TVSquad

Have to say I was shocked when i learned that Idris Elba, aka Stringer Bell on the Wire, was British. I mean, Stringer Bell!

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You forgot Damian Lewis from Life. And Marie Jean-Baptiste, Anthony LaPaglia, and Poppy Montgomery from Without A Trace (British and Australian).

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Anna Friel of Pushing Daisies is also British, I just found out. Boy, would have never known it from the accent she uses on the show.

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How come you say some are from England, Scotland and then call others British? You really need to make up your mind - are you using the constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales & N.Ireland) or just British (UK) ... its confusing to say the least.

House is from England too ... all the ones from England & Scotland are British too.

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Yeah, I was really surprised by McNulty and Idris Elba, but my biggest surprise is Hugh Laurie. Man, that dude pulls it off well.

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Don't forget Matthew Rhys from Wales and Rachel Griffiths from Australia playing California siblings on "Brothers & Sisters."

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since i havent heard mcnulty or stringer bell speak with their actual accents, i was most shocked when i heard hugh laurie. it doesn't sound strange anymore but STRINGER BELL? I thought McNulty was strange but Bell?? Wow.

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Jamie Bamber (Lee Adama) on Battlestar Galactica is also a Brit...

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There's also Damian Lewis on "Life", Lloyd Owen on "Viva Laughlin", and Jamie Bamber on "Battlestar Galactica".

The WaPo did an article on this and pointed out that British actors in particular are frequently much better trained, and used to learning different accents--accent is still a shorthand for social position and character in British shows, and everyone learns received pronunciation so they can be understood. American actors rarely change their natural accents unless it's critical to the plot; OTOH, it's very common to live as an adult far from where one was born, and move around the country, so people who don't have the native accent of a region aren't unusual. Plus, British actors can be hired for less than American actors and still consider themselves better off than in their native country.

Another big reason is that the Briitish and other foreign film industries are relatively small, while the BBC and other televison producers are larger. Therefore, fewer people can make a career in film alone and there hasn't been a stigma to appearing in TV after one becomes successful in film; in the US film work is considered superior to TV so actors who make it big in movies rarely come back to series TV until their careers stumble. And of course US series require a longer commitment so it's not practical to star in more than one movie a year shot during hiatus.

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Jason Isaacs on Brotherhood from UK; guy that plays his brother is from Australia. The lead on Moonlight is Australian. Dominic Purcell from Prison Break is either Australian or from New Zealand, as is Nip Tuck's Julian McMahon.

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This really isn't a new thing. Remember Jane Seymour on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman? But it's still fun to see actors this good at their craft, isn't it?

How about Louise Lombard who plays Sofia Curtis on CSI? She's British. Now, I really liked her work as Evie in the UK series The House of Eliott, but didn't recognize her on CSI for over a year, as she's so different with the long blonde hair and the accent change.

Not that it's the same type of thing as he's not portraying an American on his show, but Naveen Andrews of LOST is a wiz with accent changes...every time I hear him in show interviews, I'm thrown by his Cockney? accent, he just does his Sayid voice so well.

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Without a Trace is no stranger to this phenomenon:

- Anthony La Paglia is Australian.
- Poppy Montgomery is Australian -- sometimes her accent pops through with a word here or there, but La Paglia is spot on.
- Marianne Jean-Baptiste is British. She does an awesome job with her American accent. I was so taken aback when I found out she was British!

I always like it when I see an American in a British show. It's like "Oh look! It works both ways!". Examples are Michelle Forbes in the Messiah series, Michael Landes in various shows, and of course, John Barrowman in Torchwood! (OK, disclaimer: Barrowman was born in Scotland, BUT he was raised in Illinois since he was 8.)

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American actors lose roles to Canadian actors too; so many shows are filmed there anymore. Even if the leads are American, the guest roles often are Canadian - Supernatural, Smallville, Blood Ties etc.

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Stringer Bell...? Dayum. Usually I can tell but he had me fooled.

Is this post to make up for that insanely ignorant comment one of the TVSquad bloggers said about British actors? :p

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Linus Roache from Kidnapped and now Law and Order is from the UK.

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...and Yvonne Strzechowski is Australian, not Austrian. :o)

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I'm always blown away by all these actors. The ancents they do on their shows are always excellent. I remember the first interview I saw with Jamie Bamber (Lee Adama) his british accent is so thick I mean dam.

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Both of "Boston Legal's" new supporting actresses, Tara Summers and Saffron Burrows, are British.

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Jake Weber ("Medium") was born and raised in England, but all of his IMDb credits are U.S. productions. He's probably been here long enough to have lost his accent.

I saw a play in London several years ago that took place in Los Angeles. The accents, however, lived in a great many places. Not always the places they were supposed to be....

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On the flipside, David Anders (Sark in Alias; Takezo Sensei in Heroes) sounds completely British, yet is from Oregon. So weird to hear him WITHOUT an accent.

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