Hugh Laurie is a great example of a Brit doing an American accent, watch him in Blackadder or Fry and Laurie and then House MD you wouldn't expect them to be the same person from just listening to him

We have so many different accents in the UK, so if you grow up imitating them you’ll find it easier to do any accent.

Between 2004 and 2012, Hugh Laurie starred as an acerbic physician specialising in diagnostic medicine, Dr. Gregory House, in the Fox medical drama House. For his portrayal, he assumed an American accent.[6] He was in Namibia filming Flight of the Phoenix and recorded his audition tape for the show in the bathroom of the hotel, as it was the only place he could get enough light.[27] Jacob Vargas operated the camera for the audition tape. Laurie's American accent was so convincing that executive producer Bryan Singer, who was unaware at the time that Laurie was British, pointed to him as an example of just the kind of "compelling American actor" he had been looking for.[27] Wikipedia.

Michael Fassbender was not only raised in Ireland but his accent is from Killarney in Kerry. One of the most distinct Irish accents ever! if going back to Chaplin we could add Cary Grant and Stan Laurel.

I can't believe you did a film studies course and you've never seen "Breakfast At Tiffany's"! Another Brit that could be added to the list is Cary Grant.

Cary Grant. Angela Lansbury. Deborah Kerr. Julie Andrews.

Helena Bonham Carter deserves a mention as Marla Singer in Fight Club, I was fully aware she's British and her American accent was flawless.

I do agree with this list for iconic American roles. However I think Damian Lewis in Homeland and Hugh Laurie in House we’re more of a shock to people 😁

It works both ways. I remember an American asking me online if I thought Renee Zellweger had a good British accent in Bridget Jones Diary. I had to admit I didn't know she wasn't British 😂

Daniel Day Lewis is a master of his craft and flawless in everything he does.

For my money, the Brits have one amazing export and have for a century....ACTORS and actresses. Whether employing other than their natural accents or not, they are superb and have studied their craft, often first being stage actors. Newer ones like Eddie Redmayne (his portrayal of Stephen Hawking was unbelievable!), Benedict Cumberbatch and older ones like Gary Oldman (a chameleon), Hugh Laurie, Anthony Hopkins, Ian McKellen, Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, etc.), Andy Serkis, and Michael Caine and past actors like Laurence Olivier and Cary Grant and actresses like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith (a gem!), Kate Winslet, Emily Blunt, Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, Julie Walters and going back to the Redgraves, Julie Andrews or Vivian Leigh. How can you compare Vin Diesel or many American actors? DiCaprio, Sam Jackson, Denzel Washington, De Niro, Pacino, Nicholson, Hanks are good but somehow I can't picture the Rock doing "My Fair Lady". They also lack the stage background coming up. A different kettle of fish.

1.) NOBODY alive has heard Abraham Lincoln's actual voice, so.... 2.) Mojo can't be taken seriously when it leaves out Vivian Leigh as both Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind" *and* "Blanche duBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire." (She's British; was born in India because her dad was posted there for awhile.)

Damian Lewis. British actor played S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. He also portrayed U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland.

Hank Williams was one of the greatest American country and western singers of all time .Died in 1952 at the age of 29 .Check out Hugh Laurie playing "House " .🇬🇧

Vivien Leigh should have been included. One of our finest actresses.

You can also add in Daniel Day Lewis' take on Hawkeye from Last of the Mohicans. You could also mention Andrew Garfield as another Spiderbrit, or Christian Bale in Vice as Cheney.

Renee zellweger plays Bridget Jones so well

Andrew Garfield and Robert Pattinson would make the another 2 British actors for Spider-Man and Batman respectively. They love casting British people to play superheroes 😂. The fact that 2 out of 3 of the Spider-Men were British is amazing 😂. For the longest time I thought Andrew was American.

I don't think anyone, American or otherwise, could have topped Daniel Day-Lewis' portrayal of Abraham Lincoln. That was an absolute joy to watch him act. Especially with someone so iconic and rooted in American history that was a bold move on his part to take on the role and he just knocked it out of the park.

