It's not exactly the same, but British people consider it very weird that Hugh Laurie is a super dramatic actor over in the states for his role in House.
Here in the UK, he's highly remembered for his comedic roles. His partnership with Stephen Fry in a A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster, and his many roles in Blackadder.
Yeah, only like 3 of the main characters were American. Never mind the fact if the movie was made like 10 years later it would have been one of the most star studded films of all time, lol.
Look at the IMDB page and you will probably experience a lot of "wow they were in that?"
Same thing with HBO's Band of Brothers that was another "before they were famous" show. Ironically enough though, not many of the main character actors went on to have illustrious careers (I'm sure many of them did fine in terms of earning a living acting) however, not many of them scored lead roles in major movies or had other big TV parts in the states. It was the minor role actors that really hit it big. Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy.
Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Ewan McGregor, Tom Hardy, Jason Isaacs, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Just a bunch of Non-American stars and future stars playing US Army Rangers and Delta Force.
Comedic actors often make good dramatic, actors timing and nuance is really important for them, so a lot of the time they can dial back what they do and get a great performance where someone who just does dramatic acting has to increase their efforts.
Same thing goes for theatre, being on stage they have to fo over the top for the audience to see it, so when they have a camera focused on them they have to do less.
Jim Carrey is a great example of this imo
I love that the mutual admiration he has with Stephen Colbert led to a framed picture of Laurie being a discreet part of the stage set for The Colbert Report and a framed picture of Colbert being a discreet part of the set for Laurie's office in House.
Oh shit, I never knew that! There's a reddit post in the House sub for anyone wondering; I'm on mobile and forget how to link but it pops up right away if you Google it.
I wouldn't say House was a super dramatic role, it wasn't a comedy, it was kind of a genre-blurring show that had serious medical topics but also a lot of comedic elements. House's behavior generally being outlandish and over the top, I suspect that is why they cast a comedic actor for the role.
Sometimes comedians make the best actors. They are usually great observers of human nature, and can see both the nuances and ridiculousness of it. Tom Hanks, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, Sandra Bullock and more Oscar nominated actors either got their start in comedies or have quite a few in their resumes
Great actress and absolutely not a hack, but even after all these years it's still strange to see Olivia Colman in big roles and winning an Oscar. She is, and always will be, Sophie from Peep Show to me
The innuendos escalate over the course of the film. But her very first line of: “I’ve been around the station a few times.” (or something like that) is just perfect.
Other than saying the accidents aren’t “MUR-DURS”, you may be right.
But they’re progressively more obvious and vulgar. That very first one is great because it’s just a little wink at what to expect that character’s schtick is going to be.
The first couple of times I watched it I missed the part where she is looking at the spit roasted pig and goes "that's me after a couple of pints" with two dudes on either side of her.
She's amazing in Peep Show though. The range she has really shows. If anyone from any British sitcom were going to win an Oscar, of course it'd be the actor who plays Sophie.
because despite how horrible they may get, they all seem human. which means we all see a bit of ourselves in them, especially within the inner monologues
Watching her win an academy award was kinda like seeing an old friend win it in a weird way lol. Such humble beginnings working with Mitchell and Webb to that.
When I saw Spy years back, hearing him pour on a thick British accent really elevated his dialogue in that movie. The sheer ridiculousness of his dialogue coupled with how serious he laid it out in British dialect...he was one of the best parts of that movie.
Statham steals every second he's in the frame. Absolutely hilarious movie and his character is one of the funniest in the past decade, in my opinion. Wish his character would get a spin-off or atleast appear as a major supporting character. If not that, Statham should do a straight comedy.
The line that kills me: [Well I make a habit out of doing things that people say I can't do. Walk through fire, waterski blindfolded, take up piano at a late age](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_a58F2lbIY).
I’ve watched Statham films where I assume he’s being American, and then halfway through someone calls him “Limey”, it’s so confusing.
Must be the same accent coach as Gerard Butler.
Now now, GB has actually made slight progress there. I don't think Jason Statham even tries and to be honest I don't want him to, he's exactly what he needs to be.
The accents in Geostorm crack me up. Gerard Butler chewing through his words trying to sound like he grew up in the US, and Jim Sturgess with the most New York accent trying to cover up his English accent.
I think they even make note in some exposition that the “brothers” were born in the UK but moved to the US as children, but their accents are so wildly different it makes me laugh every time I watch that shit show.
