1. Sean Connery in The Untouchables (1987)
2. Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins (1964)
3. Brad Pitt in Seven Year in Tibet (1997)
4. Charlton Heston in A Touch of Evil (1958)
5. Heather Graham in From Hell (2001)
6. Keanu Reeves in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
7. Julia Roberts in Mary Reilly (1996)
8. Laurence Olivier in The Jazz Singer (1980)
9. Pete Postlethwaite in The Usual Suspects (1995)
10. Meryl Streep in Out of Africa (1985)
| by Anonymous | reply 87 | July 9, 2022 6:45 PM |
Keanu was doing an accent?
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | July 7, 2022 2:36 PM |
Dick Van Dyke should be #1, always and forever.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | July 7, 2022 2:36 PM |
Jodie Foster in Elysium
Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | July 7, 2022 2:37 PM |
Angelina Jolie in Alexander
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | July 7, 2022 2:38 PM |
Angelina Jolie in "Alexander", no contest here. Russian hooker meets Count Chocula.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 5 | July 7, 2022 2:38 PM |
Lady Gaga in House of Gucci, hands down.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | July 7, 2022 2:39 PM |
Usually love Barbara Stanwyck,, but her "Lady" doing a British impersonation in the second half of "The Lady Eve" isn't so hot.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | July 7, 2022 2:40 PM |
Brad Pitt's Tennessee accent in "Inglorious Basterds" was hilariously bad.
Annette Benning's English accent in "Hope Gap" was amazingly bad. It when from posh to cockney from one sentence to the next. And then to America, out of the blue.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | July 7, 2022 2:45 PM |
Sigourney Weaver in The Year of Living Dangerously.
She wouldn't have fooled a British bulldog.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | July 7, 2022 2:47 PM |
Daniel Craig in Knives Out
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | July 7, 2022 3:00 PM |
Another vote for the ridiculous Angelina Jolie and her equally ridiculous accent in Alexander the Great. She sounded Transylvanian.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | July 7, 2022 3:02 PM |
[quote] Angelina Jolie in "Alexander", no contest here. Russian hooker meets Count Chocula.
Absolutely agree!! The WORST
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | July 7, 2022 3:26 PM |
Alan Rickman and Emma Thompsons southern accent in Judas Kiss
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 14 | July 7, 2022 3:27 PM |
I liked Streep's accent in Out of Africa. I don't know what kind of accent it was but it was good
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | July 7, 2022 3:28 PM |
Streep's accent was a Danish person speaking English. And it was good.
Robert Redford, playing an English person as a wooden American speaking with a wooden American accent, was not.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | July 7, 2022 3:37 PM |
If any M accent attempts deserves derision, it's The French Lieutenant's Woman.
Forest Whitaker in The Crying Game, anyone?
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | July 7, 2022 3:45 PM |
Connery was doing an accent in Untouchables? Didn’t he just do it in the same Scottish accent he did every part in, regardless of where the character was from?
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | July 7, 2022 3:53 PM |
Ed Harris and his NY accent as a German officer in "Enemy At the Gates"
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | July 7, 2022 3:58 PM |
Don't forget the bit actors. They can have terrible accents, too.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 22 | July 7, 2022 5:30 PM |
Madonna in Swept Away. What the hell accent was that???
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | July 7, 2022 6:18 PM |
I didn’t mind Jodie Foster’s performance in Silence of the Lambs, but yeah, her accent on Elysium was really, really bad. It’s a shame no one on production said, hey, this is terrible, honey.
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | July 7, 2022 6:26 PM |
The worst I've ever heard is Anne Heche's North Jersey accent in Donnie Brasco. IIRC, I had to turn the movie off.
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | July 7, 2022 6:30 PM |
Kenneth Branagh in "Dead Again"
Kevin Costner in "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves"
| by Anonymous | reply 26 | July 7, 2022 6:36 PM |
Uma Thurman and Juliette Lewis' NJ accent in Hysterical Blindness was so over-the-top, it felt like a bad parody.
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | July 7, 2022 6:49 PM |
Really bad Boston accents are a category all to themselves:
*Laura Linney, "Mystic River"
*Jack Nicholson, "The Departed"
*Benedict Cumberbatch, "Black Mass"
*Rob Morrow, "Quiz Show"
| by Anonymous | reply 28 | July 7, 2022 6:56 PM |
Thank you R26, how could it have taken 26 posts to get to Kevin Costner, Prince of Accents?
Jolie's in Alexander was horrendous.
Rob Morrow's in "Quiz Show" was horrendous.
Cumbersnatch actually sounded quite a bit like Billy Bulger, whom I knew years ago in Boston.
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | July 7, 2022 7:07 PM |
Let's just say that Dick Van Dyke has never dared to venture farther east than Kensington any time he has been in the Home Counties.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | July 7, 2022 7:07 PM |
Vanessa Redgrave's southern accent in "Two Mothers for Zachary" was worse than Dick's Cockney one.
| by Anonymous | reply 31 | July 7, 2022 7:19 PM |
Meryl in Dancing At Lughnasa. She was so bad that she ordered the dialogue coach off the set.
File under: Poor Casting Choice
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | July 7, 2022 7:40 PM |
Nick Nolte, Lorenzo's Oil
| by Anonymous | reply 33 | July 7, 2022 10:34 PM |
I can't stand all the movies where regal Anna Neagle uses a street urchin Cockney accent. She can't pull it off, she's way too posh.
| by Anonymous | reply 34 | July 8, 2022 2:16 AM |
I actually saw Anna Neagle on stage years ago in London, but to most Americans under 80, I think her name is not known.
| by Anonymous | reply 35 | July 8, 2022 2:30 AM |
Nastassja Kinski in Paris, Texas.
