Why are so many British actors playing American heroes?

Better training.

This is an issue that extends beyond superhero films, to films in general. America has a young actor crisis. The topic has received quite a bit of coverage over the last couple of years, especially after the totally American story of Selma came out and people realized four of the primary characters were played by British actors.

The Atlantic did a feature on it, in which Michael Douglas commented on the issue, saying:

"Clearly, it breaks down on two fronts. In Britain they take their training seriously while in the States we’re going through a sort of social media image conscious thing rather than formal training. Many actors are getting caught up in this image thing, which is going on to affect their range."

Young actors from Britain, Ireland, Australia and other locations have grown up with their television dominated by American shows. They have heard American voices coming out of that box, every day, and they've mastered mimicking those accents. That means the best of those actors can cross the ocean and compete on a level playing field against the best young American actors. Add in the emphasis on training, overseas, and those young foreigners acquire an edge over many of their American counterparts.

Many young actors build their foundation in television before breaking into film. All one has to do is watch some American television and some British television and some structural differences will be noticed - differences that help young British actors and hinder young American actors.

I’m sick of seeing British, Australian & NZ actors playing Americans & fucking up the accents. Enough.

Cost. It is cheaper for Hollywood to cast British actors than American actors. British actors are getting more recognition and a greater opportunity when Hollywood movies come to be filmed in the UK. The UK offers a tax rebate on movies filmed there, and part of that stipulation is that a certain percentage of actors cast must be British. And the casting directors casting for all the other roles in the movies are British, and unless you are a recognisable name or face or somehow got into their inner circle they will not call in American actors based in the UK. This could be for a variety of reasons. One such may be the list of perceptions that British actors are so much better “trained” as if American actors (particularly those living here in the UK and having gone to drama school here) are not trained or that they train in theatre (which is an acting style that doesn’t translate to film as techniques are different) as if there aren’t any theatres in the US.

In the arts world you will find the upper echelons of stereotypical British snobbery and pretentiousness. Their stereotype of Americans is that they are loud and brash and over-confident, and there is some truth to that because of how Americans are taught to come across to get ahead and make a good impression. So on an equal level where neither actor provides name or face recognition British actors will simply be given preference over American actors. They keep it in the family. Meanwhile the same sort of favouritism doesn’t extend from the US movie industry to American actors because the American ideal is to undercut and get the cheapest cost at the highest return, so if they can cut costs by casting Brits then that’s what they’re going to do.

All that said, the acting world in the UK is filled with people who consider themselves artists first, and while they do want to make a living at it they’re not necessarily setting their sites on being “stars”. And that’s also why many American actors wanted to come here instead of LA only to find, as I mentioned above, it is much more of a struggle to be seen even to play Americans and will watch as a British counterpart roughly fitting the same “type” as them and offering no more to the role as them be called to auditions and be cast over them simply because they are British.

Generally, there is a hard pressed acknowledgment amongst the UK acting world that they need the US industry to thrive, yet they also are resentful that that’s the case, so they further create the persona to mask that resentfulness by proclaiming that Hollywood wants them because they’re just so much more talented. It becomes more or less one of those things that becomes true the more you say it.

Superheroes can't have mutilated dongs nowadays. But anything goes for middling heroes.

They're much better at US regional accents? Most are also better actors.

Wasn't Idris Elba doing an American accent in "The Wire"?

How about the Black British actor Eamonn Walker, he plays the battalion chief on "Chicago Fire", his accent in the series is excellent. I was talking to a friend who had no idea the actor was British. Eamonn was also in "Oz". Same for his Aussie co-star Jesse Spencer on "Chicago Fire", he also played an American in "House", he's another foreign actor who is great at doing American accents.

Riz Ahmed did an amazing Queens NY accent in "The Night Of". Dominic West's US accent was believable in "The Affair".

[quote] The Atlantic did a feature on it, in which Michael Douglas commented on the issue, saying: "Clearly, it breaks down on two fronts. In Britain they take their training seriously while in the States we’re going through a sort of social media image conscious thing rather than formal training. Many actors are getting caught up in this image thing, which is going on to affect their range."

Yeah, I think what Michael Douglas *meant to say* was “In America, we mostly rely on nepotism for our young actors & directors. Like me, for example.”

It’s not just superheroes, more broadly too many English actors are being cast as Americans in many roles, and vice-versa.

You point out one of the more egregious examples of Andrew Garfield (actor) in Spiderman, I can hear his English accent in nearly every line that he spits out.

Henry Cavill (actor) played a CIA agent in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015 movie) and his accent was beyond horrendous. He was going for the Don Draper (Mad Men character) but got a robot voice instead.

The biggest problem with some of the british actors is I think the director tells them to do an “american accent” so they don’t sound like they are from anywhere. Are they supposed to be from Iowa, California, Texas? Every sentence sounds differentand so muted sometimes. There is no such thing as an american accent, just like there is no such thing as a british accent.

In that same movie they have Armie Hammer (American actor) playing a KGB (intelligence agency) spy, his accent is a bit hoaky, but it is an English version of a Russian accent, so it is acceptable.