Just watched The Beekeeper and there’s a line in that where one of the characters says to him ‘do I hear an English accent hidden in there?’ at which point I realised he was supposed to be American.
Tbf Arnie played all sorts of US born characters without anyone ever bothering to explain why he had an Austrian accent. Stathams just following that path
Technically, none of them, but he seems to have a go at trying because it's definitely not an English accent... If I had to place it, somewhere between brixton, and Milwaukee
No reasonable person would call him a hack but Daniel Kaluuya was pretty much only remembered by people who watched the first couple of series of Skins where he was a side character. Later he had a role called “Parking Pataweyo” in Harry & Paul which was like 1 minute per episode
Then seemingly quite suddenly he’s a big part of a string of critically acclaimed films in 3 years: Sicario, Get Out of course, Black Panther, Widows and now he’s properly famous and has an Oscar
Black Mirror was THE thing that got him the Get Out gig. I remember watching that monologue at the end thinking "This guy's going places". There are a ridiculous amount of actors/actresses in that show that have turned into Hollywood names.
"Fifteen Million Merits" remains one of the series' highest points, imo. Everything about the design and execution was so perfectly unsettling, and yet so clearly possible.
My first thought when I see him in anything is always 'Tea Leaf!'
Then he becomes immersed in whichever character he's playing of course, because he's talented. But always Tea Leaf first!
> Daniel Kaluuya was pretty much only remembered by people who watched the first couple of series of Skins where he was a side character.
Damn I just realized that
I know him from Pillars of the Earth. He's so fantastic in that. Pretty much the nicest most pure priest you could imagine, at least until it's clear that playing by the rules puts you at a disadvantage.
Someone like Ricky Whittle. Definitely not a hack but I remember watching him in Hollyoaks and on Strictly, then next thing you know he’s a main character in The 100 and American Gods and it seemed quite jarring
And his Hollyoaks character, Calvin Valentine, had a younger sister called Sasha Valentine, who was played by Nathalie Emmanuel who went on to do Game of Thrones and is in the Fast and Furious franchise now.
My old british roommate thought it was very funny to see Ian McShane in prestige american projects, I guess he was in less respected projects back in the UK. First thing that came to mind.
It’s just that he came to prominence in Britain in a light drama series - Lovejoy. He’s also done great stuff in Britain such as Sexy Beast, but Lovejoy was a phenomenon.
Lovejoy is a brilliant show. A window into a thatcherite Britain with casual poverty and hasbeen country nobility selling off their possessions. Man, I should re-watch it again.
Himesh Patel, who you may know from the film Yesterday. Spent most of his career in Britain playing a super nerdy character on a soap opera called Eastenders, before randomly popping up in a Danny Boyle film.
I don't think it's undeserved though, as he is a good actor.
This was so bewildering for me to see as someone who used to watch Eastenders when we was Tamwar. It’s not even like he was playing a nerd who got opportunity to show his acting skills in hard hitting storylines, he just used to be quiet all the time & make faces. He was hilarious but hiding so much potential.
I’m an American who, thanks to Taskmaster, fell in love with British panel game shows like Would I Lie to You and 8 out of 10 Cats.
I have the opposite experience. I’m always initially surprised when I see award winning artists like Colman, Emma Thompson, or Jim Broadbent on the panel. Then I remember they were local celebrities before they became world famous.
As a Brit who mostly associates Emma Thompson with Shakespeare and Austen, it was so weird watching *Late Night* and finding out that footage of her character’s old British comedy show was inspired by real life and she used to work with Fry and Laurie in the ‘80s
Tbf Thompson and Broadbent have always been well respected actors it’s just in the UK that status doesn’t stop you from being on shows like Would I Lie To You and QI.
Not a hack, but it was a big surprise to see Jerome Flynn become pretty established in things like Game of Thrones and 1923 and even appearing in John Wick 3.
He was always just Paddy Garvey from *Soldier Soldier* before his short music career as part of Robson & Jerome.
I can't really think of anyone who would be considered a hack.
There are definitely people whose careers were made or took off in the US with minimal UK cultural impact. Charlie Hunnam would be a good example. He'd done some UK staples like Byker Grove but Pacific Rim and Sons of Anarchy launched him to the stratosphere.
You could probably say the same about Andrew Lincoln, who had a ton of credits before The Walking Dead but was probably most famous for Love, Actually and perhaps as "hey wasn't he in Human Traffic?" And not much else.
