As an actor, you must be a life expert. Know as much as you can. You have to be able to sing, dance, stage combat, weapon handling, gymnastics, and the list goes on. And most importantly, if you want to become a professional actor, you need to master several accents. Accents are key components in any film, especially if a particular accent is central to the main character’s persona.
However perfecting an accent that is not native to the actor can be difficult, if not impossible. It requires months to years of training and working with coaches. Since it is difficult to nail in several accents, which actors have perfected them? Here are 15 actors with impeccable accents on screen that we thought they were someone else completely. From Gary Oldman to Alfred Enoch, scroll down to see who they are and what accents they possess!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9ZFyswH_3Q
Oldman has proven that he is not only fluent in a variety of English dialects, but also in American ones. Given his English nationality, this is amazing. His ability to bring out the tiny differences that emerge when someone comes from a different background or age is something to be admired. He has mastered accents ranging from the south to the north and the west to the east. He has also mastered several dialects that may be considered to be more difficult, such as the Russian accent he portrays in "Air Force One" or the Eastern European accent from the 19th century that he portrays in "Dracula."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrkw1UgX3q0
Daniel Day-Lewis’ legacy as one of the greatest actors that ever lived is indisputable. He takes great effort to coordinate every aspect of his act for maximum authenticity. This dedication has allowed him to perfect the skill of accurately assuming accents. In the Movies Gangs of New York and There Will Be Blood, which not only won him accolades but also cemented his reputation as one of the greatest actors to ever grace the big screen, he also displayed his knack at speaking in traditional American accents like Californian and New York. Not bad for an English native.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_I0LnQxRAk
Hailing from Ivanhoe, Australia, Cate Blanchett has carved out a phenomenal career for herself. She has performed Southern American dialects to perfection in Hanna and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, as well as Transatlantic (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) and Connecticut (The Aviator). She has proven she can deliver a variety of English dialects too in films such as Elizabeth and Notes on a Scandal. Perhaps more impressively, she has perhaps tackled European accents such as French and German in The Monuments Men and The Good German respectively.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8PxG5zvgOM
The late Heath Ledger was born and raised in Perth, Australia, but by his mid-twenties he was scoring roles that required an American accent. While this wasn’t a challenge for the actor, his character of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain required a regionally specific Wyoming dialect. Ledger knocked it out of the park. From his deep baritone voice to the accurate placement of his lips, Ledger completely sells the Wyoming accent from start to finish.
Ledger takes on "a weird idiosyncratic American accent for a weird idiosyncratic character" in The Dark Knight, a part quite different from his previous one. This dialect adds to the character's threat and madness, respectively.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPUedwHP_Ro
Meryl Streep has stepped into a variety of roles and developed as a performer. This also applies to the dialect work she has done, which has been included in movies like Doubt and A Cry in the Dark. The fact that Streep accurately portrays a Polish refugee in Sophie's Choice is possibly the best evidence of her commitment to the role. According to reports, Streep studied Polish and German in order to perfect the speech of her role. She also considered the gender roles in place in 1940s Europe and gave those considerations some weight in the dialogue of her character. Streep's portrayal of Sophie earned her the Best Actress Oscar thanks to her thorough study.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7_kmJU4YDc
Depp’s regular speaking voice may throw a lot of people off, but he has nailed several different accents for his film roles. The role people commonly associate with Depp is his long-time character Captain Jack Sparrow.
Depp isn't only skilled at the English accent. In the film Finding Neverland, his Scottish accent received praise as well. He worked hard with voice instructors to hone the Aberdonian dialect required for his role, and his efforts were successful. His Scottish accent surprised critics greatly, and even native speakers concurred that it was outstanding.
https://youtu.be/1joUbaDFqnE
Over the years, Christian Bale has performed a number of excellent American accents, such as the stern grunting of Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan's "Batman" trilogy, Dick Cheney's American dialect in "Vice," and Patrick Bateman's New York accent in "American Psycho."
