Secret Brits

[Golgot]

Had a quick search for similar threads/posts but can't find one.

Anyone else noticed just how many covert Brits seem to be doing the rounds on successful US TV series - often passing themselves off fairly convincingly as locals?

Here's a few i'm aware of...

The Wire

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/6107/jimmymcnulty.jpg

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/7416/idris20elba.jpg

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/3979/thomascarcetti2.jpg

[EDIT ^^^ Whoops, 'Mr Carcetti' is Irish & proud ;)]

Deadwood

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/3262/swearengen.png

Pushing Daisies

http://www.insidesocal.com/tv/pushing_daisies_3.jpg

House

http://www.fox.com/house/images/bios/hugh.jpg

The Mentalist

http://wwwimage.cbs.com/cms/files/images/primetime/the_mentalist/bios/Owain_Yeoman_0048r.jpg

---

Actually, i'm not sure if Lovejoy-Swearengen's accent isn't supposed to be proto-US anyway, or is accepted as such. And i can't recall whether Emma Friel actually alters her accent that much at all (well, it's not Lancastrian or anything, but it seems almost neutral. If she is supposed to be English she hasn't been lumbered with some imaginary Daphne-from-Frasier limbo-lingo at least ;)). Plus i'm pretty sure a lot of viewers knew (or now know) that Hugh Laurie's a Brit comedian etc.

Has anyone from the US been hoodwinked by any of these tho? Any Brits? I was certainly surprised at the Wire triumvirate & the guy from the Mentalist (not that i'm putting him on the same plane ;) - just that i bought him as being a state-sider)

Anyone know any more?

[Miss Vicky]

The only one of those shows that I've watched is House, and I had already been familiar with Laurie from his days on Black Adder. I do know several people who were fooled by him, though.

[Pyro Tramp]

Few in True Blood i believe.

[Brother Blue]

Brotherhood

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2008/10/31/alg_brotherhood.jpg

Anyone else watch this show? Or is it just me.....

[honeykid]

http://ordtolax.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/damien-lewis.jpg
Damien Lewis

http://broccolicity.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/idriselba.jpg
Idris Elba

http://cdn.giant.blackplanet.com/wp-content/uploads//2009/03/18444189.jpg
Eammon Walker

http://seriados.info/noticias/wp-content/adewale_akinnuoye_agbaje_18092008_.jpg
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

[honeykid]

And some ladies.

http://www.msxlabs.org/forum/members/492990-giizzeeemmm-albumler-2212-resim17773.jpg
Sophia Myles

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00449/SNN0803GX1-280_449166a.jpg
Michelle Ryan

http://www.deeko.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/minnie.jpg
Minnie Driver

I won't post any more for now, but really, there's loads of them.

[Golgot]

Cool :)

I didn't know about Eamonn Walker, from Oz right? Haven't seen that for an age but he rings bells.

Haven't seen Life, is the devilish looking Damien convincingly US-ish in it then?

I've only seen a few Losts but wasn't Akinnuoye-Agbaje playing a Nigerian, rather than someone US-born?

The little bits i saw of Bionic Woman were mainly spent staring in equal wonderment at Sophia's fine form and the clunkiness of the dialogue - to the point i wasn't convinced they were playing natural humans at all ;) (May be being a bit harsh on that one, but it didn't grab me. Sort of discounted it from my list coz it got canned too. Still, Sophia managed to get me to watch a Doctor Who episode thanks to her skintight 'Lara Croft' turn, so guess things worked out ok. For my inner teenage letch anyway ;))

[honeykid]

Cool :)

I didn't know about Eamonn Walker, from Oz right? Haven't seen that for an age but he rings bells.

Haven't seen Life, is the devilish looking Damien convincingly US-ish in it then?

I've only seen a few Losts but wasn't Akinnuoye-Agbaje playing a Nigerian, rather than someone US-born?

The little bits i saw of Bionic Woman were mainly spent staring in equal wonderment at Sophia's fine form and the clunkiness of the dialogue - to the point i wasn't convinced they were playing natural humans at all ;) (May be being a bit harsh on that one, but it didn't grab me. Sort of discounted it from my list coz it got canned too. Still, Sophia managed to get me to watch a Doctor Who episode thanks to her skintight 'Lara Croft' turn, so guess things worked out ok. For my inner teenage letch anyway ;))

You mean Michelle Ryan, not Sophia Myles. Sophia was in Moonlight, which was also cancelled. :(

You may well be right about Akinnuoye-Agbaje, I'd long since stopped watching Lost by the time he joined the cast, so I have no idea what accent he was using.