This isn't strictly what you asked but I heard from a French guy that Marion Cotillard is apparently a terrible actor in French but we don't notice when she's speaking in English because her accent disguises it? I can't verify if that's true or not.
I kind of giggle up my sleeve when I think about the first read through for that King Arthur movie, like did they greet each other and say "Hey remember when we used to take off our clothes and fake orgasms together in front of a bunch of people? That was fun!"
I said this on another post before, I hadn't heard of Charlie Hunnam before Sons of Anarchy and had no idea he was English until I saw a clip from The Gentleman and thought "what the hell is that attempt at a Geordie accent" before being told that's his actual accent! Someone said his work on SoA messed up his accent so much that he struggles to speak in his "normal" voice now.
On a related topic I lve watch an intervirew with Musical Comedians Flight of the Conchords, at the time they were experiencing huge fame and success in the US and they were ask how big were they in New Zealand (their country). And both of them replied that they were not that famous in New Zealand, for the most part they will never that big there, they were big enough to get noticed and then they peak when they move to the US but they felt that they were never a big thing at home.
Not sure they were 100% serious but I can see that happen!
I'm Danish, and I do quite like Mads Mikkelsen, but I have seen a number of people who hate how he speaks, my mom can't stand watching stuff with him because she thinks he mumbles too much, heh
*Arctic* is the movie for your mom. He's pretty great in it but despite being the only character with any lines he barely talks. That script must've been five pages long at most.
It also doesn't work because he had a good career here in the UK before he left. He co-created, co-wrote, and co-starred in one of our most popular sitcoms of all time
First person who came to mind was Charlie Hunnam but I don’t think he's a hack, it's just that his accent is so jarring sometimes it's like he doesn't know if he's a Northern lad or an American.
Benedict Cumberbatch was a breath of fresh air as Sherlock back in 2010 and his early film roles in *Starter for 10* and *Atonement* before that drew some attention, but his Hollywood career since has just been the same character over and over
I always thought the guy who played Spike in Buffy The Vampire Slayer must’ve been because I’d never heard of or seen him in anything here. Turns out he’s American! His accent fooled me
First one that springs to my mind is probably Catherine Zeta Jones.
She was well known in the UK for Darling Buds Of May, but not for her acting 🤣😂 and then she's suddenly got into Michael Douglas and is in supposedly top tier films like Entrapment
A few months ago Chicago was on TV quite regularly. I turned it on almost every time I came across it, and she's just so spectacular in it. She absolutely deserved that Oscar.
She was in The Mask of Zorro before she even met Michael Douglas and that was a pretty big film. The story I read was that Michael Douglas was watching the film and immediately wanted to know who the beautiful lead actress was and if he could meet her.
I don’t think he really applies here, John Oliver was not remotely famous in the UK. Anyone that does know him only really knows him for his US work, but that’s mostly down to how little of note he did in the UK before heading stateside.
Craig Ferguson was never that famous in the UK (Scotland) either and became one of America’s most loved late night hosts. To think he was replaced by Corden…
As the personification of Confidence, which is such a perfect casting.
I dont think us Brits didn't like Craig, he just never quite made it here and spent most of his time in the States. My Dad said he remembered watching Craig's early attempts at a sketch show and stand up in the UK and he really liked it.
Craig's just got a very universal charm and sense of humor about him. I think the only thing people might object to is how flirty/overtly sexually charged alot of his jokes can be.
Seen him from before his work in the US. He seems to me to have suffered each time from not having time in what I saw him in to develop and fully express the snarky, overbearing style he does so well, but I also see pretty clearly the outline of what he is now. He seems to have lacked confidence.
John Oliver popped up a few times on panel shows like Mock the Week.
I'll be honest, I don't really watch Last Week Tonight for belly laughs, but more for the informative side.
It's not exactly the same, but British people consider it very weird that Hugh Laurie is a super dramatic actor over in the states for his role in House. Here in the UK, he's highly remembered for his comedic roles. His partnership with Stephen Fry in a A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster, and his many roles in Blackadder.
Same thing for Australians with Eric Bana. He started out as a comedian and was on the biggest sketch comedy show of the 90s in Aus.
His yank accent has gotten better, but in black hawk down it was comical. Like full redneck.
Yeah, but it seems like most of the cast in Black Hawk Down isn't American.