Guinevere Turner, who played Bale's co-star in "American Psycho," said of him in February, "He never talked in his natural accent and he never socialized with anyone while we were shooting," according to GQ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8L8NopVwdg
By the time he performed what is undoubtedly his greatest collection of parts in "Dr. Strangelove," the British comedic genius Peter Sellers was already a well-known actor. He performed three really diverse roles, not just one or two. With a bizarre German accent, Sellers plays the title character, Dr. Strangelove. With an accent from the Midwest, he also portrays US President Merkin Muffley. Furthermore, he portrayed Group Captain Lionel Mandrake with his genuine English accent. Actually, Sellers was also chosen to portray an American pilot with a pronounced Texan accent. We believe he might have easily nailed a fourth accent given his three outstanding vocal performances here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7csSch8oS0
Elba is a British actor, which might come as a surprise to fans of The Wire, where he sports a convincing American accent. He told The Guardian in 2009 that it took moving to New York and practicing for three years to perfect his American accent. After that, he was able to land more American roles in films.
https://youtu.be/x-51mt2tIVw
The Australian Margot Robbie is a master at pulling off American accents. In Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, she played Naomi Lapaglia, which was her breakout role. But for the part, Robbie didn't just put on a stereotypical New York accent. Robbie perfectly embodies Naomi, a self-assured, superficial Bay Ridge native from Brooklyn, down to her manicure. Her accent is so strong that it borderlines on being exaggerated. That being said, Naomi is Naomi. She is brassy and independent, and her accent is ideal for her. It's understandable why the part helped Robbie become famous; it was standout. Her dialect in the film went over so perfectly that Jimmy Kimmel didn't even know she was Australian when she came on his show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG_a8lw512A
Few actors had more roles in films deserving of Oscars than Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio shines in every role he plays, from The Departed to Blood Diamond to Gangs of New York. He portrays a Zimbabwean in Blood Diamond who is battling for ownership of a precious diamond. One expert on accents said that he had nailed it: "Leo is just unbelievable. Although he’s not perfect, I could believe that he was a South African)."
The expert referred to the movie's trailer and said, "Leo goes for every word—for instance, at 0:45 in the Blood Diamond trailer, everything is correct except "here" (he overpronounces the 'r'), and at 0:55 everything is correct except "told" (it's too British).
https://youtu.be/bBu7dwujk7c
Giving the role of the British book darling Bridget Jones to an American actress seemed like a gamble at the time. But to many people's surprise, Renée Zellweger pulled it off with grace. She then went on to reprise the role two more times, most recently in 2016.
Zellweger is originally from Texas, yet her British accent was so convincing in the movie that even her fellow actor Hugh Grant supposedly had no idea she wasn't British during the filming of the first movie. Zellweger was also nominated for an Oscar for Bridget Jones's Diary (2001).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ksxKafRgLM
Cliff Curtis has probably been in more than one location, whether it be on television or in a movie, but he’s been able to nail one accent after another in every role he’s taken since being from New Zealand he does speak with his own native accent. But the actor is capable of adopting just about any accent necessary to carry off the part, and in Training Day, he excels in his portrayal as Smiley. If Jake hadn't still been carrying the money he'd retrieved from a fight earlier in the day, it's not impossible to imagine that the guy would have shot Jake in the head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZY8c_a_dlQ
Accents played a significant impact in how Matt Damon shaped himself as an actor throughout the years as he embarked on some fantastic roles. He made a big impression in Good Will Hunting with a gruff Boston accent known as a "Southie," which he kind of carried over into The Departed. Sometimes he chooses to ignore his accent, preferring to concentrate on his acting, like in the case of LaBoeuf in True Grit, a Texan with a clearly undefinable accent.
Invictus, which was released in 2009, featured Damon as Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South African rugby team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup amid a time of racial and political unrest. Matt Damon is portraying the accent of an Afrikaans-speaking South African speaking English, according to a South African accent specialist who commented on Damon's performance. That's a really excellent Afrikaaner accent when he says "tiny" at 2:07 in Invictus, but I, for example, do not pronounce "tiny" that way at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXZSUvEGxpI
The actor Alfred Enoch from How to Get Away with Murder may have played us all for fools, but learning the American accent wasn't always simple for him.
Despite how challenging it might have been, he had a secret to his success. Even when he went back to London to see his family, Enoch solely used an American accent for the entire seven months. He managed to stay in character by speaking with an American accent all the time, which made it simpler to concentrate only on remembering his lines. He admitted on The View, "The other thing is, I like the idea of fitting in. "I like that people should think I'm American." And this actor most definitely led us to believe that he was.
