28 Famous Actors Who Are So Good, They Tricked You Into Thinking They're American
Prepare to be bamboozled!
We asked members of the BuzzFeed Community which actors they were surprised to find out actually aren't American. Here's who they said:
1. Daniel Kaluuya
Where you know his American accent from: Get Out, Widows, Queen & Slim
Where he's actually from: London
"I knew him from Skins, but his performance and American accent were so good in everything else, I totally forgot he was English."
2. Margot Robbie
Where you know her American accent from: The Wolf of Wall Street, Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Bombshell, I, Tonya
Where she's actually from: Dalby, Queensland, Australia
"I’m so used to her American accent that whenever I hear her real Australian accent, it feels fake. It's almost like it’s dubbed or something. It’s actually a bit of a mind fuck."
3. Alan Cumming
Where you know his American accent from: The Good Wife, Spy Kids, Instinct
Where he's actually from: Aberfeldy, Scotland
"He has a verrrrrry believable American accent."
4. Daniel Ezra
Where you know his American accent from: All American
Where he's actually from: Birmingham, England
"He plays a teenager who grew up in LA, but he's actually British. I was shocked the first time I heard him speak in real life."
5. Tom Holland
Where you know his American accent from: The Spider-Man and MCU movies, The Devil All the Time
Where he's actually from: Kingston upon Thames, England
"I was completely convinced he was American until I started watching some interviews. I was absolutely blown away by the fact that his accent was fake! I saw a video once where he spent the whole time switching back and forth between his regular British accent and his American accent, and it was wild to see how easy it is for him to turn it on and off."
6. Andrew Lincoln
Where you know his American accent from: The Walking Dead
Where he's actually from: London
"I had no idea he was British until he went on Talking Dead and spoke with Chris Hardwick."
7. Alfred Enoch
Where you know his American accent from: How to Get Away With Murder
Where he's actually from: Westminster, London
"He has the most spot-on American accent. It's spotless."
8. Henry Cavill
Where you know his American accent from: The Justice League series and Mission: Impossible — Fallout
Where he's actually from: St. Helier, Jersey, British Isles
"I had no clue he was British for the longest time. I even had to double-check before posting this because I was still second-guessing myself."
9. Robert Pattinson
Where you know his American accent from: The Twilight movies, Remember Me, The Devil All the Time
Where he's actually from: London
"Even though my first introduction to him was as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter, I always forget he’s actually British. Whenever he speaks in his actual accent in any other movie, it just sounds so strange!"
10. Antony Starr
Where you know his American accent from: The Boys
Where he's actually from: Auckland, New Zealand
"His character is a spoof of Marvel's golden boy Captain America, and he's supposed to represent the USA, so I always forget the actor is actually from New Zealand. He nails the American accent!"
11. Robert Sheehan
Where you know his American accent from: The Umbrella Academy
Where he's actually from: Port Laoise, Ireland
"I just binge-watched The Umbrella Academy, then decided to watch some of his other works and found out that he's actually Irish. His American accent is so good, I never would've guessed!"
12. Idris Elba
Where you know his American accent from: The Wire, Pacific Rim, American Gangster, The Office
Where he's actually from: Hackney, London
"Idris Elba's Baltimore accent is so incredibly good. I watched the entirety of The Wire before I ever knew he was British!"
13. Charlie Cox
Where you know his American accent from: Daredevil
Where he's actually from: East Sussex, England
"His American accent is especially impressive when he also has to focus on challenging fight scenes."
14. Hugh Dancy
Where you know his American accent from: Hannibal, Late Night
Where he's actually from: Stoke-on-Trent, England
"Hugh Dancy does a great job of totally masking his British accent. How he does this whilst acting so incredibly is a mystery to the common man."
