UK actors playing Americans

[Deckerd]

I've just finished watching The Wire and was pondering how TV companies go about casting. The actors were all superb but it was surprising to see two of the principals were English. Was it an aberration because The Wire was so very classy and the casting went for the perfect actor? Or is this a trend?

 

[SilentP]

It might be a trend, since we've got Hugh Laurie (that is his name right??) in 'House' and Tim Roth in 'Lie to Me' as well. Maybe the casting people are casting the net further afield?

 

[cultcross]

Nationality has never really been a barrier to actors, as long as they can pull off accents fairly well - our very own Jamie Bamber of course spent 4 years playing the sun of an hispanic American.

It's nice, to be honest, that British actors are getting to play parts other than the villain on US TV.

 

[cultcross]

Hugh Laurie (that is his name right??)

well that or Prince Ludwig the Indestructible

 

[Deckerd]

Or Bertie.

I thought Hugh Laurie was a one-off because he basically owned the part from audition onwards. Jamie Bamber wasn't so very well known, so he could just have been a box ticking exercise. This is no disrespect to JB, who did a fine job.

Was The Wire more popular than BSG? Viewing figures I mean. HBO must have known they were onto a very strong show from the outset, so they would have taken extra care with the casting.

 

[barnaclelapse]

It always seemed to me like something that's been an off/on kind of thing in terms of activity for as long as I can remember. It does seem to be a little more prevalent now than usual though.

I don't watch The Wire or know anything about it, so it's interesting that they went that route. I guess it just comes down to the creative minds behind the show keeping an open mind in their desire to have the best possible actor playing their character.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Apparently during Hugh Laurie's audition for House, exec-prod Bryan Singer had no idea Laurie was British until afterwards.

 

[Christopher]

It's not just UK actors. Two of the leads of CBS's Without a Trace, Anthony LaPaglia and Poppy Montgomery, are Australian (and a third, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, is British). Portia de Rossi, who's played American characters in various shows, is also Australian. Alias's Michael Vartan is French.

Not to mention all the Canadian-born actors who've played American TV leads -- William Shatner being one of the more notable examples.

 

[Thor Damar]

Nationality has never really been a barrier to actors, as long as they can pull off accents fairly well - our very own Jamie Bamber of course spent 4 years playing the sun of an hispanic American.

It's nice, to be honest, that British actors are getting to play parts other than the villain on US TV.

Indeed, in fact Jamie Bamber's natural accent is far more stereotypically English than my own.

I actually like the fact that we Brits are cast as the villains, it gives us a coolness factor that we lack in RL.

 

[Greg Cox]

It works the other way, too. Sherlock Holmes in now being played by Robert Downey Jr. an American.

 

[Marc]

It's not just UK actors. Two of the leads of CBS's Without a Trace, Anthony LaPaglia and Poppy Montgomery, are Australian (and a third, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, is British). Portia de Rossi, who's played American characters in various shows, is also Australian. Alias's Michael Vartan is French.

Not to mention all the Canadian-born actors who've played American TV leads -- William Shatner being one of the more notable examples.

Don't forget Linus Roache on Law & Order - and played Thomas Wayne in Batman Begins.

 

[TerriO]

Andrew Lee Potts (Connor from Primeval) had role as a surfer in California in the movie 1408. Pulled a dead-on Cali surfer accent. Freaked me out when I realized it was him.

 

[Deckerd]

It works the other way, too. Sherlock Holmes in now being played by Robert Downey Jr. an American.

Yes but he's renowned for being a consummate actor. I think what surprised me about The Wire was that the actors weren't that famous, really. I could believe that one American producer didn't realise Hugh Laurie was English but I expect most of the cast and crew did.

 

[Mistral]

Not to mention all the Canadian-born actors who've played American TV leads -- William Shatner being one of the more notable examples.

You mean, like Michael J Fox?

 

[Christopher]

It works the other way, too. Sherlock Holmes in now being played by Robert Downey Jr. an American.

Let's not forget the TV series The Dresden Files from a couple of years back, with British actor Paul Blackthorne as the American Harry Dresden and American actor Terrence Mann as his British sidekick.

 

[Ward Fowler]

Yes but he's renowned for being a consummate actor. I think what surprised me about The Wire was that the actors weren't that famous, really. I could believe that one American producer didn't realise Hugh Laurie was English but I expect most of the cast and crew did.

I imagine producers don't care as much about nationality as they do looks, acting ability, professionalism, etc. That is as long as the actor can pull off the accent.
I agree about The Wire. It was perfectly cast.

 

[cultcross]

Indeed, in fact Jamie Bamber's natural accent is far more stereotypically English than my own.

He has a wonderfully stereotypical English accent, I was trying to work out if he was putting that on for Law & Order UK for the future US market sales, but then I heard him interviewed and he actually sounds like that. Great stuff.

 

[RoJoHen]

Not the UK, but the girl who plays Sarah Walker on "Chuck" is from Australia. He American accent kicks ass.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

And Texan Renee Zellweger plays Bridget Jones, and Gwyneth Paltrow has played a number of English characters. Meryl Streep of course has put on a cornucopia of accents through her career. And South African Charlize Theron almost always plays Americans (going so far as to change her accent permanently off screen as well as on). There are no shortage of examples.

 

[Christopher]

And as shocking as it may sound, not one of the actors who's played Superman was actually Kryptonian!


But seriously, there's a lot of this in the new Star Trek cast. Of the core seven, only Chris Pine and Anton Yelchin are playing their true nationalities (though only by birth in Yelchin's case). You've got a New Zealander playing a doctor from Atlanta, an Englishman playing a Scot, an American of mixed (Lebanese-Indian-Irish-Jamaican) heritage playing an African, and a Korean-born American playing a Japanese-Filipino-whatever native of San Francisco.