British Actors Who Have Perfected American Accents

It's a tale as old as time: British actors crossing the pond to be cast in big-time American movies and television shows. Which means speaking in an American accent for months—sometimes even years—at a time. While this seems challenging, these Brits have absolutely smashed the challenge. We'll bet you didn't even know at least some of them weren't American.

Hugh Laurie

Hugh Laurie was educated at Eton and Cambridge University, so his actual accent is what one might call "Queen's English." But given the British actor's most famous role, on the TV show House, many fans have mistaken him for American over the years—his fake accent is just that good.

Will Poulter

You may recognize Will Poulter as Jason Sudeikis' fake (American) son from the 2013 movie We're the Millers, or as (British) Chef Luca from The Bear. In real life, the actor's accent is closer to Luca's, since Poulter was born in West London. But his pretend American accent, though? Flawless.

Christian Bale

Gotham City may be fictional, but it's still all-American. As such, you've probably heard—and been fooled by—Christian Bale's deeply convincing American accent in The Dark Night series. But the actor was actually born in the Welsh town of Haverfordwest to English parents, and therefore speaks with an English accent.

Andrew Lincoln

Love Actually fans already know that Andrew Lincoln is British—you've heard him declare his undying love for Keira Knightley, after all. But though the actor hails from London, his American accent is completely spot-on on The Walking Dead, which ran between 2010 and 2022.

Henry Cavill

Henry Cavill is originally from the island of Jersey, so in real life his beautiful deep voice comes out in a British accent. But for roles like his most famous one as Superman, he's perfectly capable of putting on the ol' American twang—though he has admitted it can get tiring after a whole day of filming.

Nicholas Hoult

As a child actor, Nicholas Hoult tended to play characters who were British like him. But as his career has progressed, Hoult has done such an amazing American accent for movies like The Order (2024) that even the hyper-accomplished Hugh Grant once admitted he was hugely jealous of Hoult's skill.

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Chiwetel Ejiofor is a British actor, and has played some famously English roles in the likes of Love Actually and Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. But Ejiofor is perhaps best known for his award-winning performance in 12 Years a Slave, in which he plays a New York native who is sold into slavery.

Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis is a British acting legend, born in London's ritzy Kensington area. Yet, most of the actor's major roles have been quintessentially American: Lincoln, Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood.... So yeah, you could say that Day-Lewis knows his way around an American accent.

Daniel Radcliffe

Who could forget Daniel Radcliffe as a pre-teen and teenage Harry Potter? The London native may have started his career with the most British role there is, but that doesn't mean he can't do an American accent when it's required. If you haven't seen him in the delightful rom-com What If, for example, now's your chance.

Bella Ramsey

Bella Ramsey was born in Nottingham, England, and their breakout role on Game of Thrones involved a very British accent. But we could have almost completely forgotten all about that once they made their appearance on the post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us, which is set in the U.S.

Will Sharpe

No, the man who played Aubrey Plaza's very attractive husband in season two of The White Lotus is not in fact American—though he certainly had us fooled. Will Sharpe speaks in his own British accent in the movie A Real Pain and the TV show Flowers, for example.

Asa Butterfield

Before he charmingly played Otis Milburn on Netflix' Sex Education, Asa Butterfield was that kid from Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, in which he spoke in a distinctly American voice. But Butterfield was born in London's Islington, and is totally English.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

In the U.K. where she's from, Gugu Mbatha-Raw originally broke out as a stage actress. But later on, you might have caught the British actress speaking in pitch-perfect American on The Morning Show, for instance—an accent so good some fans definitely thought she was from the U.S.

Jamie Bell

Jamie Bell, who hails from northern England, was incredible as Billy Elliot, the young boy who just wanted to dance, in the 2000 film. But Bell has more than shown his range since then, practicing his American accent for roles like in Fantastic Four and King Kong.

Theo James

Theo James could not have been more convincing as a morally questionable American businessman on season 2 of The White Lotus, alongside fellow Brit-masquerading-as-American Will Sharpe. But James was born in Oxford, England, and has had to blag his way through many am American role over the years.

Daniel Kaluuya

There's nothing Daniel Kaluuya can't do, frankly. Born in London, the actor rose to fame in the British teen series Skins in the 2000s, but has since had many occasions to refine his American accent—thanks to roles in Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah, or Queen & Slim.