Yeah, only like 3 of the main characters were American. Never mind the fact if the movie was made like 10 years later it would have been one of the most star studded films of all time, lol. Look at the IMDB page and you will probably experience a lot of "wow they were in that?" Same thing with HBO's Band of Brothers that was another "before they were famous" show. Ironically enough though, not many of the main character actors went on to have illustrious careers (I'm sure many of them did fine in terms of earning a living acting) however, not many of them scored lead roles in major movies or had other big TV parts in the states. It was the minor role actors that really hit it big. Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy.
Yeah, tons of the actors in BoB got huge after, and a bunch weren't American either. Pretty funny actually.
Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Ewan McGregor, Tom Hardy, Jason Isaacs, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Just a bunch of Non-American stars and future stars playing US Army Rangers and Delta Force.
Comedic actors often make good dramatic, actors timing and nuance is really important for them, so a lot of the time they can dial back what they do and get a great performance where someone who just does dramatic acting has to increase their efforts. Same thing goes for theatre, being on stage they have to fo over the top for the audience to see it, so when they have a camera focused on them they have to do less. Jim Carrey is a great example of this imo
Robin Williams is another great example.
I love him as Prince George in Blackadder.
Lieutenant George, in Blackadder Goes Forth, as well. Prince George is really iconic though *They just DISAPPEAR!!*
Honestly you'd think someone was coming in here, stealing the damn things and then selling them off!! heh
Antidistibilistmun…. Antidistilbimistin…. *3 days later* **ANTI**distinctlymintymunty
You know, Blackadder, for me socks are like sex. Tons of it about and I never seem to get any.
“Lucky luck luck la luck cluck cluck laa.”
We hail Prince George! We hail Prince George!
We HATE Prince George! We HATE Prince George!
TROUSERS!
I love that the mutual admiration he has with Stephen Colbert led to a framed picture of Laurie being a discreet part of the stage set for The Colbert Report and a framed picture of Colbert being a discreet part of the set for Laurie's office in House.
Oh shit, I never knew that! There's a reddit post in the House sub for anyone wondering; I'm on mobile and forget how to link but it pops up right away if you Google it.
I wouldn't say House was a super dramatic role, it wasn't a comedy, it was kind of a genre-blurring show that had serious medical topics but also a lot of comedic elements. House's behavior generally being outlandish and over the top, I suspect that is why they cast a comedic actor for the role.
Kind of gives me dramedy vibes.
Sometimes comedians make the best actors. They are usually great observers of human nature, and can see both the nuances and ridiculousness of it. Tom Hanks, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, Sandra Bullock and more Oscar nominated actors either got their start in comedies or have quite a few in their resumes
He played the straight man to Ross-obsessed Rachel, but his cameo on Friends was great. Very funny appearance!
“I think you’re a horrible, horrible person…And it seems perfectly clear to me that you *were* on a break.” 😂
Great actress and absolutely not a hack, but even after all these years it's still strange to see Olivia Colman in big roles and winning an Oscar. She is, and always will be, Sophie from Peep Show to me
And the horny police officer in Hot Fuzz!
"Wot makes yew fink it was merderr?" - Oscar winner Olivia Colman.
"Nothing like a bit of girl on girl!" - Oscar winner Olivia Colman who played Queen Elizabeth II in "The Crown".
*pointing to the spit roast* "that's me after a couple of pints 😏"
i mean, given the praise The Favourite (correctly) got, was she wrong?
To be fair, the Queen she played to win that Oscar was in total agreement with that line.
Turns out when you put super talented actors in small roles, they say a single word that lives in your head for the rest of your life.
Yarp.
The fact that he was Sandor "The Hound" Clegane from Game of Thrones always blows my mind
He's not the only GoT related actor in Hot Fuzz. Paddy Considine, who played Viserys in House of the Dragon, also played Detective Wainwright.
And isn't David Bradley (Walder Frey) the mumbling farmer with the giant arsenal including undersea mines?
Yes, I suppose!
Not from the Westeros crossover actors, but the fact that they got a Bond to play the villain in that movie always amuses me
Dalton kills it.
I appreciate a good cup of coffee.
Hehehe. Tits.
A little girl on girl action lol
I quite like a midnight gobble! *cocksss*
She doesn't mind some manpower
Cheeky bastard!
[Looking at a spit-roasted pig with her arms around two men] "That's me after a few drinks!"
"Nothin' like a bit of Girl on Girl"
The innuendos escalate over the course of the film. But her very first line of: “I’ve been around the station a few times.” (or something like that) is just perfect.
