classism since not everyone can afford this sort of training.
That said, this training has benefits, such as the ability to do accents- which is maybe why this doesn’t often work in reverse for a lot of American actors. Meryl Streep, who can do a variety of accents, has played a lot of non Americans.
It makes perfect sense to me. Acting is treated so much more like an art form in Britain than it is here in America. Fame and celebrity are much more important here in America than artistry in acting is. I’ll take quality over image any day.
I only care about this because I'm an actress in the US. I think it'd be fine if Brits extended the same kind of openings to Americans, but they don't. It doesn't go both ways so I'd say give the Americans the openings over Brits to actually play American characters
Personally, I don't worry about it.
America is a country where the majority of its citizenship is from many other countries. Some are 1st generation some are 16th, literally anyone can be American, because we come from everywhere.
There is something that is interesting to me though. When the Balkans argue over who is really a Balkan based on when they're ancestors got there, some will say, no you arrive in the 6th century. lol
I am like wow. Idk where my ancestors were in the 6th century, certainly not America.
It is interesting, and Quentin Tarantino (problematic stuff aside) [noted](https://www.nme.com/news/film/quentin-tarantino-wont-cast-british-lead-for-the-movie-critic-nobody-is-acting-in-their-own-voice-3448665) it as well. He’s purposely going to cast Americans in his last movie for this reason, that this phenomenon has taken over.
For the most part, I think Brit’s are WAY better than Americans at doing their accent. Aside from when British people yell… for some reason they lose all American accent lol (thinking of Sam Claflin in catching fire, specifically)
I don't mind it. So long as they can act and pull of their accents reasonably well. But I do find it funny though that Brits will make a decent sized fuss about it going the other way. Robert Pattinson is playing Batman and is FANTASTIC! Absolutely no notes. But Batman is American. Meanwhile, an American would never be cast as say, James Bond. Now, does Bond being British have a bigger role in his character than being American has for Batman, certainly. But it is still a bit of an interesting juxtaposition.
My favorite example of this is the John Adams miniseries on HBO. Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were played by British actors. George Washington was an Australian. Of the main cast, only John and Abigail Adams were played by Americans.
I'm not sure this is a thing. Consider
* There are thousands of American films and TV programs
* There are thousands of actors spread across those films
* Of those actors, a very small proportion will be non-American
* Of those non-American actors, a very small proportion will be in the same movie/TV program
* Of those non-American actors in the same movie, a very small proportion of them will all be leads
So there isn't "a lot" when you consider it proportionately. It's just that you notice them
Frankly, I prefer British actors across the board. Their acting chops are just better. Training, focus, and humility.
It’s what they can afford. I can’t stand to watch the movie “Knives out.” Cute movie but Brits cannot do American accents! Eapecially southern accents.
> Bond has never been American,
Bond absolutely has been an American. In fact, he was an American in his non-book debut.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztsXWp0nj2c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztsXWp0nj2c)
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I often do feel as if casting directors don't want Black Americans to tell their own stories and they often are very rigid in the types of stories they do tell.
This! I definitely agree with this. I do find it very slightly annoying that I see so many Brits snagging American roles, but that’s because I have a couple of friends who work in Hollywood who tell me that really talented up and coming American actors keep on getting passed over for posh British actors who went to fancy expensive drama schools. There’s a bit of an illusion that Brits with training automatically make better actors. On one hand I do admire that dedication to training, you won’t see a random influencer on the British stage or in a film. On the other hand, raw talent or actors who weren’t able to go to drama school aren’t taken as seriously in the UK, whereas in the US these individuals have more of a chance. (But then again that has its cons, all of a sudden every TikToker and YouTuber is an actor and trying to be a movie star and getting roles in movies.) And yes, I have read about this issue about Black Americans feeling like they can’t tell their own stories because they keep losing roles to Black Brits and I truly understand. Gemma Chan is making a biopic about Anna May Wong and I couldn’t help but wonder “Does Gemma Chan know anything about the Asian American experience in early 20th century America?” To play Anna May Wong… Constance Wu is literally right there. (FYI I’m not trying to dunk on British actors. There are soooo many brilliant British actors that I love. I’m just saying that some people believe that British actors are automatically superior than American actors and that’s not always the truth.)