One british, well Scottish, actor who never changed his voice irrespective of the character played was Sean Connery, he even played a Russian submarine commander with his distinctive accent, explained away in the film in that his character's Father was a Soviet Diplomat in the UK and he was educated and learnt English in Scotland. Other famous British Actors and comedians who were British by birth but lived most of their lives in the US include Whoopi Goldberg and Bob Hope.

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes!

Jared Harris, son of Richard Harris, step son of Rex Harrison. I think he was destined to be an actor with that pedigree. Audrey Hepburn was Belgian by birth. Micheal Fassbinder is a German born Irishman.

Audrey Hepburn I believe was in the resistance during WW2, she was 11 years old when it started in occupied Netherlands, raising funds and occasional courier. Aged 16 she nursed allied soldiers during the battle of Arnhem (1945) nursed a future Hollywood director Terence Strong

Actors who play Rick Grimes and Maggie in the Walking Dead are both British but finding out Scotty from Star trek was a Canadian upset me as a Kid.

Audrey Hepburn is referred to as British…. true but through her mother (a Dutch Baroness) she is also half-Dutch. She spoke both as well as French.

I think this list could have been at least twice as long.

Daniel Day Lewis as Hawkeye in Last of the Mohicans.

The oddest thing is an American doesn’t know who Hank Williams is??? 🤔

I'm English and watched the Walking Dead for years and didn't realize the lead bloke, sheriff thingy, is a fellow Brit, largely because it did not occur to me. There are a few actors who are Aussies and it's easy to mistake them for americans based on performances in american movies.

Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind played by Vivian Leigh and Ashley played by Leslie Howard were both Brits. Sir Anthony Hopkins is Welsh actually. He had also written a beautiful waltz called "The Waltz Goes On" played by Andre Rieu.

Charlie Chaplin. Harold loyd. Buster Keaton. All 3 of these comedy actor's did there own stunts them selves. No retakes no stuntman. Check them out. appsolutly brilliant. from UK 🇬🇧👍👍

Can't account for great actors. Being able to change one's accent is an art in itself but the class of acting a role out of one's native accent is amazing to the British viewer. I'll say no more😉

Jared Harris, his father was a famous Irish actor called Richard Harris, so acting runs in the family. Anthony Hopkins & Christian Bale are Welsh.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Idris Elba as Stringer Bell.

For Hugh Laurie's range, look at some earlier stuff like A bit of Fry and Laurie, and Jeeves and Wooster. Two iconic shows. Tom Hiddlestone was first seen to mainstream audiences in The Night Manager, a drama on the BBC. There are so many UK actors working in the USA. Most major films have a brit in. But some are typecast as baddies,

You are right in identifying Christian Bale as amongst his generation's greatest screen actors. I think his very first rôle as a 13-yr old in Spielburg's Empire of the Sun remains his most outstanding, though. For a boy, just barely a teen, to be in every scene of a 2h 40m movie, a multi-Oscar nominated one at that, marked him out for greatness. His portrayal of Dick Cheney in Vice was a masterclass too. Still, sometimes playing an American in an iconic series is more demanding than doing so in one movie. So kudos must go to Hugh Laurie as Dr House, and to young Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Stranger Things.

If you're going back as far as Chaplin, you could add in Stan Laurel - and a lot of others between then and now (Cary Grant, Vivien Leigh, and others). Another few British and Irish actors who have nailed being American for film and TV include Liam Neeson, Idris Elba, Tom Wilkinson, Adrian Lester, and (of course) Hugh Laurie. And yes, I agree - DDL is astonishing in "Gangs of New York".

I've seen a lot of these actors on stage in London, (not Charlie Chaplin,)and I suspect the reason Hollywood uses them is that they can do anything, they work fast and they leave their egos in the taxi. Also, they're much cheaper.

This always makes me smile American 'English' is the clue....lol and it works visa versa apart for maybe Dick Van Dykes cockney accent that was quirky to say the least...There are also many different accents in the UK just like in the U S....