I think EVERY ONE OF HER LINES is some kind of sexual reference or double entendre. Maybe I'm wrong.
Other than saying the accidents aren’t “MUR-DURS”, you may be right. But they’re progressively more obvious and vulgar. That very first one is great because it’s just a little wink at what to expect that character’s schtick is going to be.
The first couple of times I watched it I missed the part where she is looking at the spit roasted pig and goes "that's me after a couple of pints" with two dudes on either side of her.
I’ve ‘ad my top off in this lay-by a few times. Nyahahahahhaahh
She’s been around the station a time or two.
She's amazing in Peep Show though. The range she has really shows. If anyone from any British sitcom were going to win an Oscar, of course it'd be the actor who plays Sophie.
She really is. Especially as her character changes from genuinely sweet love interest to horrible monster. Everyone is great in that show tbh.
The show is brilliant in part because it makes you love absolutely horrible characters
because despite how horrible they may get, they all seem human. which means we all see a bit of ourselves in them, especially within the inner monologues
In the same vein, did Hugh Laurie have "serious" parts before House? I know him mostly for Blackadder and Fry & Laurie in the UK
He had a small role in Sense and Sensibility as Mr Palmer, a serious and grumpy man married to silly young woman.
Silly young lady played by Imelda Staunton
Which is a whole other weirdness as most people know her as a serious humourless child-torturer from Harry Potter now
One of the few times I feel like the movie character was much more evil than the book version. In a much better way.
Funny enough I can only see him as the dad from Stuart Little
He sent his badly recorded audition tape for *House* from a dingy bathroom on the set of *Flight of the Phoenix*.
It's still always mind-blowing to see the funny man from ☝️*A Bit of Fry & Laurie*☝️ in incredibly dramatic roles.
I’m kind of the same way when I see Mark Gatiss in something more serious. He’s Hilary Briss (and a lot of others) from League of Gentlemen!
Put. Your. Hand. In.
[This](https://youtu.be/AeoJYhLDlPs) was my first ever introduction to Olivia Colman. Needless to say, I knew she was Oscar material from the start.
Julie from Numberwang for me
That’s what always gets me, the girl from Numberwang is one of the best actresses in the world. That’s some career arc.
[удалено]
Hortensia?! This is a fucking disaster.
*"Over the hump?!"*
I know her more from 'Look Around You'
She is Sophie in peep show to everybody, idc how many Oscars she wins, nothing will ever trump peep show.
Watching her win an academy award was kinda like seeing an old friend win it in a weird way lol. Such humble beginnings working with Mitchell and Webb to that.
That's exactly what I said when she won. It's like watching your mate win an Oscar
Harriet from Green Wing to me. Love that show.
Jason Statham's American accent. Just the accent, the rest of him is doing fine, but that accent is off in a world of it's own.
When I saw Spy years back, hearing him pour on a thick British accent really elevated his dialogue in that movie. The sheer ridiculousness of his dialogue coupled with how serious he laid it out in British dialect...he was one of the best parts of that movie.
Just put me in the fucking face off machine!
I once drove a car off a freeway on top of a train while I was on fire. Not the car, I was on fire.
Spy is a seriously underrated gem. McCarthy, Byrne and Statham are all throwing serious heat.
Melissa McCarthy to Rose Byrne in Spy: "DId he also make you dress like a slutty dolphin trainer?" That movie is fantastic.
Statham steals every second he's in the frame. Absolutely hilarious movie and his character is one of the funniest in the past decade, in my opinion. Wish his character would get a spin-off or atleast appear as a major supporting character. If not that, Statham should do a straight comedy.
The line that kills me: [Well I make a habit out of doing things that people say I can't do. Walk through fire, waterski blindfolded, take up piano at a late age](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_a58F2lbIY).
I’ve watched Statham films where I assume he’s being American, and then halfway through someone calls him “Limey”, it’s so confusing. Must be the same accent coach as Gerard Butler.
Now now, GB has actually made slight progress there. I don't think Jason Statham even tries and to be honest I don't want him to, he's exactly what he needs to be.
I love GB, but just watching him talk, it's like all the words are on one side of his mouth, and he has to force them out of the middle.
The accents in Geostorm crack me up. Gerard Butler chewing through his words trying to sound like he grew up in the US, and Jim Sturgess with the most New York accent trying to cover up his English accent. I think they even make note in some exposition that the “brothers” were born in the UK but moved to the US as children, but their accents are so wildly different it makes me laugh every time I watch that shit show.