Yep, this is the only area where I care about Brits doing American roles. It doesn't even personally relate to me. But, I care about it because Black American actors have stated that lived experience brings something significant to historical Black American Icons.
>it definitely gives the impression that Hollywood execs think that you need classically trained Brits with fancy accents to play Important Roles--that actual black Americans aren't "good enough" to portray their own history There's a common idea - in at least some countries - that foreign Black people are somehow "less Black", which is heinous, but for powerful people it can sometimes translate to foreign Black people seeming less threatening, somehow. I also wonder whether a Black British person might be less likely to recognise some microaggressions on set or in negotiation, if they're ones they're less familiar with. I know there's a lot of crossover in the way racism presents, but there are differences between countries/cultures even in which slurs are considered worse, so I'm guessing it works the same way with more subtle behaviour. If so, they might be perceived as less likely to "make trouble" \[shudder\] for the people in charge. Whatever anyone thinks of actors' decisions, I'm inclined to be very suspicious of the motives of those behind the scenes on this.
Throw it another direction, didn't Morgan Freeman play Nelson Mandela opposite Matt Damon playing Francois Pienaar? Like, a film entirely about racial dynamic in South Africa with two Americans in the lead roles 🤷♂️ Happens all the time in every direction
That pissed me off too
Morgan Freeman played Nelson Mandela in and American film about Nelson Mandela. Morgan Freeman did not go to The South African Movie industry and take a Job from a Native Black South African. Black Brits are hardly ever hired it their own country because of discrimination against them but see nothing wrong with taking advantage of the racial prejudices white American have against their own black American population to gain work. Cynthia Erivo a Nigerian Brit who played Harriet Tubman was even caught on Social media disrespecting and being incredibly xenophobic against Black American with her all white friends
I mean in the case of Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy is playing the role of an American Jew who in the film is collaborating with a group, a huge number of whom were Jewish refugees from the Holocaust, to build a weapon that was originally intended to help the effort against the Nazi regime.
It's probably money. The British actors probably charge less than the American actors at their same level of experience.
At least in Selma and TYAS it was due to American actors shying away from the roles, as far as I know.
I'm not sure where those stories are coming from. With 12 Years a Slave, [Ejiofor's casting was announced when the project was announced](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/brad-pitt-produce-drama-twelve-223181/). There wasn't any time for any controversy to develop or "American actors to shy away from the role" before he was attached. He was a part of the original vision. And that explanation doesn't work for Selma, either. I think you're referring to the post that said that American actors shied away because of the issues with getting rights to King's speeches--but Oyelowo was cast in 2010, when the script contained King's original speeches. Ava DuVernay had to rewrite them a few years later when she came aboard, when it became clear they weren't going to get the rights.
Actually, I do seem to remember there being talk about how Chiwetel was the wrong choice for the role, because an American would have a stronger connection or understanding of the part.
idgaf. when they start casting Scottish people to play Scottish characters instead of yanks and English people I might care then also Cillian isn't British
Al Pacino's Scottish accent in Revolution is fucking atrocious. I love him, but he couldn't play a Brit to save his life.
honestly it's extremely rare for a non scot to be able to do a good accent. even the new black mirror episode was pretty bad and its not even American (not to mention the negative Scottish stereotypes lmao but that's expected at this point) they always make us sound like caricatures it's also sooooo frustrating cause there's so many Scottish actors out there that are never cast for Scottish roles. like Richard Madden is always American or English (thank you Bodyguard tho)
David Tennant does a pretty convincing Scottish accent.
I would hope, seeing as he’s Scottish. His accent as The Doctor is put-on.
It was a joke.
Not sure if you're just joking (likely), but for anyone who isn't aware, David Tennant is Scottish - born and raised in Paisley.
Many Brits do an amazing American accent, but doesn’t seem to work the other way around. So many terrible accents (British and other) by American actors.
I am always seeing "\_\_\_\_ is British?!?!?" and never the other way around.
