Whether it’s on the big screen or small screen, we all get attached to the characters in our favorite television shows or movies. You feel like you personally know the actors or actresses, as if they’re your best friends. So what happens when you find out that your BFF has been hiding something major from you? You freak out, that’s what.
It turns out that a whole clan of actors and actresses from our favorite movies and TV shows have been keeping one major part of their identities a secret from us — where they actually come from. And apparently that place is the good ‘ole U.K.
Although their content is very different, “Gossip Girl,” “House,” “Revenge” and “Without a Trace” all have one thing in common: British stars. Can you guess the identity of the undercover Brit who has pulled off the perfect American accent — or lack thereof — in each of these hits?
You may have guessed Ed Westwick, who played Chuck Bass, a high-brow and devious socialite, on “Gossip Girl” and Hugh Laurie, who played Gregory House, the brilliant but unorthodox doctor, on “House. There’s also Joshua Bowman, who plays the wealthy, but oblivious, Daniel Conrad on “Revenge” and Marianne Jean-Baptiste who played the tough New York copVivian Johnson on “Without a Trace.”
If you guess all of these correctly, then you are a freakishly good guesser and also 100 percent right, old chap.
A few well-known movies also harbor some undercover Brits. “The Amazing Spiderman” and “The Social Network” include California-born, but England-raised, actor Andrew Garfield, who played Peter Parker and Eduardo Saverin. You’ve seen the gorgeous Welsh Catherine Zeta-Jones in movies like “The Mask of Zorro” and “America’s Sweethearts”; and it still shocks me that she is from the U.K. and has had an accent this whole time. I thought Idris Elba was already cute as Monty in “Daddy’s Little Girls” but as soon as I heard his British accent, he became about 10 times more attractive.
Each of these masterminds must often check their natural English elocutions when they step on set, which shows real talent and enormous amount of dedication to their craft. Most actors already have to change everything about themselves for a role but these talented few have to drop their accents to believably play American characters. Being able to make an audience believe that you are someone else is a gift and each of these performers has accomplished that.
If you didn’t know that these actors and actresses were from the U.K. until now, then your mind has been blown like mine was. Cheers.