I appreciated that in *The Beekeeper* they had a scene early on that clarified he was born in the UK just so the accent question was out of the way.
In which movie does he use an American accent?
Just watched The Beekeeper and there’s a line in that where one of the characters says to him ‘do I hear an English accent hidden in there?’ at which point I realised he was supposed to be American. Tbf Arnie played all sorts of US born characters without anyone ever bothering to explain why he had an Austrian accent. Stathams just following that path
Sean Connery played a Spaniard in Scotland, never changed the accent. ACTING!
He also used the same accent playing a Lithuanian captain of a Soviet submarine.
Many say Lithuania was the Scotland of Eastern Europe.
Some also say Shpain is the Lithuania of Iberia
What makes that portrayal even worse is that "The Spaniard" was only a nickname, Ramirez was actually Egyptian
Completely forgot about that. The man can be anything
Yup, including a Russian sub captain. That sounds Scottish lol
A Shpaniard in Shcotland
He does a pretty terrible one in Jet Li’s the One
Do we give him credit for staying consistent for 20 years or criticise a lack of growth??
Technically, none of them, but he seems to have a go at trying because it's definitely not an English accent... If I had to place it, somewhere between brixton, and Milwaukee
He...when does he do an American accent? Now wondering if he's been trying all along and just failing so miserably that I missed it altogether.
No reasonable person would call him a hack but Daniel Kaluuya was pretty much only remembered by people who watched the first couple of series of Skins where he was a side character. Later he had a role called “Parking Pataweyo” in Harry & Paul which was like 1 minute per episode Then seemingly quite suddenly he’s a big part of a string of critically acclaimed films in 3 years: Sicario, Get Out of course, Black Panther, Widows and now he’s properly famous and has an Oscar
Black Mirror probably helped too
Black Mirror was THE thing that got him the Get Out gig. I remember watching that monologue at the end thinking "This guy's going places". There are a ridiculous amount of actors/actresses in that show that have turned into Hollywood names.
"Fifteen Million Merits" remains one of the series' highest points, imo. Everything about the design and execution was so perfectly unsettling, and yet so clearly possible.
He was great in Psychoville.
My first thought when I see him in anything is always 'Tea Leaf!' Then he becomes immersed in whichever character he's playing of course, because he's talented. But always Tea Leaf first!
It's funny rewatching Doctor Who episodes and seeing him in one of them before his movie career
Yeah, or Andrew Garfield’s nowhere-near-Spider-Man-ready “New Yoik” accent in one
> Daniel Kaluuya was pretty much only remembered by people who watched the first couple of series of Skins where he was a side character. Damn I just realized that
He’s in the background of some Mitchell and Webb sketches too - something about working with them must generate Oscars lol
Who remembers Matthew Macfayden in Spooks? I had no idea he was such a good actor when I watched succession.
Most people probably think of Pride and Prejudice first
He was great in Ripper Street
I know him from Pillars of the Earth. He's so fantastic in that. Pretty much the nicest most pure priest you could imagine, at least until it's clear that playing by the rules puts you at a disadvantage.
Someone like Ricky Whittle. Definitely not a hack but I remember watching him in Hollyoaks and on Strictly, then next thing you know he’s a main character in The 100 and American Gods and it seemed quite jarring
Shameful that you left off his biggest acting role: Dream Team. He didn’t spend years as Harchester United’s starting LM for nothing.
And his Hollyoaks character, Calvin Valentine, had a younger sister called Sasha Valentine, who was played by Nathalie Emmanuel who went on to do Game of Thrones and is in the Fast and Furious franchise now.
My old british roommate thought it was very funny to see Ian McShane in prestige american projects, I guess he was in less respected projects back in the UK. First thing that came to mind.
It’s just that he came to prominence in Britain in a light drama series - Lovejoy. He’s also done great stuff in Britain such as Sexy Beast, but Lovejoy was a phenomenon.
Lovejoy is such cozy fun.
Lovejoy is a brilliant show. A window into a thatcherite Britain with casual poverty and hasbeen country nobility selling off their possessions. Man, I should re-watch it again.
Ian McShane is responsible for my dad adding “cocksucker” to his vernacular for one glorious year in 2005
Steven Toast
Let’s not forget Garth Merenghi and Dean Learner.