Yes, Eammon Walker was in Oz. I was really suprised when I realised who it was, because the last time I remembered seeing him was in In Sickness And In Health, when he played Winston/Marigold.

No one else has chipped in, so I'll post a few more.

http://imaginativewomen.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/lena-headey-51.jpg
Lena Headey

http://girlpowertv.today.com/files/2009/01/ashley_jensen.jpg
Ashley Jensen (she might not count though, but I don't watch Ugly Betty, so I don't know what accent she uses)

http://www.ugo.com/a/2007-fall-tv-guide/images/journeymaninterview.jpg
Kevin McKidd

http://www.lostcastnews.com/images/naveen-andrews.jpg
Naveen Andrews

http://static.tvguide.com/MediaBin/Galleries/Shows/S_Z/Wi_Wp/Without_A_Trace/season6/without-trace-jean-baptiste48.jpg
Marianne Jean-Baptiste

[Golgot]

You mean Michelle Ryan, not Sophia Myles. Sophia was in Moonlight, which was also cancelled. :(

Whoops, so i do!

Yes, Eammon Walker was in Oz. I was really suprised when I realised who it was, because the last time I remembered seeing him was in In Sickness And In Health, when he played Winston/Marigold.

Hah, that could well be where i recognise him from! That's a long road to televisual glory ;)

Ashley Jensen (she might not count though, but I don't watch Ugly Betty, so I don't know what accent she uses)

Pretty sure she's still Scots in that. Haven't seen any Gray's Anatomy, how's McKidd's accent in that? Trainspotting or Greyhound? ;)

Seem to remember Naveen isn't playing a US-born character in Lost, and haven't seen the Terminator Chronicles, but we do seem to have infiltrated pretty widely ;)

I so shoulda remembered Marianne Jean-Baptiste. She slots in pretty neat to my ears, i didn't match her to Secrets & Lies etc at all at first in that Bruckheimer cop show.

[adidasss]

^^ Me neither! I thought she looked familiar but I never would have guessed I'd seen her in a British film...

Oh and I was quite shocked to find out Damien Lewis was British...

[Tacitus]

Secret Brits? That has quite a few MI5-style connotations over here, what with handlers and all... ;)

On a similar note, I suspect Aiden Gillen might take exception to being described as such. :D

Here's one: The wonderful Paula Malcomson from Deadwood (and Lost apparently, though I've not seen it).

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b69/greenspagbol/0000034479_20061021000227.jpg

She's as British as Finchley, or something. ;)

[Golgot]

Secret Brits? That has quite a few MI5-style connotations over here, what with handlers and all... ;)

On a similar note, I suspect Aiden Gillen might take exception to being described as such. :D

Whoops! :blush: :D

[honeykid]

Pretty sure she's still Scots in that. Haven't seen any Gray's Anatomy, how's McKidd's accent in that? Trainspotting or Greyhound? ;)

It was ok, but that was in Journey Man. I didn't even know he was in Grays, so I don't know what it's like in that.

Seem to remember Naveen isn't playing a US-born character in Lost,

That's true, but he's not British either and, therefore, people might not know where he was from.

Anyway, here's one that suprises almost everyone. It certainly did me when I found out.

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/frasier/image/john-mahoney.jpg
John Mahoney

http://healthyhollywood.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/kim-cattrall.jpg
Kim Cattrall

http://www.exposay.com/celebrity-photos/eddie-izzard-oceans-13-los-angeles-premiere-TdCs2q.jpg
Eddie Izzard *I suppose most know he's British, but if you've only seen him in The Riches you mightn't know*

http://img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/rsz/434/x/x/x/medias/nmedia/18/67/26/26/18983794.jpg
Lousie Lombard

http://www.fatbackmedia.com/nsfw/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/joely-richardson-pic1.jpg
Joley Richardson

[Golgot]

Hey, cheating on Kim Cattral! She left the UK when she was 3 months old ;)

Cool on old 'Marty' :) Altho the stickler in me has to mention he's been living state-side since he was young.