However perfecting an accent that is not native to the actor can be difficult, if not impossible. It requires months to years of training and working with coaches. Since it is difficult to nail in several accents, which actors have perfected them? Here are 15 actors with impeccable accents on screen that we thought they were someone else completely. From Gary Oldman to Alfred Enoch, scroll down to see who they are and what accents they possess!
#1 Gary Oldman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9ZFyswH_3Q
Oldman has proven that he is not only fluent in a variety of English dialects, but also in American ones. Given his English nationality, this is amazing. His ability to bring out the tiny differences that emerge when someone comes from a different background or age is something to be admired. He has mastered accents ranging from the south to the north and the west to the east. He has also mastered several dialects that may be considered to be more difficult, such as the Russian accent he portrays in "Air Force One" or the Eastern European accent from the 19th century that he portrays in "Dracula."
#2 Daniel Day-Lewis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrkw1UgX3q0
Daniel Day-Lewis’ legacy as one of the greatest actors that ever lived is indisputable. He takes great effort to coordinate every aspect of his act for maximum authenticity. This dedication has allowed him to perfect the skill of accurately assuming accents. In the Movies Gangs of New York and There Will Be Blood, which not only won him accolades but also cemented his reputation as one of the greatest actors to ever grace the big screen, he also displayed his knack at speaking in traditional American accents like Californian and New York. Not bad for an English native.
#3 Cate Blanchett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_I0LnQxRAk
Hailing from Ivanhoe, Australia, Cate Blanchett has carved out a phenomenal career for herself. She has performed Southern American dialects to perfection in Hanna and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, as well as Transatlantic (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) and Connecticut (The Aviator). She has proven she can deliver a variety of English dialects too in films such as Elizabeth and Notes on a Scandal. Perhaps more impressively, she has perhaps tackled European accents such as French and German in The Monuments Men and The Good German respectively.
#4 Heath Ledger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8PxG5zvgOM
The late Heath Ledger was born and raised in Perth, Australia, but by his mid-twenties he was scoring roles that required an American accent. While this wasn’t a challenge for the actor, his character of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain required a regionally specific Wyoming dialect. Ledger knocked it out of the park. From his deep baritone voice to the accurate placement of his lips, Ledger completely sells the Wyoming accent from start to finish.
Ledger takes on "a weird idiosyncratic American accent for a weird idiosyncratic character" in The Dark Knight, a part quite different from his previous one. This dialect adds to the character's threat and madness, respectively.
#5 Meryl Streep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPUedwHP_Ro
Meryl Streep has stepped into a variety of roles and developed as a performer. This also applies to the dialect work she has done, which has been included in movies like Doubt and A Cry in the Dark. The fact that Streep accurately portrays a Polish refugee in Sophie's Choice is possibly the best evidence of her commitment to the role. According to reports, Streep studied Polish and German in order to perfect the speech of her role. She also considered the gender roles in place in 1940s Europe and gave those considerations some weight in the dialogue of her character. Streep's portrayal of Sophie earned her the Best Actress Oscar thanks to her thorough study.
#6 Johnny Depp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7_kmJU4YDc
Depp’s regular speaking voice may throw a lot of people off, but he has nailed several different accents for his film roles. The role people commonly associate with Depp is his long-time character Captain Jack Sparrow.
Depp isn't only skilled at the English accent. In the film Finding Neverland, his Scottish accent received praise as well. He worked hard with voice instructors to hone the Aberdonian dialect required for his role, and his efforts were successful. His Scottish accent surprised critics greatly, and even native speakers concurred that it was outstanding.
#7 Christian Bale
https://youtu.be/1joUbaDFqnE
Over the years, Christian Bale has performed a number of excellent American accents, such as the stern grunting of Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan's "Batman" trilogy, Dick Cheney's American dialect in "Vice," and Patrick Bateman's New York accent in "American Psycho."
Guinevere Turner, who played Bale's co-star in "American Psycho," said of him in February, "He never talked in his natural accent and he never socialized with anyone while we were shooting," according to GQ.
#8 Peter Sellers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8L8NopVwdg
By the time he performed what is undoubtedly his greatest collection of parts in "Dr. Strangelove," the British comedic genius Peter Sellers was already a well-known actor. He performed three really diverse roles, not just one or two. With a bizarre German accent, Sellers plays the title character, Dr. Strangelove. With an accent from the Midwest, he also portrays US President Merkin Muffley. Furthermore, he portrayed Group Captain Lionel Mandrake with his genuine English accent. Actually, Sellers was also chosen to portray an American pilot with a pronounced Texan accent. We believe he might have easily nailed a fourth accent given his three outstanding vocal performances here.