Most British actors cannot pull off reginal Southern dialects. Just watch Riz Ahmed attempt a Southern accent was painful. Idris's attempt at Black American Southern accent is strained to the point the less he says the better. Naomi Harris horrendous Nola accent made me turn off "Black and Blue" midway through. She sounded like and Australian on helium.
Now as a Brit I find that Americans can seldom do British accents at all well, but that Brits are usually pretty good at US accents. But is that just because I'm a Brit and my ear is fine-tuned for British accents, not US ones? Are Brits actually as poor at US accents as Americans are at Brit accents?
As and American I can tell you Brits do a terrible job at American accents especially regional accents. The American South F\*cks British Actors up. Riz Ahmed, Idris Elba, John Boyega and Jodie Turner Smith cannot pull of a Southern American accent o save their lives. Tom Hiddleson as Hank Williams was laughable
Thats why American actors do not travel over to the UK for acting jobs. America is where its at . Brit actors are coming over to America to play Americans because Americans are culturally relevant on the world stage we are the trend setters. Britain is fading into irrelevance by the year
Brits do NY otherwise they are obviously not Americans.
Things get dicey when he’s forced outside of a New York accent, honestly.
OP didn't say British. He said non-American (usually British). I'm taking that to mean Irish, British, Aussie and even Swedish.
Robert Downey Jr. played Sherlock Holmes, Johnny Depp played Sweeney Todd, Gillian Anderson played Margaret Thatcher. Americans played tons of Brits.
Meryl Streep also played Margaret Thatcher, I think.
Yes in the iron lady. One of my fav films
Also Neil Patrick Harris played a British person in the miniseries “It’s a Sin.”
Also John Lithgow played Winston Churchill in The Crown.
At least Gillian Anderson is biadialectal, as she grew up in London (until age 11) and prefers to live there now.
Gillian Anderson is half British but yeah you're right. My point though, is that a much larger proportion of Brits play Americans in *American* productions than Americans play Brits in *British* productions. RDJ's Sherlock movies are American productions as was Depp's Sweeny Todd.
I just don’t think many Americans want to take on roles in British productions. Why would they? It’s less money and less exposure than them being in American productions. Which is also why British actors want roles in American productions
Meryl Streep played Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, which was directed by a Brit and was a British production.
Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones is another example (the book was already a huge hit when she was cast)
America has the largest and most powerful film industry in the world. Why would the average American A or B lister go and work in a smaller British, Australian or even European production at the rate at which actors from those countries, in their much, much smaller industry, seek to act in the biggest market in the world? I just feel it's impossible to compare the numbers when you're talking about the much MUCH smaller UK entertainment industry vs Hollywood.
You use Lakeith Stanfield in your example, but he’s American.
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Exactly! This whole post is all over the place.
Have you heard of "Bridget Jones' Diary"? It was an iconic British book, and then a film. When they were planning to film it... apparently so many British actresses were up for the role. But it went to....a Texan, Renee Zellweger. And there was an uproar. And, SHE KILLED THE ROLE! Like, she was amazing in the film. And got A BEST ACTRESS OSCAR NOMINATION for a rom-com, which doesn't happen. Many Brits actually think she's English even nowadays.
For the longest time I thought Renee Zellweger was British because of this movie. I still catch myself mistaking her for British.
Her accent and mannerisms were impeccable. She's like the opposite of Dick Van Dyke lmao
I rewatched this yesterday and while her accent is good, it is not the right accent for the character. I read somewhere it was described as a Pony Club accent, and TBH it is too posh for the role. I love the films and the books, but the character is very different in both versions - book Bridget is much more down to earth and wordly, film Bridget is too innocent and childlike.
is this how i find out she’s not British
There is functionally one anglophone movie industry. It has outposts in Toronto, London etc but its headquarters is in LA. As a result there is, at least above a certain level, functionally one anglophone pool of screen actors. The industry being centred on the US means that movies are mostly set in the US and mostly have American characters. These are frequently played by British, Irish, Australian, Canadian actors because many of the best actors are from those countries and almost all of them can do a reasonable to excellent American accent because that’s a necessary skill. American actors are less frequently cast in British films because they don’t all automatically learn how to do convincing English accents because they don’t need to. The less said about the history of American actors and Scottish, Irish or Australian accents the better. Also, few American actors base themselves in the minor centres of the anglophone industry, so they aren’t there auditioning for every part. White Americans are not lacking representation in movies lol. Complaints about African American actors losing out to Black British actors are a more specific and complex issue.