Another horrible American accent was by Colin Farrell (actor) in the second season of True Detective (TV series). He tried to play a Los Angeles cop, with a southern California alcoholic deadbeat father cop accent (I guess?) but who knows.

Also in that same series Ritchie Coster played the mayor and although he did a very good job, again I couldn’t distinguish if that was a Boston accent, LA accent, Philly accent? I have no idea.

Please get some American actors to just do their normal voice! I get that the Brits have more classical training and all, but it is not fair to them.

It’s not just superheroes, more broadly too many English actors are being cast as Americans in many roles, and vice-versa.

You point out one of the more egregious examples of Andrew Garfield (actor) in Spiderman, I can hear his English accent in nearly every line that he spits out.

Henry Cavill (actor) played a CIA agent in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015 movie) and his accent was beyond horrendous. He was going for the Don Draper (Mad Men character) but got a robot voice instead.

The biggest problem with some of the british actors is I think the director tells them to do an “american accent” so they don’t sound like they are from anywhere. Are they supposed to be from Iowa, California, Texas? Every sentence sounds differentand so muted sometimes. There is no such thing as an american accent, just like there is no such thing as a british accent.

In that same movie they have Armie Hammer (American actor) playing a KGB (intelligence agency) spy, his accent is a bit hoaky, but it is an English version of a Russian accent, so it is acceptable.

Another horrible American accent was by Colin Farrell (actor) in the second season of True Detective (TV series). He tried to play a Los Angeles cop, with a southern California alcoholic deadbeat father cop accent (I guess?) but who knows.

Also in that same series Ritchie Coster played the mayor and although he did a very good job, again I couldn’t distinguish if that was a Boston accent, LA accent, Philly accent? I have no idea.

Please get some American actors to just do their normal voice! I get that the Brits have more classical training and all, but it is not fair to them.

It has nothing to do with British/Australians actually having better training. It has to do with that they are presently thought by the Hollywood industry to have better training, and to be better actors, like a kind of stereotype.

There are countless incredibly well trained and even genius untrained American actors that flock to Hollywood every year, and they aren't getting the parts. Their British counterparts of the exact same acting caliber are.

Why is this? Why is this currently the fad? I don't know, but I can make some guesses.

The age of the great American method actor is over. The Marlon Brandos/Al Pacinos/Robert DeNiros/Dustin Hoffmans of the world are not considered to be as groundbreaking as they were 50 years ago. This is because method acting is now a standard. All acting schools teach some variation of method acting (yes many now pride themselves on being anti-method, but even these schools have basic tenants which are method in nature, or they assume that at your core as a performer you already have certain aspects to your training which are method-based that they don't need to re-teach you) Because method acting is now a standard, the fad to cast young Anerican method actors is gone.

Some people have said that British actors are getting the parts because of their classical training. No. Many American actors have received amazing classical training as well. And training overall, and especially classical training, can actually be something that many Hollywood casting people don’t like to see on a resume, as these actors can come off as being too big and over-the-top in their performances on camera.

It’s a fad now to cast British and Australian actors. That's why they’re getting all the parts.

Because it’s not true. Look at the cast of Avengers. All the primary characters save two were Americans. The exceptions were Chris Hemsworth (Australian) and Tom Hiddleston (British). Look at Wonder Woman. Here the lead actress, Gal Gadot was Israeli and of course Chris Pine as her co-star who is American.

So if your assertion is fundamentally untrue, why do British actors stand out? The reason is their training. They are extensively trained as character actors and of course that means they often times land interesting roles which call for in-depth character acting. Doctor Strange, for example, relied heavily on the ability of the lead actor to sell the character. Casting Cumberbatch was inspired - sorry but I can’t think of any American actor who could nail this role.

It is also a fact that villains, who have no moral constraints, often turn out as more complex characters - so you often see Brits playing the villain, not the hero. This fits the American ethos in which Brits are the villains (yes, dating back to the War of Independence). In other words, it is pandering to stereotypes. This, in part, is why we see Ian McKellan as Magneto and Tom Hiddleston as Loki.

I did a quick check of American superheroes in film, dating back to 1970. More than 85% are played by American actors. However their general quality of acting means you are likely remembering the Brits such as Henry Cavill (Superman), Christian Bale (Batman) and Patrick Stewart (Professor Xavier) on merit.

Should point out that of the 11 actors to portray Superman, only one was British.

R8, you picked some extremely bad examples.

It also depends on the British actor, or actress. Some do extensive research, they ask the director where in the US their character is from, they then perfect the regional accent.

For example, after The Night Of had ended, Riz Ahmed was interviewed on Stephen Colbert's talk show Colbert was floored to learn that Riz was British. Riz's VENOM accent was terrible, it was from nowhere USA, very flat. His British regional accents are always excellent.

[Quote] I think we pitch up. We know our lines. We don’t demand sixty-foot Winnebagos. And we’re grateful.

- Diana Rigg to The AV Club in 2015.

I don`t think that they are casting people by nationality. they are casting by quality.

Cynthia Erivo will probably end up playing Kamala Harris in some biopic years from now.