15. Danielle Macdonald
Where you know her American accent from: Dumplin', Unbelievable
Where she's actually from: Sydney
"When I watched her in Dumplin', there was literally no doubt in my mind that she was from the South — or at least from America. But guess what? I was bamboozled! The girl is AUSTRALIAN!!! I would've never guessed that in a million years. That perfect Southern accent literally had us all fooled. Someone get this woman an award."
16. Charlie Hunnam
Where you know his American accent from: Sons of Anarchy, Pacific Rim
Where he's actually from: Newcastle upon Tyne, England
"I was shocked when I heard his actual voice for the first time."
17. Dominique Provost-Chalkley
Where you know her American accent from: Wynonna Earp
Where she's actually from: Bristol, England
"Her whole performance as Waverly on Wynonna Earp is brilliant, but the American accent genuinely fooled me. There was one episode where her character faked a British accent, and I was stunned when I found out that that was actually her real voice."
18. Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Where you know her American accent from: Black Mirror's "San Junipero" episode, The Morning Show
Where she's actually from: Oxford, England
"I didn't find out she was actually English for the longest time."
19. Hugh Jackman
Where you know his American accent from: The Greatest Showman, the X-Men movies
Where he's actually from: Sydney
"I didn’t know Hugh Jackman was Australian until much more recently than I would like to admit. I grew up watching the X-Men series and later saw The Greatest Showman, and it never even occurred to me that he wasn’t American! Not even Les Miserables gave it away!"
20. Dan Stevens
Where you know his American accent from: Legion
Where he's actually from: Croydon, London
"He slips so easily into a flawless American accent."
21. Toni Collette
Where you know her American accent from: Knives Out, Hereditary, Unbelievable, United States of Tara, Little Miss Sunshine, In Her Shoes
Where she's actually from: Sydney
"I've never seen any of her Australian roles, and didn't realize she wasn't American until I saw it in a BuzzFeed article. She's done so many projects with an American accent, and she sounds so natural in all of them."
22. Cynthia Erivo
Where you know her American accent from: The Color Purple on Broadway, Harriet, Widows, Bad Times at the El Royale
Where she's actually from: Stockwell, London
"I saw her in The Color Purple on Broadway, and she was so fantastic. Then I did a deep dive and watched a few interviews with her, and I was so surprised to learn she's English."
23. Dominic Purcell
Where you know his American accent from: Prison Break, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow
Where he's actually from: Born in Wallasey, Merseyside, England, but moved to Bondi, New South Wales, Australia
"He has a very convincing accent in both Prison Break and the Arrowverse. Listening to him speak in interviews is like listening to a completely different man."
24. Millie Bobby Brown
Where you know her American accent from: Stranger Things
Where she's actually from: Born in Marbella, Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, but moved to Bournemouth, Dorset, England
"I knew at one point that she wasn’t American but then totally forgot about it. I just recently watched a video with her in it, and when she spoke, I was so confused! Props to her and her awesome American accent!"
25. Christian Bale
Where you know his American accent from: American Pyscho, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Vice, The Fighter, Newsies
Where he's actually from: Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales
"The first thing I saw him in was Newsies way back in the early '90s. I had no idea he was Welsh. Since then, some of his most famous roles have been with his American accent, but I forget every time that he’s not really American."
26. Charlie Heaton
Where you know his American accent from: Stranger Things, New Mutants
Where he's actually from: Leeds, England
"I didn’t know he was British until I watched an interview with him. His American accent is sooooooo good."
27. Florence Pugh
Where you know her American accent from: Midsommar, Little Women
Where she's actually from: Oxford, England
"I first saw her in Midsommar and fell in love with her! Then I followed her on Instagram and watched some of her stories and was totally caught off guard when she started speaking with a British accent. Her American accent is flawless."
28. And finally, Hugh Laurie
Where you know his American accent from: House, Veep
Where he's actually from: Blackbird Leys, Oxford, England
"After seeing House, I didn't believe he was British. I had to go dig up interviews on YouTube to prove it."
Did we miss anyone? Let us know in the comments below!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.