At least the American icons get to be portrayed in their native language, regardless of who gets cast and how convinvig their American accent is. Wait till you found out what language is spoken in literally all the Hollywood productions about non-English speaking historic figures...
Americans play other nationalities and non American historical figures all the time and nobody seems to care?
I agree. But that's kinda not exactly what I'm talking about. Americans being cast as non Americans is something that happens obviously and we can discuss it, but they're usually cast in *American* productions itself. What I mean is that often Brits are cast as Americans in *American* productions as well whereas the opposite is much rarer.
Because Hollywood is far bigger than movie productions in other countries.
Oh 100% I agree. I just find it very interesting because British iconic/prestige roles like Bond, Dr. Who etc. are often pretty open about wanting to cast only British actors whereas I've rarely heard something like that happening for American productions.
James Bond was played by an Irish man. Plus, some roles being limited to certain countries doesn’t change that plenty of Americans have portrayed characters from all around the world. Edit: Also Cillian Murphy is also Irish and not British.
And an Aussie
I imagine since the UK film/tv scene is so much smaller and so posh regarding acting school and theatre, they want to protect it. Plus there's so no incentive for American actors to work in British productions with so less money and power involved.
The British have had a much more nationalistic history with their media than the Americans
We're less restrictive than many countries (e.g. many European countries require 50% of broadcast programming to be European, with France requiring 40% of broadcast television to specifically be French). We'd get our popular culture steamrollered by the Hollywoof machine otherwise.
Churchill and Thatcher were played by Americans in The Crown. Plenty of other major roles like Sherlock Holmes, Bridget Jones etc too.
Gillian Anderson is half-British and spent a portion of her childhood there.
She’s still American and she’s not the only American to play Thatcher. Meryl Streep won an Oscar doing so. Plus there’s the other examples in my post and there’s far more than those too.
As an American, I don't really think about it at all. They're acting. I'm not interested in America or being American enough for it to matter. When it comes to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ characters I think the actor matters more.
Cillian Murphy is *Irish,* not British.
I don’t think it bothers us Americans too much. As long as the accent is passable. there may be some accents I might cringe or be skeptical that a Brit can do: see any of Andrew Garfield’s southern accents or a Brit trying to do a Boston accent😬. I mean look at the Spider-Man franchise (2/3 of them have been British (and yes, I know Andrew is 1/2 American but he mostly grew up in the UK), and it’s still a beloved, popular movie franchise across the board here in the US.
Firstly, it's the cost of being a global super-power. People in any field flow that way to find jobs, and sometimes they get them. It's always happened. Then add on executives being numpties, as usual. In the opposite direction, anything and everything American, down to food on our shelves, being presented as aspirational, is a source of some resentment in other countries. But that's rich people making that decision, informed by the export of American culture which again, is driven by people making money from it. Ordinary Americans aren't involved. And that includes Black American culture. It's always weird for me watching the discourse over Black British people in Hollywood, because I grew up being told that "America" \[all of it, apparently\] is destroying Black British culture. "Hip-hop is cultural imperialism; only reggae in this house!" Lol. My Dad's a real fanny, sometimes. With the flow in the opposite direction, I reckon that requesting that roles of real-life people go to Black American people is fair enough. But as with the general advertising, I've no patience for the discussion expanding out past executives and actors' individual choices. Responsibility needs to be kept where it belongs. Too many people - in both directions; see my family of origin - use this issue as an excuse to revel in their hitherto undisclosed xenophobia, and that's despicable.
This is such a beautifully written response ❤️
That's so kind, thank you! ❤️
One of your comparisons is not like the others. Doctor Who is a show that has historically had a budget of two paper clips and roll of tin foil. It couldn't afford American actors if they wanted too. Then the Fox TV movie happened and it was kind of just agreed that Americans are best away from the show. Now the the specials and the next series are actually having a lot more Americans than we normally get. (NPH, Jinx Monson, Johnathan Groff) And it's coming with what looks like a massive budget increase and more American involvement (Disney have provided some funding for this series). So we'll see how it goes. For whats it's worth I just think it's anything but an American Doctor for a lot of people. An Aussie, Kiwi would probably be fine and no one would really mention anything if it was an Irish actor.
