Top 10 English Actors with the Best American Accent

Gary Oldman

Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, filmmaker, musician, and author. Renowned for his "big" acting style, Oldman is one of the most celebrated thespians of his generation, with a diverse career encompassing theatre, film, and television. He has received a Golden Globe award and an Academy Award... read more

He can master every American or foreign accent thrown his way, with all the nuances of speech speed, rhythm, cadence, and other details, and change it for each character he plays. His voice is always unique in each of his features, even if it's sometimes subtle. When the character doesn't come from a specific place and era, he builds an accent based on real voices, like Jean-Baptiste-Emmanuel Zorg in "The Fifth Element" (a mix between Ross Perot and Bugs Bunny). He's insane, in a good way.

Gary Oldman is so good at accents that a guy on Amazon left a negative review of "Darkest Hour," stating that Churchill shouldn't be portrayed by an "American actor." In fact, he can perfectly recreate any regional accent as well as accents from non-English speaking countries (Russia, Romania, Germany) and idiolects, like the unique Lee H. Oswald accent in JFK. He has never used the same dialect twice in any of his movies. That's talent.

Tom Wilkinson

Orlando Bloom

Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom is an English actor. He gained international fame for his role as Legolas in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) and reprised the role in The Hobbit film series (2013-2014). He further rose to stardom by starring in epic fantasy, historical epic, and fantasy adventure... read more

Christian Bale

Christian Charles Philip Bale (born January 30, 1974) is an English actor known for his versatility and physical transformations for roles. He has been a leading man in films across several genres and has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2014, Forbes... read more

He can even do a Batman voice with an American accent. That's something.

Idris Elba

Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba OBE is an English actor, producer, musician, and DJ. He is known for playing drug trafficker Stringer Bell on the HBO series The Wire, DCI John Luther on the BBC One series Luther, and Nelson Mandela in the biographical film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Elba has received... read more

The Wire (Stringer Bell), American Gangster (Tango)

Daniel Day-Lewis

Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English-Irish actor who holds dual citizenship. He's won three Academy Awards for Best Actor for his roles in My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood, and Lincoln, making him one of only three male actors to achieve that distinction. In 2017, Day-Lewis announced his... read more

Not just American. He can nail any accent! Just let him. He is THE BEST.

There Will Be Blood, Gangs of New York

Hugh Laurie

James Hugh Calum Laurie is an English actor, writer, director, musician, singer, comedian, and author, born in 1959. He first achieved fame as half of the comedy duo Fry and Laurie, alongside Stephen Fry, and for their sketch show A Bit of Fry & Laurie. Laurie later gained worldwide recognition for his... read more

His accent is a "made-up" one, rather than something that exists. He adds some American features to his speech (hard R's, long vowels, etc.) to replace the English ones, which create something that sounds American but can't be placed anywhere on a map, just like Bob Hoskins did before him. But he seems to do it well, given the number of positive comments I read about it across the web.

I didn't know he was English until I looked up his biography.

I had no idea Hugh Laurie was from the UK until I heard his Emmy award acceptance speech. It had me completely thinking he was from Urbana, Illinois.

Tom Holland

Thomas Stanley "Tom" Holland is an English actor and dancer. He is best known for portraying Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with "Captain America: Civil War" in 2016. Holland began his career in 2008 by playing the title role in "Billy Elliot the Musical" at the Victoria Palace... read more

Mark Strong

Mark Strong is an English film and television actor. He's known for roles in Our Friends in the North, Layer Cake, RocknRolla, Body of Lies, Robin Hood, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Zero Dark Thirty, The Imitation Game, and the Kingsman series. Strong continues to be a sought-after character actor for... read more

Kate Beckinsale

Kathrin Romary "Kate" Beckinsale (born July 26, 1973) is a British actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing (1993) while still a student at the University of Oxford. She then appeared in British costume dramas such as Prince of Jutland (1994), Cold... read more

When you see the movie version of "Emma" with Kate Beckinsale, in her born accent, and the version with Gwyneth Paltrow, you really see the difference between a bad fake British accent (Gwyneth Paltrow lacks authenticity in her British accent) and a real one. But this British actress doesn't sound fake on the other hand when she's doing an American accent.

For someone who's got a strong British accent like her, which I love to hear, she's doing a great job sounding like an American.

She nails it. Jim Sturgess kind of lost it a bit in 21, in my opinion, but Kate rocked hers in Click.

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Stephen Graham

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Henry Cavill

Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill is a British actor. He began his career with roles in the feature film adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) and I Capture the Castle (2003). Cavill gained international recognition in the 2010s for his portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman in the DC Extended Universe... read more

Vivien Leigh

Vivian Mary Hartley, later known as Vivien Leigh and Lady Olivier, was an English stage and film actress. She won two Academy Awards for Best Actress for her performances as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Leigh was also known for her theatrical work... read more

She set the standard for the Southern accent in movies for decades.

James McAvoy

James McAvoy is a Scottish actor. He made his acting debut as a teenager in the 1995 film The Near Room. From 2003 onward, he transitioned into feature films while continuing to work in both film and television.

He's Scottish, but his English accent in Wanted was the best I've heard!

Mark Addy

Jim Sturgess

Jim had no touch of English in 21. He is also superb with the Irish accent in Fifty Dead Men Walking.

In 21 (the first time I saw him), I would have never guessed he was from the UK.

Jamie Bamber

Ian McShane

Tom Hiddleston

Thomas William Hiddleston is an English actor. He's best known for his portrayal of Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in Thor, The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and the Disney+ series Loki. He's also earned acclaim outside Marvel... read more

Tilda Swinton

Katherine Matilda "Tilda" Swinton of Kimmerghame is an Anglo-Scottish actress, performance artist, model, and fashion muse, known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Michael Clayton (2007).

Her American accent wasn't very good at first, but it's absolutely awesome now.

Kate Winslet

Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and singer. She is the recipient of an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, three BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Winslet rose to fame for her role in Titanic (1997) and has been acclaimed for her performances in both independent and... read more

Robert Pattinson

Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson is an English actor, producer, model, and musician. He began his film career by playing Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a 2005 fantasy film. He later gained worldwide recognition for his role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight film series.

Daniel Craig

Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. He trained at the National Youth Theatre and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1991, before beginning his career on stage. Craig is best known for portraying James Bond in five films from Casino Royale (2006) to No Time to Die (2021... read more

He had an awful accent in Lara Croft, mediocre in Knives Out, but very good in Logan Lucky.

Joseph Fiennes

Love him on FlashForward. He is so charming.

Ed Westwick

Joely Richardson

In Nip/Tuck, she has an American accent. In A Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, she has an English accent.

Andrew Lincoln

Andrew James Clutterbuck, born on September 14, 1973, and better known by his stage name Andrew Lincoln, is an English actor. His first major role was in the BBC drama This Life, followed by performances such as Simon Casey in the Channel 4 sitcom Teachers and Mark in the romantic comedy film Love Actually... read more