Jared Harris played Anderson Dawes, one of the leaders of the OPA, in The Expanse, he was also Ulysses S Grant, in the Daniel Day Lewis film, Lincoln and was in Morbius recently. Very underrated actor in my opinion. Charlie Chaplin was a victim of McCarthyism and was forced to leave the US.

American actors are also good at doing British accents. Remember Meryl Streep playing Margaret Thatcher in the Iron Lady? She's a brilliant actress who was right for the part.

One of the reasons that British actors may have marked ability to assume other accents is the fact that in the UK there are numerous local dialects and numerous plays set in all parts of the British Isles. Some of these accents are regarded as more acceptable than others; the accents of the Midlands tends to be looked down on, in spite of the fact that it would have been Shakespeare's mode of speech. The accents of my area, the west, are regarded as those of the "country bumpkin" and suggest that we are wandering about with straw in our hair. Sadly, these accents in film and theatre usually come up as a strange mixture referred to as "mummerset". I live close to the border of Devon and Cornwall and the accent changes within the distance of a few miles.

I love Tom Hiddleston, I saw him as Henry V and he was brilliant. Tom can mimic loads of well known actors. Jared Harris is Richard Harris's son, he's a really good actor in his own right. Audrey Hepburn's dad was British, I think she had joint British/Dutch nationality. Breakfast at Tiffany's is about child abuse, it always upsets me, but it's a good film. Christian Bale was amazing in Empire of the Sun, I think it was his first role as a child actor, John Malkovich is in it. Good list.

To be fair, through film and television, we've been exposed to the American accent from childhood, and all played at being cowboys. I was actually Lloyd Bridges in Sea Hunt when I was about seven! 🇬🇧 You should check out early movies from the Chaplin era, the dangerous stunts they did in those days before ''health and safety" are truly terrifying.

Henry Cavill was born in Jersey, which is where I live. That's the old Jersey not the New Jersey in the US.

My favourite example of a Brit playing an American is Dominic West in The Wire, especially the English accent scene(look it up)

I love Hank Williams ,who was a brilliant songwriter and performer. One of the founders of Rock an Roll. Fantastic charisma,had problems with chronic pain leading to drugs cutting short his life.

for me Anthony Hopkins is just one of the very best that has ever lived, simply mesmerising to watch.

Many British actors learn how to perform live on stage in theatre stage plays in front of a live audiences night after night, with no second chances (or 'retakes'), for a long time before they get to do films; instant feedback from the audience, and no second chances if you screw up. Trivial buy I liked Ray Stevenson in the cheezey film Punisher: WarZone, which also has Dominic West in a great villains role...and BTW: Michael Fassbender is Irish/German.

Damian Lewis from London did a great job as Nicholas Brody in the TV production ‘Homeland.’ He fooled a lot of Americans as to his nationality.

Tom Holland lives in the next town over from me, he's still close to the house where he grew up. His dad is a stand-up comic who does the local venues.

I'd have Gary Oldman on the list. Incredible actor, but i guess most know he's British.

Hank Williams is so well known in Uk he was. 50’s singer ,Breakfast at Tiffany’s is an iconic film ,Christian aBale first film was in Spielberg “Empire of the Sun “ , Charlie Chaplain was also a Composer he wrote “limelight “ “This is my Song “ sung by Petula Clark , David Oyelowo he was in a movie called “A United Kingdom “ well worth viewing and British crime series “Spooks “Danial Day Lewis “ The Last of the Mohicans “ 👏and “ My Left Foot” are Iconic movies he made , Angela Lansbury ,Cary Grant were Brit’s 🤷‍♀️

My granddaughter was doing adverts for the American TVs but had to keep it under wrap. Maybe it's cheaper to hire a British actor.

Meryl Streep won the Oscar for playing Margaret Thatcher.

Going the other way, I thought John Lithgow was superb as Winston Churchill in “The Crown”.

Also Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead is as British as they come. And Jax from Sons of Anarchy.

I'm related to Charlie Chaplin albeit very distantly. His mum and my great great grandmother (I think) were 4th cousins or something but also lived 3 doors away from each other.