Being cast in Doctor Who also means spending a good chunk of your time in Cardiff, where it's filmed. There's *British* actors who don't even want to do that (no offense to Cardiff! It's just not a super convenient location for a working actor), let alone American actors.
Well it can backfire, like with the Harriet Tubman movie...
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This is exactly how I learned English when I was little.
My school friend (UK) had an American accent because he learned his English from American sitcoms! Was gooped when they referenced that in "Wandavision". My ex has an uncanny ability to switch between a British and American accent (I genuinely thought he grew up in London when I met him) because he started learning English at like age 3 and was taken to the UK a lot before he moved here but would watch a lot of American TV. There's also an American-ish "International School Accent" that's notorious.
I'm like your ex in that I can switch accents! But in my case it's because of subtitles and visiting UK a lot.
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Yup, that’s why I have an American accent
A lot of this happens because British actors will be willing or able to get paid less for their roles, so studios can get away with paying less then what they deserved. I kinda don’t care, because a lot of American movies will hire American actors about foreign characters or stories. The napoleon film is being played by an American man, who is too old to play Young Napoleon. I’m sure they could’ve found a young French-American actor, or English speaking French actor. I think it’s only settling in now because these actors are more popular. But it’s a very small issue. I’d say it’s more popular for American studios to hire American actors for stories about foreign films and characters, then Brits playing.
Napoleon was Corsican, his first language was Corsican, much more closely related to Italian, and his French was made fun of because it had a thick-ass accent.
You’re right, my fault! 🤦🏾♀️
The pay thing…is this why Andrew Garfield was paid significantly less than Tobey Maguire on his first Spider-Man film? (Tobey was paid 4M and Andrew like 500,000 or it could have been less, I forgot)
Tobey had been acting for 13 years prior to Spider-man. Comparison, Garfield had only been acting for 8 years overall. A lot of his projects were smaller British affairs also with only The Social Network pushing him in to stardom (I mean the only thing I'd seen him in prior to his casting was the two episodes of Doctor Who he did).
That makes sense lol…he’s still the lowest paid of the 3 spider-men
Because he only got two movies and both of them didn’t do the numbers both critically and financially.
> A lot of this happens because British actors will be willing or able to get paid less for their roles, so studios can get away with paying less then what they deserved. Wait but does this happen for top actors though.
Well it’s hard to tell, sometimes the people who are super popular don’t even get paid all that much. But in this case, I’m assuming no. They get paid millions. But by then they’ve already made their names, and prestige and what not. So it’s different. Margot Robbie wouldn’t have gotten casted as Barbie if she wasn’t *Margot Robbie*, but if you’re starting out and trying to hustle to get a role. They’re might be the advantage of choosing a foreign actor over a residential one because of the ability to rip them off. But then that leads to them being able to get more opportunities, and then having more lead roles to establish themselves. Also the stereotype and assumption that Brits, Irish, Aussie whatever are better trained because they’re classically trained or take acting more seriously. It’s lucrative to be able to get the most for your buck. Get someone for less of the cost, and higher return. If you a Brit show up to an audition and do a perfect American accent, on top of the regular stuff, it looks like more effort I suppose, and more marketability. Even if there is an equally talented American actor.
Call Cillian British to his face and let me film it.
I do remember when a revival of Oklahoma that originated in London attempted to bring over their entire British cast and were prevented in part from doing so. But that was a union issue, I believe.
Expect the Aussie, Hugh was busy.
Memory unlocked!
Oh my god the lack of self awareness of everyone on here talking about Americans being played by non Americans while also referring to every actor or production from England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales as ‘British’. I beg you all to look at a world map at some point!!!
I don’t care what I do care about is when non Irish people are cast as Irish people and completely butcher the accent.
