The Top 10 Worst Accents In Film

That was the first one I thought of.

And I agree with Gulftastic regarding Sean Connery. It doesn't matter that he speaks with a Scottish accent in every single film; his star quality just makes it work! :)
 
Morgan Freeman's South African accent in Invictus, it wandered all over the place which was such a shame as he got the tone of his voice right. I thought Matt Damon's was pretty good though.
 
Sean Connery is always associated with his thick Scottish accent and yet in his Bond films (not counting the later Never Say Never Again) he had (more or less) an English accent. Early in his career he sounded a lot more English. I suspect this was necessary to help him get film roles. I don't think James Bond with a thick Scottish accent would work so it made sense to change his accent.

Q, Bond's gadget man, was originally meant to have a strong Welsh accent but the actor, Desmond llewelyn, believed it was the wrong accent for the character so he spoke with an English accent.

Gerard Butler's American accent in the new film The Bounty Hunter is unusual. Could rank as one of the worst.

Not film related but I thought it's worth mentioning David Tennant - the former Doctor Who. He had a perfect English accent when playing the Doctor. Tennant is Scottish but his English accent is faultless.
 
Robert Downey Junior in Natural Born Killers. I couldn't work out whether he was meant to be Australian or British. My bf didn't see any problem with it though, so maybe just me.
 
But actors, certainly not high profile ones, are cast for their ability to do a credible accent. They are cast for who they are, and the accent comes later.

If a studio or a director wants, for example, Jack Nicholson for a role, then they want him because he is right for the character and his name will probably help sell the movie.

If he is required to use a different accent, he will spend time with a dialogue coach...he may get the accent bang on, or he may come up with a passable approximation of the accent.

But the bottom line is that people who like Jack Nicholson and want to watch the movie are still going to pay money to see the movie, bad accent and all.
 
I can't fault Christopher Lambert's accent in Highlander.

I look forward to his delivery of the line "I'll blood well walk out of here" every time I see it. :)
 
I would have to second Mr Reeves brilliant accent in Dracula - my only explanation is that he had heard an English accent described but never actually heard one. I found it hillarious :D (and got severely "tutted" by the lady behind me in the cinema when I laughed out loud)
 
I agree. I saw it a couple of weeks ago. I thought the same about 'The cider house rules'. It's a strange American accent to say the least.
Probably the best thing about Michael Caine is his accent. Without it he becomes mediocre.
 
This also perfectly sums up Jared Harris as Ship's Captain in Benjamin Button. Truly international.

Similar wandering by Anthony Hopkins in Fracture.
Is it Welsh?
Is it American?
Is it Irish?
Is it heck!
 
As an aside I've heard it said that most Americans aren't overly bothered about phoney US accents from English thesps.

Unlike the English in reverse.

Then again as a society it's much less stratified so clearly defined regional accents are rarer.
 
I don't think that Mary Poppins would have been half the film it was without Dick Van Dyke and for a Disney film I thought his accent was great.

Who did you want?, Arthur Mullard? :p
 
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