"It Was The Worst Cockney Accent Ever Done" – 14 Great Actors Who Did Awful, Seriously Terrible Accents In Films

I'm sorry Tom Cruise, your Irish accent is all over the place.

Even some of the greatest actors have a weak point. For a fair few of them, it is (or was) a particular accent that they didn't quite master for a role.

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So, here are 13 great actors that did some frankly awful accents:

1. Dick Van Dyke – Mary Poppins

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc

Where else to start but with the iconic, if not somewhat jarring performance of Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. His "cockney" chimney sweep was so bad that it's almost endearing. In fact, the actor himself admitted that it was awful, saying: 

“If someone from the UK sees me, they’re on me like a pack of wolves. I mean, it was the worst cockney accent ever done, but the guy who taught me was an Irishman!"

2. Kevin Costner – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Warner Bros. Pictures

The native Californian's version of the famous outlaw from around Nottingham was slammed by critics and viewers alike. The most bizarre aspect was the lack of a British accent, with the occasional dip into a quasi-British-American type accent which made things even more confusing. 

While some may blame Costner for this, it was actually a result of a disagreement between him and the director, Kevin Reynolds. Kevin Reynolds believed that the adoption of a British accent would distract audiences, while Costner was keen for the accent to be as British as possible. The issue was never resolved, thus leaving us with this confusing and awful accent. 

3. Tom Cruise And Nicole Kidman – Far And Away

Universal Pictures

It would have been historically accurate for Nicole Kidman's character to speak with an English accent, as was a norm for daughters of well-off landowners at the time. However, they decided to have her speak in what was intended to be an educated Dublin accent, something that very much did NOT come through in the end. 

The only thing worse than Nicole's accent was Tom's. It was more like 'accents' than 'accent', as he'd flit around from Dublin to Belfast, to something more akin to pirate between and within scenes. 

4. Julia Roberts – Mary Reilly

Sony Pictures Releasing

Sicking with attempted Irish accents, Julia Roberts' attempt at one in Mary Reilly was also all over the place. Many Irish people found it comical, with it flitting from region to region. Oddly enough, Julia also did an Irish accent for her role as Kitty Kiernan in Michael Collins in the same year, which wasn't quite as bad. 

5. Anne Hathaway – One Day

Universal Pictures

When Anne was cast to play the beloved character of Emma in One Day, there were immediate concerns that she was not 'British' enough. And so it happened, her accent was something more like an old-fashioned caricatured British accent, nothing like the Yorkshire sound it should have been. 

6. Nicholas Cage – Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Universal Pictures

Nicholas Cage's performance as Captain Antonio Corelli unfortunately ended up looking and sounding more like a caricature than a real person. This was largely due to Nicholas' stereotypical accent which sounds more like Mario than it does a real Italian person. 

7. Don Cheadle – Ocean's 11

Warner Bros. Pictures

Don's infamous cockney accent is so unbelievably jarring that it immediately takes you out of the film. While his character is supposed to add an element of humour, the accent is frankly so ridiculous that it's definitely more absurd than it is funny. 

8. Keanu Reeves – Bram Stoker's Dracula

Columbia Pictures

Despite putting in a lot of effort for his British accent, Keanu's attempt was slammed by the critics. It came off as stilted, and you can kind of hear some sort of twang when he speaks occasionally. 

Director, Francis Ford Coppola spoke about the accent, admitting it wasn't easy for him: 

"He tried so hard. That was the problem, actually – he wanted to do it perfectly, and in trying to do it perfectly, it came off as stilted. I tried to get him to just relax with it and not do it so fastidiously."

9. Daniel Craig and Angelina Jolie – Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

United International Pictures

In this film, for some reason they cast a Brit, Daniel Craig to don an American accent, and an American, Angelina Jolie, to put on a British accent. Neither accent is as atrocious as some of the others on this list, but the fact that they're both doing pretty dodgy versions of each other's accents just makes it worse. 

10. Angelina Jolie – Alexander

Warner Bros. Pictures

Sticking with Angelina (sorry Angelina), her attempt at something similar to a Greek accent in Alexander also fell very short of the mark. Playing Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great, Angelina's accent comes across far more eastern European and even middle-eastern than it does Greek. 

11. Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio – Gangs of New York

Miramax Films

While the two's acting stands up highly, particularly being surrounded by such a stellar cast, their accents, however, don't quite hold up. Seemingly, it is hard to do an Irish accent without going straight for the over-the-top brogue that both Cameron and Leo adopt in Gangs of New York. 

12. Leonardo DiCaprio – Blood Diamond

Warner Bros. Pictures

Sorry, Leo, you're up again. This one, however, is somewhat controversial. Some people maintain that his accent was very impressive, but South African Trevor Noah set the record straight. He called Leo's attempt "drunk Australian" and said it was "horrible." I guess that clears that one up then...

13. Sean Connery – Everything

20th Century Fox

Of all the actors out there who struggle with accents, Sean Connery was seemingly incapable of anything other than his Scottish brogue. Perhaps most bizarre was when he was playing a characters known as The Spaniard in Highlander – and pronouncing it in his thick Scottish accent.

14. Brad Pitt – Meet Joe Black

Universal Pictures

I mean, was this ever going to be good? No, no it wasn't. Brad Pitt speaking patois in Meet Joe Black may be (is) the most ridiculous one out of all of these. I'm not sure how this even really got past production – there are no words. You can listen and I guess laugh here. 

What's the worst accent you've heard an actor do? Let us know in the comments below!