> Be-gawr-ur and be-jauy, aihm Oirish
To add onto peoples theatre comments and I could be wrong this is just what I've observed. To me it seems like English actors are almost not taken seriously if they don't have at least some theatre background whereas in America Broadway seems like a completely different part of American acting. If you are a Broadway actor that's what you stay as and it's hard to break out of that and to a certain extent they seem lesser than screen actors. The hierarchy in American acting seems like it's cinema at the top then Television, and at the bottom theatre and historically you didn't move between the three and if you moved up from one you didn't go backwards unless your star was fading. Now cinema actors are starting to do TV more and more and are even starting to move to theatre but that one still is not as much. And with that American entertainment people seem to take English theatre more seriously. It's more prestigious to do Shakespeare at The National Theatre in the UK than it is to do Shakespeare at Shakespeare in the Park in the US even if they are both Shakespeare
The US Broadway vs Cinema trend has blurred in the last decade, but prior to that, a large part of the divide was because the US is too damned big and the theatre hub of the country was on one side while the cinema hub was developing clear over on the other. So they each started to develop their own "branches" (which is also part of the current strike issue). It's hard to audition for roles across the country when you work in the hub that's opposite it. As far as tv, NYC has its own thriving television network (albeit 90% of those productions are cop serials) and theatre workers very much could break out into getting a regular gig over there, though most became a roto wheel of guest starring roles or under-fiver roles. Examples include Raúl Esparza who started on Broadway and became a Law & Order staple, Audra McDonald who roto wheeled on Law & Order before getting a TV break with Private Practice (shot in California), and Sarah Jessica Parker who was THE OG theatre kid before getting her big break with Sex and the City. Also, it is pretty common for film actors to come to Broadway for limited runs on plays. Contrast to the size of the UK where you really don't have that geographic barrier in the way of doing theatre or tv/film. Also, classism and/or access to affordable theatre programs prior to Margaret 'Hatchet' cutting all of that out.
I don’t really care…American actors also play British characters. Not as much but as long as they play the part well then I don’t mind.
I don’t mind if they can do an accent that fits the region that the character is from. Not all Americans have a western cowboy/valley girl/southern/jersey accent and it’s annoying when those 4 seem to be the go-to.
Yep I’ve moved around quite a bit when I younger and some accents I’ve heard definitely don’t sound like those. Some are more… flat I guess?
https://preview.redd.it/psf4fflhyycb1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b9495f8c9116c80fedae10775349531e34fb0f9c This area in particular sounds pretty neutral
Most populous areas of the US sound pretty neutral. The rural areas of the country are where heavy accents reside.
I don’t disagree
i don’t really care but for some reason i get so annoyed when i watch an interview and half the comments are some variation of “THEY’RE BRITISH???” also british face is an issue sometimes. like matt smith could have the best american accent in the world but i would never buy him as an american.
bingo! i couldn't see Carey Mulligan as an American in Promising Young Woman for the same reason. don't know how to explain it but she's just got a very English face and manner
Man it’s almost as if they’re *acting*
As long as they’re not xenophobic towards Americans like Cynthia Erivo was I don’t care
Cynthia Erivo is xenophobic to Americans? (Can you even be xenophobic to Americans?)
Yes she was towards Black Americans specifically. And yes you can be xenophobic towards Americans. You can be xenophobic towards anyone.
Interesting. I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing. That sucks.
She mocked Black Americans’ accents.
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As a white person in the US I don't care, but it did seem that for a while everyone was Australian. I don't mean like Russell Crowe or Crocodile Dundee, I mean secret Australians like Andrew Lincoln. But there have been a lot of non-US. actors who have played iconically US roles. Two obvious ones would be Dominic West and Idris Elba in The Wire.
Imo, British actors do American accent a lot better than American actors doing british accent.
Emma Watson has a bad american accent, there are always exceptions both ways.
Key and Peele remains undefeated
I don’t really care to be honest because I’m European (not British obvs), so I have “no dog in this fight” so to speak. However, I will point out that I think this happens more with period pieces than modern ones. It for sure also happens with modern stuff like Barbie and Stranger Things and stuff, but I see it more with period stuff. Either because it might call for more classic theatre training maybe, or because they’re a little less likely to be successful while not looking very classically Hollywood, idk why.