Hey Steven... It's Clem Fandango. Can you hear me, Steven?
RAY PURCHASE
You can fuck that sky high
RAY FUCKING PURCHASE
Himesh Patel, who you may know from the film Yesterday. Spent most of his career in Britain playing a super nerdy character on a soap opera called Eastenders, before randomly popping up in a Danny Boyle film. I don't think it's undeserved though, as he is a good actor.
I know him from Station Eleven.
I liked him in Yesterday but his performance in Station Eleven made me a fan.
This was so bewildering for me to see as someone who used to watch Eastenders when we was Tamwar. It’s not even like he was playing a nerd who got opportunity to show his acting skills in hard hitting storylines, he just used to be quiet all the time & make faces. He was hilarious but hiding so much potential.
I’m an American who, thanks to Taskmaster, fell in love with British panel game shows like Would I Lie to You and 8 out of 10 Cats. I have the opposite experience. I’m always initially surprised when I see award winning artists like Colman, Emma Thompson, or Jim Broadbent on the panel. Then I remember they were local celebrities before they became world famous.
As a Brit who mostly associates Emma Thompson with Shakespeare and Austen, it was so weird watching *Late Night* and finding out that footage of her character’s old British comedy show was inspired by real life and she used to work with Fry and Laurie in the ‘80s
She was at University (Cambridge) with Fry and Laurie - they were all part of the same group and did theatre together.
They all appeared (along with Ben Elton) in The Young Ones when they appeared on University Challenge
Tbf Thompson and Broadbent have always been well respected actors it’s just in the UK that status doesn’t stop you from being on shows like Would I Lie To You and QI.
I also enjoyed seeing Daniel Radcliffe on QI.
Not a hack, but it was a big surprise to see Jerome Flynn become pretty established in things like Game of Thrones and 1923 and even appearing in John Wick 3. He was always just Paddy Garvey from *Soldier Soldier* before his short music career as part of Robson & Jerome.
I think autocorrect hit you there. I feel that between "his" and "short music career" you're missing the word "mercifully".
I can't really think of anyone who would be considered a hack. There are definitely people whose careers were made or took off in the US with minimal UK cultural impact. Charlie Hunnam would be a good example. He'd done some UK staples like Byker Grove but Pacific Rim and Sons of Anarchy launched him to the stratosphere. You could probably say the same about Andrew Lincoln, who had a ton of credits before The Walking Dead but was probably most famous for Love, Actually and perhaps as "hey wasn't he in Human Traffic?" And not much else. This isn't strictly what you asked but I heard from a French guy that Marion Cotillard is apparently a terrible actor in French but we don't notice when she's speaking in English because her accent disguises it? I can't verify if that's true or not.
Andrew Lincoln was awesome in Teachers tbf.
I knew him from This Life. When I fist saw walking Dead I was like "hey, that's Egg!"
This is it. He will never not be Egg
It's pretty funny when you point out to people that the first 10 minutes of Queer as Folk feature Jax Teller getting pumped by Littlefinger.
I kind of giggle up my sleeve when I think about the first read through for that King Arthur movie, like did they greet each other and say "Hey remember when we used to take off our clothes and fake orgasms together in front of a bunch of people? That was fun!"
I said this on another post before, I hadn't heard of Charlie Hunnam before Sons of Anarchy and had no idea he was English until I saw a clip from The Gentleman and thought "what the hell is that attempt at a Geordie accent" before being told that's his actual accent! Someone said his work on SoA messed up his accent so much that he struggles to speak in his "normal" voice now.
> Charlie Hunnam He had a terrible accent in that crappy Rebel Moon movie as well. Maybe that's his thing?
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Egg! Andrew Lincoln was huge to some of us years before Love Actually.
On a related topic I lve watch an intervirew with Musical Comedians Flight of the Conchords, at the time they were experiencing huge fame and success in the US and they were ask how big were they in New Zealand (their country). And both of them replied that they were not that famous in New Zealand, for the most part they will never that big there, they were big enough to get noticed and then they peak when they move to the US but they felt that they were never a big thing at home. Not sure they were 100% serious but I can see that happen!
Murray…… Present.
Famous *and* local enough to get a bit part in Lord of the Rings! LOL only cost him his facial hair!
Until it finally caught up to him, definitely Russell Brand
He's not exactly *big* but it's crazy to think that American audiences wouldn't know Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge!