Benedict Cumberbatch

You probably already know Benedict Cumberbatch is British, not least because one of his most famous roles is literally as Sherlock Holmes. But the actor's American accent is totally flawless when he plays Doctor Strange in the Marvel Universe, including across from fellow Brit-doing-an-American-accent Tom Holland.

Thandiwe Newton

Thandiwe Newton may hail from London, U.K., originally, but she's been a superstar this side of the pond for decades too—with roles in blockbusters like Mission: Impossible II, The Pursuit of Happyness and Westworld. But besides putting on an American accent for various roles, she also likes to speak in a Valley girl accent sometimes just for kicks.

Dev Patel

Dev Patel is originally from Harrow, northwest of London, but his accent work is top-notch. He hasn't had many roles where he was required to do an American accent—he was Australian in Lion, Indian in Slumdog Millionaire—but in The Last Airbender, he really found his American speaking groove.

Jude Law

Jude Law speaks in his own—British—accent in many of his famous roles: The Holiday, Sherlock Holmes, Fantastic Beasts. But if you ever saw The Talented Mr. Ripley, you'll know Law is more than capable of speaking in an American twang when required, and very well too.

Andrew Garfield

Andrew Garfield can easily code-switch between British and American English. Born in Los Angeles to an English mother and American father, Garfield's natural accent is British—as you can hear in We Live in Time and Never Let Me Go. But his American accent is stellar, too—see Hacksaw Ridge and The Amazing Spider-Man.

Jason Isaacs

Many of us got to know Jason Isaacs when he played the very evil (and British) Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movie series. But the Liverpool, England, native was every bit as convincing as a corrupt North Carolinian businessman on The White Lotus season 3.

Idris Elba

Idris Elba was long rumored to be in the running as the next James Bond—one of the most British roles there is (well, although Pierce Brosnan is Irish). That's because Elba is one of the UK's most prominent heartthrobs, obviously. Still, the actor has had no problem affecting an American accent for roles in The Office or Molly's Game.

Tom Holland

Kingston upon Thames-born Tom Holland got his start on London's West End playing the northern English Billy Elliot. After that, though, Holland graduated to playing the New York native Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, in the superhero series, so, yeah, he can pull off an American accent.

Millie Bobby Brown

Millie Bobby Brown was actually born in Marbella, Spain, but is very much English. Accent-wise, though, she's a bit of a chameleon: She once had to explain why her voice often switches between British and American, and it's because she likes to fit in! Acting-wise, though, she obviously spoke in an American accent on Stranger Things.

Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet, a British actress from Reading, has spoken in her own voice in The Holiday, for example. But she also has a long history of putting on various American accents, including in Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Mare of Easttown.

Rosamund Pike

Rosamund Pike was born in London, England, but you certainly wouldn't know it from her on-screen American accent. In films like Gone Girl and Jack Reacher, the actress showed off her impeccable accent work. If you want to hear her regular voice, you'll have to watch Pride & Prejudice or Die Another Day.

Carey Mulligan

Carey Mulligan is from London originally, and speaks in a distinctly British accent—including for roles like in Never Let Me Go and Suffragette. But the actress is equally comfortable speaking in an American accent, and she does it brilliantly in Maestro, She Said, or Wildlife.

Robert Pattinson

Once we all got to know Robert Pattinson in the Twilight series (vampire, American), many of us put two and two together and realized he was also Cedric Diggory from the Harry Potter series (wizard, British). All that to say, Robert Pattinson, from London, can navigate an American accent like the back of his hand.

Emma Watson

Emma Watson rose to fame as the witch Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter movie series, a role for which she spoke with her native British accent. But after that, she proved her American chops in movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Little Women (which starred zero American March sisters).

Florence Pugh

Florence Pugh spoke in a highly convincing American accent in the 2019 movie Little Women, alongside three other non-American March sisters, played by the Irish Saoirse Ronan, the Australian Eliza Scanlen, and the British Emma Watson. Anyway, Pugh was born in Oxford, and you can hear her English accent in We Live in Time, if you so desire.

Emily Blunt

London native Emily Blunt was delightfully British in The Devil Wears Prada, as in real life. But thanks in part to being around her children's American accent all the time, Blunt absolutely nails her own American accent in films like A Quiet Place and Looper.