It's really the guys that have only been out canvassing the US market for a short while and seem to have been able to slip into a local accent unnoticed that wows me. Gotta take some acting chops (& prodigious balls) to get that **** right.

[honeykid]

What about these then?

http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/Dominic-Purcell-pb01.jpg
Dominic Purcell

http://www.vidiot.com/Jericho/images/Jericho_LennieJames-2006-03.jpg
Lennie James

http://z.about.com/d/tvdramas/1/0/p/H/24JayneAtkinson.jpg
Jayne Atkinson

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BODUwMDAwMTgxNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNDY5NDk2._V1._SX266_SY400_.jpg
Polly Walker

http://media.movieweb.com/news/01.2007/dresden.jpg
Paul Blackthorne

[honeykid]

http://l.yimg.com/l/tv/us/img/site/34/42/0000043442_20070926151337.jpg
Saffron Burrows

http://www.theblackrock.org/br2/images/stories/characters/naomi.png
Marsha Thomason (Don't know what her accent is in Lost though, so she might not count)

http://meta-tainment.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/sonya-walger.png
Sonya Walger

http://images.askmen.com/galleries/actress/natascha-mcelhone/pictures/natascha-mcelhone-picture-3.jpg
Natascha McElhone (again, no idea what accent she's using in Californication)

http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Battlestar_Galactica/jamie_bamber.jpg
Jamie Bamber

http://screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/james-callis.jpg
James Callis

[Golgot]

Oo, i didn't have Prison Break guy down as a Brit at all. Cool :)

Haven't seen any of the others doing their state-side thang, other than the Battlestar two - Callis keeps a kinda Brit thing going with his doctor routine i seem to remember - but hadn't spotted young Bamby there as a Brit at all ;)

[adidasss]

http://www.exposay.com/celebrity-photos/eddie-izzard-oceans-13-los-angeles-premiere-TdCs2q.jpg
Eddie Izzard *I suppose most know he's British, but if you've only seen him in The Riches you mightn't know*

http://www.fatbackmedia.com/nsfw/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/joely-richardson-pic1.jpg
Joley Richardson
The american accents of these two are like fingernails on a chalkboard. Especially the former. The main reason why I couldn't get past the first episode of The Riches. *shudders*

[honeykid]

I completely agree with you, adi. Izzard in particular was really bad, though he says himself that he has great difficulty with the accent.

Callis keeps a kinda Brit thing going with his doctor routine i seem to remember

I can't say that suprises me at all. When I was posting his pic, I saw he was a doctor in it and assumed that he'd still have some kind of British (though I assume you mean English) accent. I'd also assume that he's a bit of a baddie too. Am I right? It sounds like an American casting.

[honeykid]

A few more.

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/hot-list-sean-maguire-1.jpg
Sean Maguire

http://l.yimg.com/l/tv/us/img/site/65/53/0000036553_20061218161904.jpg
Matthew Rhys

http://stupidcelebrities.net/wp-content/ed_westwick.jpg
Ed Westwick

http://www.insidesocal.com/outinhollywood/,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,humman.jpg
Charlie Hunnam *a pic for the ladies (and SC) there.*

http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/passtheremote/eli.jpg
Jonny Lee Miller

[downthesun]

It's not just Dominic Purcell, this guy was British as well:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Wentworth_Miller_2008.jpg

[Golgot]

'Nother one. Someone mentioned True Blood before, but I hadn't seen any at that point...

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/5308/stephenmoyer11.jpg

I guess the kind of hokey olden-time Southern accent he's got is an easier fake, but still, I didn't twig at all.

[christine]

Hey, cheating on Kim Cattral! She left the UK when she was 3 months old ;)

I read in the paper the other day something about Kim Catrall having lost her scouse accent. She must've been an early talker then ;) :D

[MyRobotSuit]

Isn't this thread just an excuse to post images of nice boys?

[Golgot]

I read in the paper the other day something about Kim Catrall having lost her scouse accent. She must've been an early talker then ;) :D

:D

Ach, you know how addictive it is ;)

Isn't this thread just an excuse to post images of nice boys?

There's some bionic women too :). I can't help it if us Brits are so damn attractive ;)

[MyRobotSuit]

She does look purdy in that image that is nearly not safe for work... ;)