[TheZookie007]

(Slightly related: Rebecca Ferguson who was in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation playing a British spy is actually Swedish.)

[Hiram]

On that note.  In Netflix's Away - Ato Essandoh who is American actually plays a Brit.

[TheZookie007]

On that note.  In Netflix's Away - Ato Essandoh who is American actually plays a Brit.

It gets better. Although Ato is Ghanaian-American, in Away he plays a Ghanaian/British/Jewish astronaut

[TheZookie007]

Wunmi Mosaku, who plays Ruby in HBO's Lovecraft Country, is British of Nigerian heritage. Here she is speaking in her usual accent.

[TheZookie007]

Watching the scene in Avengers: Infinity War where Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man are discussing how to take out the bad guys. Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange) and Tom Holland (Spider-Man) are both Brits who do excellent American accents. Meanwhile Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark) is an American who does an excellent British accent, although not in this movie.

That scene also had two actors (Benedict Cumberbatch & Robert Downey Jr.) who have portrayed Sherlock Holmes face to face. And the two actors who played their respective Dr. Watsons also appeared elsewhere in the MCU, and also both do excellent American accents: Martin Freeman (Everett Ross in Black Panther and in Avengers: Civil War) and Jude Law (Captain Marvel).

[Hiram]

Meanwhile Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark) is an American who does an excellent British accent, although not in this movie.

Not sure about that - very few Americans do do the subtlety of a British accent. 

[solvegas]

Meanwhile Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark) is an American who does an excellent British accent, although not in this movie.

Not sure about that - very few Americans do do the subtlety of a British accent. 

That is true since there are many different accents within England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Before this corona virus ravaged international tourist travel, we used to get plenty of tourists not only from the British isles but also from Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. To the American ear, they all sound from England BUT quite often we are gently told that is not the case. There is no harm intended, it is what it is. Just like Canadians in Europe don't like being lumped and/or confused with Americans, neither the Aussies or the Kiwis like being confused with the Limeys. Or Poms as several Aussies have pointed out to me. Anyways, as actors they are supposed to play a character as required by the script.

[TheZookie007]

The British Isles have a huge range of regional accents. Most American actors don't do English accents well; most absolutely butcher Scottish or Irish accents. RDJ's English accent (as seen in his Sherlock Holmes movies or in Chaplin) is exceptionally good. His wife in the Avengers movies, Gwyneth Paltrow, does a good English accent in Shakespeare in Love also.

[Hiram]

To the American ear, they all sound from England BUT quite often we are gently told that is not the case.

I have been mistaken for an Australian before when I've been in the US.

Even us Brits can't always identify all the accents - I moved to my current location 10 years ago, I still have trouble identifying where locals are from by their accent.  But local people can hear the difference.

[Hiram]

The British Isles have a huge range of regional accents.

I'd estimate the accent changes every 20 miles - not by much, but enough to notice.   Compare a Edinburgh accent to a Glasgow accent. 50 miles.


Kai Accent Guy on Youtube does some good accents.

[Hiram]

Jodie Comer - UK - Free Guy.

Actually she's great at accents - even the British one she had in the film wasn't her own.

[TheZookie007]

Now that he is playing yet another American in tick, tick...BOOM!, I was going to add Andrew Garfield to the list. But I found out that he was born in Los Angeles, California, to an American father and an English mother. So he's American by birth, and by ancestry, as well as English.

[TheZookie007]

Sarah Snook (who plays daughter Siobhan "Shiv" Roy on HBO's Succession) is Australian, born in Adelaide in 1987.

[TheZookie007]

Bella Ramsey (b. September 2003 in Nottingham, England) had to use a midwestern American accent for her role in the TV adaption of the video game The Last of Us, which will premiere on HBO Max on 15 January 2023.

[Hiram]

had to use a midwestern American accent for her role

Probably the easier one to use.

Kate Winslet did a good regional ascent in Mare of Easttown.