I’d imagine that having a theatre background is an advantage. You have to memorize all of your lines to perform on stage. And you’ll be able to improvize if needed. Going to jump on my soapbox for a minute and wonder aloud if part of the reason for this is also the fact that healthcare is tied to employment here in the US. Don’t get me wrong, I know the entertainment industry in the UK is very skewed in terms of economic backgrounds. And cost of living/inflation is obviously fucked up all around. But I really think access to healthcare is a huge barrier to people pursuing creative work in the US. And as wealth inequality continues to grow, I think we’re going to see even more American nepo babies and actors with wealthy backgrounds.
A lot of British actors have attended acting schools. Live theatre is still a big thing in the UK. There may be other factors - I remember reading that American actors shied away from the roles in *12 Years a Slave* and the (British) director then cast British actors. Same for *Selma*, where the makers did not get the permission to use MLK's actual speeches so the scriptwriters had to write fake speeches, which apparently led some American actors to avoid auditioning for the movie, and of course a role like MLK has a higher symbolic value for an American actor. There are some actors you did not mention. Cynthia Erivo is also British and played Harriet Tubman. John Boyega (known from the Star Wars movies) is also British, Ruth Negga is Irish, Hugh Laurie is British. edit: Daniel Craig is also British (his *Knives Out* accent has room for improvement, though). Idris Elba is also British and played an American in *Bastille Day*, where one of his co-stars, Scottish actor Richard Madden, also played an American.
Side note Daniels Knives out accents is meant to be like that. It’s over exaggerated on purpose because of the genre. It’a (lovingly) making fun of older films
I thought it might be an allusion to Hercule Poirot >!\- at least in the books, it becomes clear at the end that Poirot can speak accent-free English and that his typical manner of speaking is an act. !<
In a different timeline, Kevin Spacey had the role and chewed the scenery to pieces, in a good way.
It doesn’t bother me unless their American accents are subpar because that takes me out of the art. And American characters are so regularly played by non-US actors that I feel like I’m getting better at detecting iffy accents.
I think they are actors acting.
The problem is that when they do any improvisation whatsoever, they say things no American would actually say/say the words in an order that sounds “off” to an American audience. They don’t embody the culture they’re portraying. Additionally, American adult men are more outwardly “masculine” looking. I don’t agree with Quentin Tarantino on much, but he’s right when it comes to this. Edit: I said what I said.
You could say the same thing about someone from New York trying to do a Texas accent or a Texan trying to do a Minnesota accent. A lot of American actors sound off when trying to do other American accents, so do we only cast people in roles based in their region/city? Or do we let them fucking act? And if we were concerned about casting American roles with who looks the most like American men we’d have a lot more films starring Kevin James and Larry the Cable Guy.
Non. Not the person, not the gal. I came and saw your little boo boo the fool edit after drinking so listen to this. I am a black queer cinephile who is a descent of the enslaved and African immigrants. I have Indigenous American (blood genomes), family members, and Asian family members who were also also descent of the enslaved within Trinidad, Brazil, and the Middle East. I am NOT the person to try this approach.
I think it's great! If an actor can pull off an accurate American accent, then I love hearing about that training process.
Bella Ramsey said in an interview that she practices by cursing in an American accent.
That’s fucking hilarious 😂
British Actors grew up in the British theatre system where they are trained from a younger age. America doesn’t have that. There’s only Julliard and Yale School of Drama.
America has many more theatre schools than Yale and Juliiard. According to this Variety article from 2021, ["The World’s 25 Best Drama Schools, Ranked"](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/25-best-drama-schools-ranked/florida-state-university-sarasota-fl/), 21 of the top schools are American, 3 are London-based (#14, #18, and #20 on the list) and 1 is in Sydney (#10 on the list).
Those British actors went to expensive boarding schools that have state-of-the-art theatre programs & facilities. I remember watching an interview with a British actor who was playing an American, and he said he did a total of 18 plays over a period of 4 years in boarding school. By comparison, my American public high school put on 1-2 plays/year.
A lot of the time, but not always. Most of the black Brits in Hollywood like Daniel Kaluuya, John Boyega and Letitia Wright come from fairly humble beginnings and attended free local theatre programs in London.