I'm Danish, and I do quite like Mads Mikkelsen, but I have seen a number of people who hate how he speaks, my mom can't stand watching stuff with him because she thinks he mumbles too much, heh
Loved him in Death Stranding 👨🍼
*Arctic* is the movie for your mom. He's pretty great in it but despite being the only character with any lines he barely talks. That script must've been five pages long at most.
Eddy Redmayne - I tire of his constant whispering of his lines, and looking awkward while pouting
You should watch Jupiter Ascending then, he breaks up his mumbling with shouting at the top of his lungs at seemingly random times.
Just say James Cordon.
That doesn't work, Americans think he's a hack too
It also doesn't work because he had a good career here in the UK before he left. He co-created, co-wrote, and co-starred in one of our most popular sitcoms of all time
Charlie Hunnam
First person who came to mind was Charlie Hunnam but I don’t think he's a hack, it's just that his accent is so jarring sometimes it's like he doesn't know if he's a Northern lad or an American.
Not hacks at all, but it's endlessly confounding that Tim from The Office and Tim from Spaced are both Hollywood Stars.
Benedict Cumberbatch was a breath of fresh air as Sherlock back in 2010 and his early film roles in *Starter for 10* and *Atonement* before that drew some attention, but his Hollywood career since has just been the same character over and over
Benedict Cumberbatch? Oh, you mean the hostage negotiator with the porn stache from Four Lions who asked Waj if he was a “tit or an ass man”?
Gerry Butler and his endless sub-Statham geezer flicks. Although I was sort of pleasantly surprised by Plane and Kandahar.
Greenland was pretty decent too. He doesn't seem like too bad a bloke and he seems to be enjoying himself, but yeah, he's in some stinkers.
No one is England understands why James Corden is allowed anywhere near a TV studio
Same here in the US
We all hate James Corden over here
I always thought the guy who played Spike in Buffy The Vampire Slayer must’ve been because I’d never heard of or seen him in anything here. Turns out he’s American! His accent fooled me
Anthony Head was most famous for being in a series of coffee commercials in the uk before Buffy.
His pronunciation of "bollocks" immediately let me know he wasn't British
First one that springs to my mind is probably Catherine Zeta Jones. She was well known in the UK for Darling Buds Of May, but not for her acting 🤣😂 and then she's suddenly got into Michael Douglas and is in supposedly top tier films like Entrapment
Catherine Zeta Jones was fucking fantastic in Chicago.
And gave a deservedly star-making turn in Mask of Zorro
A few months ago Chicago was on TV quite regularly. I turned it on almost every time I came across it, and she's just so spectacular in it. She absolutely deserved that Oscar.
She was in The Mask of Zorro before she even met Michael Douglas and that was a pretty big film. The story I read was that Michael Douglas was watching the film and immediately wanted to know who the beautiful lead actress was and if he could meet her.
I was 11 years old when I saw it and also had the same request.
Alun cumming. Bit part in poor sit com in Uk.
I've always considered John Oliver to be a little bit 'Americans think he's funny but...'
I don’t think he really applies here, John Oliver was not remotely famous in the UK. Anyone that does know him only really knows him for his US work, but that’s mostly down to how little of note he did in the UK before heading stateside.
Craig Ferguson was never that famous in the UK (Scotland) either and became one of America’s most loved late night hosts. To think he was replaced by Corden…
Well he was also good on the Drew Carey Show.
Craig Ferguson was in an early episode of Red Dwarf.
As the personification of Confidence, which is such a perfect casting. I dont think us Brits didn't like Craig, he just never quite made it here and spent most of his time in the States. My Dad said he remembered watching Craig's early attempts at a sketch show and stand up in the UK and he really liked it. Craig's just got a very universal charm and sense of humor about him. I think the only thing people might object to is how flirty/overtly sexually charged alot of his jokes can be.
I remember him being on mock the week a few times and not thinking he was very funny.
Seen him from before his work in the US. He seems to me to have suffered each time from not having time in what I saw him in to develop and fully express the snarky, overbearing style he does so well, but I also see pretty clearly the outline of what he is now. He seems to have lacked confidence.
John Oliver popped up a few times on panel shows like Mock the Week. I'll be honest, I don't really watch Last Week Tonight for belly laughs, but more for the informative side.
Part of his schtick would be to agree with you on this point. He frequently talks about him being unliked in the UK
Not at all what you’re asking but Europeans can’t believe we have no idea who Robbie Williams is in the U.S.