15 Actors Who Don’t Have the Accent You Think They Do

Some actors spend so much time speaking in a particular accent that audiences eventually forget it is not their natural voice. Years of American roles can make a British actor seem completely American, while there are more Australian infiltrating our ranks than you can possibly imagine. The effect can be especially strange when you hear someone in an interview for the first time after watching them for years. A few of these actors have even admitted that audiences are surprised by their real accents. Once you know where they are actually from, some of their biggest roles sound completely different.

Hugh Laurie

After years of playing Dr. Gregory House with an American accent, Hugh Laurie surprised many viewers when they discovered that he is English and naturally speaks with a British accent.

Christian Bale

Batman, Patrick Bateman, and several other major roles helped make Christian Bale’s American accent extremely familiar, but the actor was born in Wales and speaks with a British accent in real life.

Margot Robbie

Margot Robbie has used American accents in many of her biggest films, including The Wolf of Wall Street, Suicide Squad, and Barbie, so hearing her natural Australian accent can catch viewers off guard.

Daniel Kaluuya

His American accent in Get Out was convincing enough to make many viewers forget that Kaluuya is from London and naturally speaks with an English accent.

Hugh Jackman

Wolverine made Hugh Jackman’s American voice incredibly recognizable, but the actor was born in Sydney and has a distinctly Australian accent when he is speaking naturally.

Toni Collette

Toni Collette has spent so much of her career using American and British accents that her Australian voice can almost sound like another character when she speaks outside her roles.

Rose Byrne

The Australian actress has regularly used American accents in Hollywood, including in Bridesmaids and Damages, and her natural Sydney accent can surprise people who know her mainly from those roles.

Charlie Hunnam

Many viewers associate Charlie Hunnam with his American voice as Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy, but he is from Newcastle, England, and his natural accent is unmistakably British.

Idris Elba

Idris Elba has played enough American characters that his natural London accent can come as a surprise, particularly to viewers who first encountered him through American productions.

K.J. Apa

Archie Andrews spent years speaking with an American accent on Riverdale, while K.J. Apa is actually from New Zealand and has a New Zealand accent in real life.

Isla Fisher

Isla Fisher’s American roles have made her natural Australian accent less familiar to audiences, despite the actress being born in Oman and raised in Australia.

Michael Fassbender

The accent audiences hear in films such as Steve Jobs is not Fassbender’s natural voice. He was born in Germany but grew up in Ireland and speaks with an Irish accent.

Rosamund Pike

Rosamund Pike used an American accent for Gone Girl, but the actress is English and has a distinctly British voice outside her roles.

Karl Urban

Karl Urban has played American characters in films and television for years, but the actor is from Wellington, New Zealand, and his natural accent is Kiwi.

Ryan Kwanten

Fans of True Blood knew Ryan Kwanten as the Southern accented Jason Stackhouse, making his natural Australian accent particularly surprising when they heard him outside the series.