House should have been on that list too. And don't feel too bad because America have us Renne Zelwegger in Bridgette Jones, Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady and Gwyneth Paltrow has done a decent English accent in a few things from what I remember.

Jared Harris’s father Richard, played some iconic roles also.

Jared Harris is the son of the great actor Richard Harris, whose (sadly) last roll was playing Dumbledore in the 1st Harry Potter film...

Hank Williams! One of the most influential and important US country stars of all time. We Brits know him.

On a somewhat related note to Charlie Chaplin, you _might_ also be surprised to know that 50% of Laurel and Hardy was British (English), Stan Laurel. I know he did (try to) speak in an American accent in their 'talkies', sounds good to me, though I'm hardly the right judge!

"DR HOUSE" IN "HOUSE" Played by very British actor Hugh Laurie.

Tom Hiddleston as Loki !💗💚 High Rise, The Nightmanager, Hank Williams..singing! Woohoo! The Essex Serpent, Henry The 4th and 5th (?) Coriolanus and Betryal..and other Theater Plays...which i haven't seen :(

A really good example is Alex Roe who plays an American country singer in a film called Forever My Girl. Its actually shocking that he is so good.

For some reason, I always thought Daniel Day-Lewis was Irish, maybe because of his excellent portrayal in "In The Name Of The Father" (1994?). But it turns out he was born in London, and his Grandfather was Sir Michael Elias Balcon, an English movie producer and "leader" of Ealing Studios in West London. lol

Mr Hiddleston also speaks more than one language and is an highly intelligent man. Christian Bale was amazing in American Psycho now that it a cult film. He totally freaked me out in The Machinist and I'm not a great fan of the Terminator films apart from the first one and Terminator Salvation with Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. Breakfast at Tiffinys is an icon of a film

I was little surprised to hear that you don't know who Hank Williams was. Any country music lover knows of him, but I guess if you're not into country music you won't know him. He was very famous. Anthony Hopkins, Welsh in fact. Hopkins is a Welsh name.

You should check out Daniel day Lewis in ' my left foot' a film about an Irishman!

When I went to see Selma at the cinema, I was amazed to discover that L B Johnson was being played by a well known British actor (Tom Wilkinson), and the actor who played the Governor of Alabama was also British.

Um, guy who took a film class (and probably slept through it), nobody spoke in movies before 1927. (Btw, American Robert Downey, Jr. received an Oscar nom. for his role as Charlie Chaplin.)

Jared Harris is the son of Richard Harris, the international famous actor of the 1960s up to the 2000s when he played Professor Dumbledore in the first Harry Potter films.

Sorry, Hank Williams, some kind of country character? Arguably the greatest country singer in American's history?

I'm suddenly in the mood to watch Gangs of New York again. Funny how you can forget how great something was until someone mentions it out of the blue.

I find it hilarious that the three most quintessential American superheroes - Superman, Batman and Spider-Man - are all played by Brits.

Anthony Hopkins, is Welsh. Also a MusicComposer.

Every day is a school day ... I had no idea that Charlie Chaplin didn't speak in all those silent films he made, because he didn't think he could put on a convincing enough American Accent.

HI TYLER DEBRA HERE FROM SOUTH WALES HANK WILLIAMS Hold your horse there cowboy, Tyler how can you as an American sit there and say that you have never heard of the country singer HANK WILLIAMS (1923 to 1953) he was one of the greatest country singer/songwriters of all time. He sang such classics as: I Saw The Light Mansion On The Hill Cold Cold Heart Your Cheatin' Heart Take These Chains From My Heart Plus others too numerous to mention. He also wrote and co-wrote many many songs He had short but very full life. God Rest His Soul. JARED HARRIS is the son of actor Richard Harris. He also played King George VI in The Crown, and has done a lot of work in America. He was born in 1961. SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS was born in my home country of Wales in Port Talbot, South Wales as was: Michael Sheen Richard Burton, Catherine Zeta Jones Christian Bale Ray Milland Tom Ellis Taron Egerton Desmond Llewellyn Roger Rees Ioan Gruffudd Timothy Dalton Tom Jones Katherine Jenkins

yeah Charlie chaplin... another great from those days Stan Laurel was also british.. Stan Lurel was English. he moved to Scotland as a teen and his father ran a theatre in the city where Stan started his career. (thats probably why Laurel didn't speak much in the movies and most of the dialogue was done by Oliver Hardy) I think the reason brits are good at American accents is we have so many different accents in the UK and we grow up impersonating other accents.

