Some actors don’t always nail the accent they’re going for, leading to some cringe-worthy moments on screen. A recent survey asked the internet for their top picks for accent fails, and here are the 25 most popular ones.
The Departed
“The therapist has a heavy Boston accent for one scene, and the rest is normal.”
“You cannot mention The Departed without mentioning Ray Winston’s insane accent throughout the film.”
“I feel like they shot the accent for one or two days, then realized it wasn’t working.”
Salt
“Angelina Jolie’s Russian accent; a spy with such an accent would be killed on the spot.”
During an interview, Jon Stewart referred to a “hot Russian spy” and then said, “She’s the hot Russian spy. I’m the good one – I’m her boss. Sorry. Whoa.” He accidentally gave away the twist ending.
Rounders
“We can’t talk about bad Russian accents without talking about Malkovich in Rounders; “giv dat man hees myoney!””
Matt Damon said getting John Malkovich was a big deal for the film, so much so that on the first take, John Malkovich did a very cartoonish and over-the-top performance, but at the end, the whole crew applauded and praised him for how brilliant it was.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
“It gave us the great joke in Men in Tights – “Unlike some Robin Hoods, I speak with an English accent.”
“Not bothering would have been better. A natural American accent would be fine. It’s like he couldn’t decide which one to use and for how long.”
Mary Poppins
“Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins is the yardstick.”
“Yeah, the epitome of bad accents. Truly awful.”
“It’s the truth. His accent is atrocious, but his acting, singing, and dancing are brilliant.”
K19: Widow Maker
“I recently watched K19: Widow Maker; one thing that took me out of the movie was Liam Neeson’s and Harrison Ford’s accents. In the beginning, they really tried, but towards the middle, they just gave up.”
Green Street
“Charlie Hunnam sounded Australian, South African; everything BUT West-end hooligan! It was horrible.”
“There are loads of articles about his bizarre accent. He got stuck with that accent after years on Sons of Anarchy and had to hire a voice coach to try and get his accent back!”
The Hunt For Red October
“Connery (playing a Russian submarine captain but having a Scottish accent) smoothly transitions from speaking Russian with a Scottish accent to just speaking English with his natural accent.”
“Sean Connery’s accent is bad in everything where he’s not Scottish.”
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
“Keanu Reeves in Dracula is the gold standard in terrible accents.”
“Saw the title and came here to post exactly this. Didn’t help he was sharing the movie with Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins too.”
n, despite her being only nine years older than him.
Con Air
“Nic Cage’s attempt at an Alabama dialect in Con Air was hilarious.”
Nicolas Cage traveled to Alabama to work on his accent.
John Malkovich was unhappy during production because the script was rewritten almost every day; he had no idea how his character was going to turn out.
Sons Of Anarchy
“Not a movie, but I swear they used the Lucky Charms mascot as their dialect coach for all non-Irish actors they brought in.”
“They made it so much worse by casting a handful of actual Irishmen in the show to make it clear just how absolutely ridiculous the pretenders sounded.”
House Of Gucci
“Lady Gaga in House of Gucci either sounds Russian or like an Italian American trying their best at an Italian accent.”
“Jared Leto sounded like he needed to go save princess peach. Just watch that train wreck if you want to watch terrible accents.”
Hannibal
“Julianne Moore grew up a military brat who moved around a lot and lived in several Southern states. She must’ve thought she could do a Southern accent, but she should’ve hired a coach. So bad. One of the worst.”
Star Wars: A New Hope
“Carrie Fisher is British in some scenes in Star Wars: A New Hope and then not in others. It’s very confusing.”
“The scenes in which she’s “Mid-Atlantic” are the scenes where she’s speaking to imperial officers or Tarkin himself.”
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
“The worst ever (especially considering the mainstream nature of the movie) was Elizabeth Olsen. Her Russian accent sounds like someone who read a description of a Russian accent and never heard it.”
“It’s so forced; every time I hear her, it takes me right out of the action.”
Hellboy
“Rasputin’s accent in the first one sounds WAY more German than Russian to me, and it makes me laugh. I feel like a lot of put-on/imitated Russian accents in movies sound a bit unnatural.”
“Both Mila Jovovich and Daniel Dae Kim have awful accents in Hellboy.”
Ocean’s Eleven
“Cheadle in the Ocean’s movies is top of the heap for me, and the legend that he did it terribly on purpose due to a dispute with the studio only makes it funnier if it’s true.”
“Don Cheadle’s cockney accent in the Ocean’s movies is pretty hilarious.”
Highlander
“Sean Connery plays a Spaniard in “Highlander.” A Spaniard with a Scottish accent.”
“Sean Connery in everything where he’s not Scottish. I don’t know if it counts as a bad accent if the actor is just using their own accent inappropriately!”
The Devil’s Advocate
“He brought too much Ted Theodore Logan into that role.”
“Keanu Reeves is all over the place. So funny.”
“I love the part where he says, “Wus thayt gayme sehxhual in nayture!?” I mean, are there any people in the South who sound like that?”
Anaconda
“Jon Voight’s Cuban accent in Anaconda is hilarious.”
Owen Wilson’s character wears a shirt that has “G’Day Mate” on it. This could possibly be a reference to Australian cast mate Jonathan Hyde, who speaks with a British accent.
Django Unchained
“Quentin Tarantino is doing…something… in Django; we just don’t know what.”
“Yes! When he says: “What the feck aaa you touking about?” What even is that?”
Gangs Of New York
“I vote for Cameron Diaz’s accent in Gangs of New York.”
Particular attention was paid to the speech of characters, as loyalties were often revealed by their accents. The film’s voice coach, Tim Monich, resisted using a generic Irish brogue and instead focused on distinctive dialects of Ireland and Great Britain.
JFK
Donald Sutherland and Kevin Costner both have very long monologues in the movie. Both of them memorized these speeches. Kevin Costner had thought that one take was necessary for his speech.
Pacific Rim
“Max Martini and Rob Kazinsky just couldn’t get around the Australian accent.”
According to Travis Beacham, in an earlier version of the script, Mako and Raleigh spoke two different languages for the majority of the film. After connecting as pilots, they slowly began to understand one another.
Hawkeye
“Since you mentioned Russian accents, Florence Pugh’s sounds pretty bad when she plays Yelena Belova in Hawkeye.”
Even though the name of Yelena is always written with a “Y” in Russian, it is written starting with an “E” since it is the sixth letter in the Russian alphabet and spelled “Ye.”
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