Damian Lewis, yes or no?

[Egan]

Originally Posted by Eichhornchen

Well I suppose the nub of my question was to discover, particularly from our American friends, whether there was any question as to why the role was given to a non-American, given that he would have to get to grips with the accent, and given that my American nephew once assured me that no Briton could fool an American that way. If the US audience found him convincing in the role then fine, but did they?

As far as I know, the reason for such a large amount of Brit actors in it - and there are a LOT - is partly because it was mostly filmed here and also because it is actually a joint HBO/BBC production into which the BBC put quite a bit of cash. They were supposed to have been making a show of their own based around a British battalion (about the 5th Seaforths, based on a book called 'Battalion by Alisdair Borthwick) but went with the HBO production instead.

Here's the cast list. It makes interesting reading.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185906/fullcredits/

I think there are actually more British actors in it than American or if there aren't it's damn close. A couple of them live near me. I see the lad who played Babe Heffron occasionally in the supermarket I use, and I've seen a couple of the others around as well. Always cracks me up that Ross McCall who plays Liebgott is a wee guy from Port Glasgow along the Clyde coast.!

[Eichhörnchen]

Really interesting: I'd just assumed it was an American production filmed here for reasons of location and maybe even budget. That puts a whole new perspective on things. Thanks for the link too: that's terrific.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Why mistaking the actor with the role he plays?

The only important question is whether the actor is a good actor or not. And Damin Lewis as well as many others in that series did a hell of a good job.

Precisely and turnabout is fair play: Renée Zellweger! In 2001, Zellweger gained the prized lead role playing in the British romantic comedy film, Bridget Jones Diary, based on the 1996 novel of the same title. The choice came amid controversy since she was neither British nor overweight. During casting, Zellweger was told she was too skinny to play the chubby Bridget, so she quickly embarked on gaining the required weight (20 pounds) and learning an English accent. This role won her first Oscar nomination and enough plaudits to land her the sequel: Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason as well...Bravo!

[Torvald Von Mansee]

What do you guys think of Meryl Streep's accent abilities?

Btw, I always thought Bob Hoskins did a perfect working class Amercian accent. RIP.

[Eichhörnchen]

Add to that, Angelina Jolie as "Lara Croft". I was amazed to discover she wasn't a Brit: brilliant talent, beautiful woman...

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Egan

As far as I know, the reason for such a large amount of Brit actors in it - and there are a LOT - is partly because it was mostly filmed here and also because it is actually a joint HBO/BBC production into which the BBC put quite a bit of cash. They were supposed to have been making a show of their own based around a British battalion (about the 5th Seaforths, based on a book called 'Battalion by Alisdair Borthwick) but went with the HBO production instead.

Here's the cast list. It makes interesting reading.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185906/fullcredits/

I think there are actually more British actors in it than American or if there aren't it's damn close. A couple of them live near me. I see the lad who played Babe Heffron occasionally in the supermarket I use, and I've seen a couple of the others around as well. Always cracks me up that Ross McCall who plays Liebgott is a wee guy from Port Glasgow along the Clyde coast.!

Agreed

[Stealhead]

I believe that any halfway decent actor if given proper vocal coaching can pull off any English (British, Australian, American,what have you) dialect convincingly. Usually we are better fooled if the person is an unknown and we have no reason to believe that they don't not natively speak the dialect.

For example Gary Oldman plays many roles as an American if you did not know that he was in fact British and only saw him in those roles you'd be certain that he was American or Canadian.

[Sailor Steve]

You're absolutely right - I did not know that.

[Eichhörnchen]

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000198/

Yeah, 'e's a Lundan boy, innee? And according to this, he's spent much of his carrer playing "over-the-top antagonists".

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by Eichhornchen

Add to that, Angelina Jolie as "Lara Croft". I was amazed to discover she wasn't a Brit: brilliant talent, beautiful woman...

to quote Young Frankenstein, "What knockers!"

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Michael Cain, a Cockney, refused to believe Forrest Whittaker WASN'T the same when told Whittaker was American for his role in "The Crying Game."

EDIT: that is not an elegant sentence

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by Eichhornchen

Add to that, Angelina Jolie as "Lara Croft". I was amazed to discover she wasn't a Brit: brilliant talent, beautiful woman...

Watched Maleficient the other day and her Brit accent is even more finely tuned,

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

to quote Young Frankenstein, "What knockers!"

She lost just tooo much weight

[clive bradbury]

It seems to be an increasing trend for US shows to employ English actors in lead roles:

Andrew Lincoln & David Morrissey in 'The Walking Dead'

Stephen Moyer in 'True Blood'

All good in their roles. I know the US has a habit of employing Brits as baddies, especially in film (Irons, Rickman, McDowell), but they generally kept the English accent - or faked a German one. This new trend on TV is to have them playing Americans.

I agree over Wallander, August. Much as I like Branagh, the two Swedish versions we have seen in the UK are far superior.

[Eichhörnchen]

I agree with all that clive has to say (remember how the nasty Romans were always British?) And as for "Maleficent", I only just learned about this movie: looks good and I expect our boy will drag us off to see it in due course, although as it's Angelina I won't mind too much...