Here's a light topic.

After watching Angels in America and Little Miss Sunshine in the last few days, and with the Oscars rolling around, I began to think of actors doing accents. I was looking for some insight from other English-speaking regions of the world.

Toni Collette nails the American accent everytime, whether it is urban Philly in The Sixth Sense , Italian-American in Connie and Carla or the more mainstream American accent as in Little Miss Sunshine or In Her Shoes. I know Collette has done some British films (About a Boy) I wonder if her accent talent extends to the British dialect?

Emma Thompson, for all of her acting chops, can never consistently maintain an American accent. Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett pull off their American accents - but how was Nicole Kidman's turn as Virginia Woolf in The Hours or Blanchett's in Elizabeth or as Irish Veronica Guerin? I'm thinking Mel Gibson can't even fake an Australian accent anymore - are Australian actors the masters of the accent?

I'm sure the list of American actors butchering other accents can go on and on (Julia Roberts in Michael Collins was particularily cringe-worthy), but which American actors have pulled it off? How was Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones? The actors who play Spike and Drusilla in the Buffy the Vampire series?

Does Leonardo DiCaprio's turn as a South African in Blood Diamond ring true?

Anybody care to contribute their thoughts?

Best accents i have heard are Gwyneth Paltrow's English accent and Hugh Laurie's American accent. Thought Zellweggers was good in Bridget Jones.

What about Kevin Costners accent in "robin hood, prince of thieves"?

I agree with Hugh Laurie. In addition, he actually mocks the U.S. African American vernacular quite well when taunting Dr. Foreman.

They suck ass. They are fcuking horrible. I mean, we are talking cringe-worthy. Especially the chick.

Toni Collette's English accent is great in About a Boy.

Gwyneth Paltrow's English accent in Shakespeare in Love flick was terribly la-di-da. Renee Zellweger also sported an overly-posh accent in the first Bridget Jones flick, but she came to her own in the second one (though the film sucked ass). Nicole Kidman's accent, as well as her acting, was great in The Hours. Cate Blanchett's English accent is spot-on, as was her Irish (though my ear for that vernacular is less refined).

Gillian Anderson can do a relatively decent English accent, but I think she was originally brought up in London (though I might be making that up). Frances O'Connor can do English, American, and, unsurprisingly, Australian accents very well.

Hugh Laurie's accent in House was all over the place in the first season. He seems to have improved it in the third season.

Didn't Mel Gibson do an accent in the anti English thing he did ..... the scottish film, don't remember what it's called.


Charlie Chaplin's accents were good, in his early stuff.

Mel's movie was Braveheart

[quote user="David Simpson" post="79679"]Didn't Mel Gibson do an accent in the anti English thing he did ...[/quote]

yup, that short arsed twat started the frenzy of anti-english films. didnt he do another one about those colonials getting upset when we raised the taxes?
There is another one out at the moment called "son osmanli" or something which the wife tells me has a very anti-english sentiment in it. Also whats with all the Hollywood bad guys with manchester accents now?

[quote user="Mrs.Zorro" post="79738"]Mel's movie was Braveheart[/quote]

Are you sure? I thought it was called Clash of the Tartans.

Don't forget, Gallipoli, starman (another anti-English film with Mel Gibson). Come on, you lot deserved it that time though.

Ha Ha.... I remember the film well because I thought my future hubby was so secure in his masculinity to have that poster on his wall in college....

[quote user="starman" post="79744"]Also whats with all the Hollywood bad guys with manchester accents now?[/quote]

It used to be Alan Rickman et al, but Hollywood is following the BBC policy of using folk with queer regional accents, like those from Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham.

I thought Jonny Depp in Finding Neverland was pretty spot on (Scottish) and Pirates of the Caribbean (Drunk English) was classic. He is American isnt he?

Dick Van Dyke's cockney accent in Mary Poppins still moves me to tears.

Depp is one of those Americans whose accent has morphed into something you can't quite put your finger on (he has spent a great deal of time in France). Madonna has undergone the same transformation - it's a bit annoying, methinks.

With Depp, it seems natural as he lives in a French village with Vanessa Paradis and their kid (kids?).

Madonna, on the other hand, is a stupid twat, who developed that bizarre conglomeration of grunts some people call an English accent the moment he (he? Fruedian typing slip) started smoking Guy Ritchie's cock.