#9 Idris Elba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7csSch8oS0
Elba is a British actor, which might come as a surprise to fans of The Wire, where he sports a convincing American accent. He told The Guardian in 2009 that it took moving to New York and practicing for three years to perfect his American accent. After that, he was able to land more American roles in films.
#10 Margot Robbie
https://youtu.be/x-51mt2tIVw
The Australian Margot Robbie is a master at pulling off American accents. In Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, she played Naomi Lapaglia, which was her breakout role. But for the part, Robbie didn't just put on a stereotypical New York accent. Robbie perfectly embodies Naomi, a self-assured, superficial Bay Ridge native from Brooklyn, down to her manicure. Her accent is so strong that it borderlines on being exaggerated. That being said, Naomi is Naomi. She is brassy and independent, and her accent is ideal for her. It's understandable why the part helped Robbie become famous; it was standout. Her dialect in the film went over so perfectly that Jimmy Kimmel didn't even know she was Australian when she came on his show.
#11 Leonardo DiCaprio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG_a8lw512A
Few actors had more roles in films deserving of Oscars than Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio shines in every role he plays, from The Departed to Blood Diamond to Gangs of New York. He portrays a Zimbabwean in Blood Diamond who is battling for ownership of a precious diamond. One expert on accents said that he had nailed it: "Leo is just unbelievable. Although he’s not perfect, I could believe that he was a South African)."
The expert referred to the movie's trailer and said, "Leo goes for every word—for instance, at 0:45 in the Blood Diamond trailer, everything is correct except "here" (he overpronounces the 'r'), and at 0:55 everything is correct except "told" (it's too British).
#12 Renee Zellweger
https://youtu.be/bBu7dwujk7c
Giving the role of the British book darling Bridget Jones to an American actress seemed like a gamble at the time. But to many people's surprise, Renée Zellweger pulled it off with grace. She then went on to reprise the role two more times, most recently in 2016.
Zellweger is originally from Texas, yet her British accent was so convincing in the movie that even her fellow actor Hugh Grant supposedly had no idea she wasn't British during the filming of the first movie. Zellweger was also nominated for an Oscar for Bridget Jones's Diary (2001).
#13 Cliff Curtis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ksxKafRgLM
Cliff Curtis has probably been in more than one location, whether it be on television or in a movie, but he’s been able to nail one accent after another in every role he’s taken since being from New Zealand he does speak with his own native accent. But the actor is capable of adopting just about any accent necessary to carry off the part, and in Training Day, he excels in his portrayal as Smiley. If Jake hadn't still been carrying the money he'd retrieved from a fight earlier in the day, it's not impossible to imagine that the guy would have shot Jake in the head.
#14 Matt Damon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZY8c_a_dlQ
Accents played a significant impact in how Matt Damon shaped himself as an actor throughout the years as he embarked on some fantastic roles. He made a big impression in Good Will Hunting with a gruff Boston accent known as a "Southie," which he kind of carried over into The Departed. Sometimes he chooses to ignore his accent, preferring to concentrate on his acting, like in the case of LaBoeuf in True Grit, a Texan with a clearly undefinable accent.
Invictus, which was released in 2009, featured Damon as Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South African rugby team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup amid a time of racial and political unrest. Matt Damon is portraying the accent of an Afrikaans-speaking South African speaking English, according to a South African accent specialist who commented on Damon's performance. That's a really excellent Afrikaaner accent when he says "tiny" at 2:07 in Invictus, but I, for example, do not pronounce "tiny" that way at all.
#15 Alfred Enoch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXZSUvEGxpI
The actor Alfred Enoch from How to Get Away with Murder may have played us all for fools, but learning the American accent wasn't always simple for him.
Despite how challenging it might have been, he had a secret to his success. Even when he went back to London to see his family, Enoch solely used an American accent for the entire seven months. He managed to stay in character by speaking with an American accent all the time, which made it simpler to concentrate only on remembering his lines. He admitted on The View, "The other thing is, I like the idea of fitting in. "I like that people should think I'm American." And this actor most definitely led us to believe that he was.