When an American actor plays a Brit, you can usually tell, well at least I can.
There’s a lot of grumbling and fan fair around it, in hopes that they will pull it
off, her perhaps end up like Dick Van Dyke.
However, when a Brit plays an American, no one seems to say a thing.
Whether it’s because they don’t know, or that they just don’t care, we have no
idea.
However, some folks out there are completely and utterly fooled by these secret Brits,
and have no idea that they don’t hail from their own country.
So today on Beyond the Screen, we’re going to be counting down our list of the Top 10
Actors You Never Knew Were British.
Lets jump in.
10 Andrew Lincoln The Walking Dead’s, Rick Grimes was a fan
favorite from episode one of the popular AMC show about the undead.
But, little did most fans know that Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, was actually British,
with his fairly strong, Southern accent being almost completely flawless throughout the
entirety of the show.
However, if you remember a little movie called Love Actually, you will remember Andrew Lincoln,
as the love sick best friend who adorably confesses his feelings to Kiera Knightly with
cue cards and a boom box.
Yep, that is his native accent, and that is also the film that arguably shot him into
superstardom.
9 Charlie Hunnam Oh Charlie Hunnam, he had to be on our list
because his accent is utterly confusing, and why is that?
Because, he’s British, yet can’t even seem to nail that accent.
Most will know this actor from the hit series Sons of Anarchy, where he played Jackson “Jax”
Teller, the Vice President of a gangster motorcycle club.
However, prior to this, his breakout role was on Queer as Folk, a British television
series that chronicled thet lives of three gay men living in Manchester.
However, a very interesting nugget of information for you Hunnam fans out there.
Charlie was born in Newcastle, to a legitimate gangster, making his role in Sons of Anarchy
incredibly fitting.
8 Rosamund Pike For a lot of North American fans, prior to
the release of Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike was relatively unknown.
So, as you would expect, many just assumed she was American when they saw her on the
big screen alongside Ben Affleck.
However, they were very wrong.
Rosamund Pike is, of course, a Brit, born in London Town, and began her acting career
on stage, in productions like Romeo and Juliet.
She has also starred in some huge films back in my motherland, including, Pride and Prejudice,
and Die Another Day.
7 Aaron Taylor - Johnson For most, Aaron Taylor-Johnson first appeared
on their screens in the action comedy, Kick-Ass back in 2010, in which Aaron played Dave Lizewski,
an unnoticed high school kid who decides to become a superhero.
It’s fun, and gory, and incredibly crude, but we all loved it, and it shot Aaron into
superstardom.
However, it came as a shock to a lot of people to discover this actor was actually British.
That’s right, he was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire back in 1990, and even starred
in a handful of British TV shows and movies before hitting the big leagues in the states.
With the actor going on to star in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Nocturnal Animals, and A Million
Little Pieces.
6 Naomi Watts You may think me crazy for putting Naomi Watts
on this list, but don’t hate, just listen.
Even I myself though Naomi Watts was Aussie through and through, but I too was wrong.
Naomi was actually born in Shoreham Kent, before moving to Australia later on in life,
and it wasn’t until then that she began acting on shows like Home and Away, Brides
of Christ, and Hey Dad!
The actress eventually moved to the states in the 90’s, which is when she began to
star in big American-made films like Tank Girl, Mulholland Drive, The Ring, and much,
much more.
However, for a long period of time, Naomi didn’t enjoy her newfound success or Americanized
lifestyle, I quote, “There was a time I was very much blaming the way I felt on LA,
that it was a vacuum of creativity, of humor or anything organic, and I was really angry
at the place.
But then today I feel completely different.
I love LA.”
5 Tom Hardy Tom Hardy is one of the best actors of our
generation.
Fact.
He is so good in fact, that no one quite knows where he’s from, simply because he nails
every single accent he is required to do for a part.
His breakout role in the states was of course in Christopher Nolan’s Inception alongside
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Leonardo Dicaprio, before he went on to team up with Nolan again
in The Dark Knight Rises, with the actor taking on the role of Bane.
In the vast majority of his films he does an exceptional American accent, but did you
know, Tom was actually born in Hammersmith London?
Well, OG fans of the actor will.
If you’ve ever seen Bronson or Layer Cake, you will know that Hardy has an incredibly
thick London accent.
The more you know!
4 Christian Bale This may come as a shock to a lot of you,
but perhaps not our older viewers out there who would remember Christian Bale in the classic
film Empire of the Sun, released all the way back in 1987.
If you knew of this film, you would also know that Christian Bale is very, very British.
More interesting still, the actor was born in Wales, but does not consider himself Welsh.
With he himself stating that he’s English.
On-screen it is incredibly difficult to tell that Bale is from Britain, with the actor
nailing any and every accent he is required to do.
However, did you know, the actor almost called it quits on the film industry right at the
very beginning.
Remember Empire of the Sun?
Yeah, well looking back on that moment in his life, Bale stated, I quote, “I enjoyed
making the film, but I was shocked when I received all the attention when I got home
to Bournemouth.
Girls were all over me, boys wanted to fight me, and I was being asked to open local fetes
when all I wanted to do was ride my BMX bike in the woods.
I told my parents I wasn’t interested in doing anything again because the attention
ruined it.”
Well, I think we’re all glad he changed his mind, with the actor going on to win an
Academy award for his role in the 2011 drama, The Fighter.
3 Tom Holland Of course, Spider-Man himself has to make
an appearance.
For a lot of people Tom Holland is only just coming to their attention now thanks to the
MCU.
With the actor first appearing as Spider-Man in the Marvel movie Captain America: Civil
War, before going on to build his own legacy in the Marvel cinematic universe.
However, it came as a shock to some people to discover that Tom is actually British.
The actor was born on June 1st, 1996 in Kingston upon Thames, and prior to Marvel, starred
in a handful of movies.
His breakout role however was as Lucas in the 2012 drama The Impossible.
Where he played the son of Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, during the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami.
He was absolutely incredible, and completely stole the limelight from Watts and McGregor.
2 Daniel Kaluuya This Academy Award nominated actor shot to
fame when he starred in the smash hit, 2017 film, Get Out, directed by Jordan Peele.
It seemed to most that he came out of nowhere, completely blowing everyone away in the process.
However, Daniel has been on the scene for a long time prior to Get Out, with the British
actor, who was born in London, starring in things like, Skins, Doctor Who, Babylon, and
Silent Witness.
Yep, this actor, for the most part, was ever present in my life growing up in the UK.
Appearing in so many of my favorite shows, and now, in 2019, he’s one of the most sought
after actors in the industry.
Good on you Daniel.
1 Gillian Anderson Honestly, there is no other person we could
put at number one, simply because Gillain Anderson is a complete and utter enigma.
Most will be familiar with this actress from the fan-favorite sci fi series, The x-Files,
where she played Agent Scully.
Now, the actress was born in Chicago but raised in London, and what makes her an enigma, like
I said previously, is that she;s bidialectal.
Which means, she is capable of using two dialects of a language depending on her location.
Aka, when she’s in the states she speaks in an American accent, and when she’s in
the UK she speaks in a British accent.
And both accents are flawless, which only adds to people’s confusion.
Throughout her long career she has been able to effortlessly slip in and out of accents,
which has proved to be a helpful skill, with the actress still appearing on our big and
small screens, in things like Sex Education, The Crown, and of coure, the most recent seasons
of The X-Files that were released in 2016 and came to an end in 2018.
Well, there we have it!
Do you guys agree with our list?
Are there any secret Brits that we missed?
Leave us all your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below and perhaps we can
do a part 2.
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And until next time, see ya later.