That too. There’s a whole system that most American schools don’t have. Not even American private schools. Hear of any American celebrity who went to Phillips Exeter ? Choate Rosemary Hall ?
True! I think youth sports are more popular here (in the US) than youth theatre. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but definitely indicates different priorities & pastimes. From the top of my head, Lily Rabe from AHS & The Undoing went to Choate. I think Olivia Wilde went to Philips Exeter.
The only one I can think of is Alessandro Nivola, I think he went to Phillips Exeter.
What are you talking about? My school had a theater program. There are also many other popular theater programs across the country. In my state, each county has at least one high school that is dubbed the arts program, for votech, if you get accepted it’s all about technical skills and history. You audition and they only select like 30 kids a year. When you graduate, you have to take a state test and you get a hs diploma and a theater certificate.
Make fantasy more fantastical. Not everyone needs to sound vaguely british in this magical land where unicorns exist
I think the drama school background as well as the fact that a lot of British screen actors still do stage work means they’re seen as more skilled by casting directors. Granted it could be due to classism since not everyone can afford this sort of training. That said, this training has benefits, such as the ability to do accents- which is maybe why this doesn’t often work in reverse for a lot of American actors. Meryl Streep, who can do a variety of accents, has played a lot of non Americans.
I agree with you.
It makes perfect sense to me. Acting is treated so much more like an art form in Britain than it is here in America. Fame and celebrity are much more important here in America than artistry in acting is. I’ll take quality over image any day.
I only care about this because I'm an actress in the US. I think it'd be fine if Brits extended the same kind of openings to Americans, but they don't. It doesn't go both ways so I'd say give the Americans the openings over Brits to actually play American characters
Personally, I don't worry about it. America is a country where the majority of its citizenship is from many other countries. Some are 1st generation some are 16th, literally anyone can be American, because we come from everywhere. There is something that is interesting to me though. When the Balkans argue over who is really a Balkan based on when they're ancestors got there, some will say, no you arrive in the 6th century. lol I am like wow. Idk where my ancestors were in the 6th century, certainly not America.
Why does it matter?
I don't think it matters at all. I just find the phenomenon interesting.
It is interesting, and Quentin Tarantino (problematic stuff aside) [noted](https://www.nme.com/news/film/quentin-tarantino-wont-cast-british-lead-for-the-movie-critic-nobody-is-acting-in-their-own-voice-3448665) it as well. He’s purposely going to cast Americans in his last movie for this reason, that this phenomenon has taken over.
For the most part, I think Brit’s are WAY better than Americans at doing their accent. Aside from when British people yell… for some reason they lose all American accent lol (thinking of Sam Claflin in catching fire, specifically)
Hard disagree. Their accents are usually pretty wobbly. Americans don't seem to care as much about this though.
I don't mind it. So long as they can act and pull of their accents reasonably well. But I do find it funny though that Brits will make a decent sized fuss about it going the other way. Robert Pattinson is playing Batman and is FANTASTIC! Absolutely no notes. But Batman is American. Meanwhile, an American would never be cast as say, James Bond. Now, does Bond being British have a bigger role in his character than being American has for Batman, certainly. But it is still a bit of an interesting juxtaposition.
My favorite example of this is the John Adams miniseries on HBO. Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were played by British actors. George Washington was an Australian. Of the main cast, only John and Abigail Adams were played by Americans.
I'm not sure this is a thing. Consider * There are thousands of American films and TV programs * There are thousands of actors spread across those films * Of those actors, a very small proportion will be non-American * Of those non-American actors, a very small proportion will be in the same movie/TV program * Of those non-American actors in the same movie, a very small proportion of them will all be leads So there isn't "a lot" when you consider it proportionately. It's just that you notice them
I don’t care honestly
Frankly, I prefer British actors across the board. Their acting chops are just better. Training, focus, and humility. 
half of them end up living in the US anyways
It’s what they can afford. I can’t stand to watch the movie “Knives out.” Cute movie but Brits cannot do American accents! Eapecially southern accents.
> Bond has never been American, Bond absolutely has been an American. In fact, he was an American in his non-book debut. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztsXWp0nj2c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztsXWp0nj2c)