I would have given Charlie Hunnam ((Jax Teller Sons of Anarchy)) A honnorable mention. However there are so many including the actor who plays Rick in the walking dead.

I would suggest that Daniel Day Lewis played a more quintessentially American American in There Will Be Blood than in Gangs of New York. Happy to be corrected tbough.

Also, Christian Bale as Dick Cheney in Vice, he's insane in that movie.

Charlie Chaplin came from my old manor, the Elephant and Castle in South East London, as did Michael Cain who, seeking a piece of nostalgia went back for a walk around and on the other side of the road was Charlie Chaplin doing the same thing! Charlie Drake, Alan Ford, Michael Faraday (my school house was called Faraday) and many others are from the surrounding area. Don't be fooled when the elite say that they lived in Camberwell, they are probably hiding the fact that they lived in Dulwich Village, a highly secure, gated community, where Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher lived!

Michael Fassbender was actually born in Germany but was raised in the Republic of Ireland from a very young age. He has an Irish citizenship.

They still could have had Henry Cavill for Superman in honourable mentions and changed Christian Bale's to Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.

I know this is about films, but, Hugh Laurie with a Chicago accent as Dr. House... oh, Lord.... (But yes, DDL is one of the greatest film actors to ever have existed)

Batman Begins. Raz al Ghul - Ducard (main baddie) was played by an Irishmsn Liam Neeson. Jim Gordon was played by an englishman Gary Oldman. Scarcrow was played by Irishman Cillian Murphy. Carmine Falcone was played by another englishman Tim Wilkinson. The Dark Knight (batman 2) The Joker was played by an Australian Heath Ledger The Dark Knight Rises (batman 3) Bane was played by englishman Tom Hardy Well Christopher Nolan is a pommie so not suprised he cast mainly U.K actors.

Oh my Hank Williams is not a character he is a country music legend with such a sad back story

I'm surprised they didn't have Christian Bale's iconic American role as the lead character of *'American* Psycho' - I know Batman's more famous but Gotham is a fictional city whereas the other film goes out of its way to be all about corperate America yet the main character is played by a Brit.

Well many Americans have made a good fist of the British accent as well. We had Meryl Streep play our first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the film 'The iron Lady'. John Lithgow played Churchill and Gillian Anderson played Thatcher in 'The Crown'.

Check out, Tom Hiddleston dancing

Damien Lewis as Winters in Band of brothers Hugh Laurie as Gregory House in House Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy

Charlie Hunnam as Jax in Son's of Anarchy is one of my favourite English actors playing American

I went to the same school as Christian Bale (Bournemouth Grammar school for boys) although I wasn't there when he was. Another important American character played by a Brit was Clive Owen playing Bill Clinton (and doing it very well) in Impeachment, all about the Clinton/Lewinsky affair, part of the American Crime Story trilogy . Although this was TV rather than film.

Some more British actors, Stan Laurel, Stewart Granger, Bob Hope, Henry Cavill, James McAvoy, Tom Hardy, Andrew Lincoln, Andrew Garfield, Ian McShane, Kiefer Sutherland to name but a few

The original WatchMojo video is quite deceptive. The title of the video is "Top 10 Iconic Americans played by Brits", but then in the narration they say they are including both British AND Irish actors, which I guess is how they get Fassbender (Irish) onto the list.

Not a movie but, will mention Damian CBE playing the central character of Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.

Abraham Lincoln would not have had an American accent as we know it today. It would have been still evolving from the amalgamation of many new immigrants and their original native languages and accents as they began to speak English.

I was totally expecting Hugh Laurie to be #1 on this list