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | July 8, 2022 4:17 AM |
[quote] Lady Gaga in House of Gucci, hands down.
I think Jared Leto was the worst, my god.
I think Emma Thompson in the above clip is so bad it made me laugh.
| by Anonymous | reply 37 | July 8, 2022 6:23 AM |
James Van Der Beek in Varsity Blues.
| by Anonymous | reply 38 | July 8, 2022 7:13 AM |
Marlee Matlin in everything.
| by Anonymous | reply 39 | July 8, 2022 7:45 AM |
Gaga's accent was actually excellent
| by Anonymous | reply 40 | July 8, 2022 7:59 AM |
Brad Pitt in " The Devils Own"
| by Anonymous | reply 41 | July 8, 2022 7:59 AM |
This is the worst thing ever.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 42 | July 8, 2022 8:10 AM |
Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds.
| by Anonymous | reply 43 | July 8, 2022 8:32 AM |
Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors. Her accent was all over the place. Stupid clunky dialogue as well. The reference to “Jeopardy” was particularly silly as it is not broadcast in the UK.
Renee Zellweger in the Bridget Jones films. She sounded like Princess Margaret.
| by Anonymous | reply 44 | July 8, 2022 8:37 AM |
Even worse than Kevin Costner's ever-changing, unidentifiable, non-region-specific accent in "Robin Hood" is his attempt at a Boston accent in "Thirteen Days" (which is otherwise a fantastic movie).
| by Anonymous | reply 45 | July 8, 2022 9:38 AM |
Nicole Kidman in everything.
| by Anonymous | reply 46 | July 8, 2022 9:42 AM |
The above posters have not yet seen Tom Hanks in Elvis, I believe.
| by Anonymous | reply 47 | July 8, 2022 9:46 AM |
Even the least of Streep's accents shouldn't make a top 10 in a world that has seen Rob Morrow's Boston accent in Quiz Show, Cate Blanchett's Ukrainian accent in Indiana Jones/Crystal Skulls, and Leo's slip-sliding Rhodesian in Blood Diamond.
Possibly the worst accent I've heard from a high-profile actor is Pierce Brosnan's French in Nomads, but perhaps only '80s horror specialists know of that movie's existence. Fortunate for Brosnan.
I have to disagree with the previous citation of Jared Leto for House of Gucci. The acting and accents were all over the place in that shit-pile, and Leto was giving a BIG performance not to all tastes, but he sounded to have worked hard on the accent, and he was getting some things right that no one else in the cast was getting right.
| by Anonymous | reply 48 | July 8, 2022 9:59 AM |
I thought Renee Zellweger's accent in the Bridget Jones films was actually very good. It bugs me when actors get it wrong, like Anne Hathaway in One Day. That was so bad it made the news.
Dick Van Dyke's is legendary for its awfulness, but he gets a pass for otherwise doing a great job. Why didn't Julie Andrews pick him up on it, though?
| by Anonymous | reply 49 | July 8, 2022 10:04 AM |
Ben Affleck’s British accent in “Shakespeare in Love”is easily the funniest joke in that movie.
| by Anonymous | reply 50 | July 8, 2022 10:28 AM |
^
She was too posh. Nobody speaks like that now except Jacob Rees-Mogg.
| by Anonymous | reply 51 | July 8, 2022 10:37 AM |
Mel Gibson in Braveheart. Being Scottish, I found his attempt at a Scottish accent laughably over the top. I thought the film was hugely historically inaccurate and overblown, more like Brigadoon than reality.
| by Anonymous | reply 52 | July 8, 2022 10:44 AM |
Jennifer Lawrence’s Long Island accent in American Hustle — it’s terrible when it’s there, and she slips back into her regular voice mid-sentence.
Helen Hunt also doesn’t have an ear for accents, as shown in As Good As it Gets and The Sessions.
| by Anonymous | reply 53 | July 8, 2022 11:09 AM |
I do, R51, and I'm not Jacob Rees-Mogg!
| by Anonymous | reply 54 | July 8, 2022 11:17 AM |
[R53] I am (unfortunately) from Lawn Guyland and I thought J-Law was right on target in American Hustle.
| by Anonymous | reply 55 | July 8, 2022 11:21 AM |
Did people in the U.S. in the 1940s or so know who Anna Neagle was? Did her films in the U.S. make good box-office?
| by Anonymous | reply 56 | July 8, 2022 1:25 PM |
Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York
| by Anonymous | reply 57 | July 8, 2022 2:30 PM |
[quote]I have to disagree with the previous citation of Jared Leto for House of Gucci.
He was AWFUL. It was like everyone else was in "House of Gucci" and he was in "Jerry Lewis Goes-a To-a Get-a Pizza Pie-a!"
| by Anonymous | reply 59 | July 8, 2022 2:48 PM |
The worst thing about Leto's performance was his cringeworthy and very evident belief that he was killing it.
| by Anonymous | reply 60 | July 8, 2022 2:54 PM |
I know most Dlers have probably never seen this film and isn't high profile enough but Ray Allen does not sound like a kid who grew up in Brooklyn in He Got Game. I watched the film again recently so it crossed my mind. Other than the accent his acting is good.
| by Anonymous | reply 61 | July 8, 2022 3:15 PM |
A lot of gems here.
IDK, I like Angelina in Alexander because it's so over the top, along with the movie, where everyone else is doing BBC English. If you have to sit through that dreck, at least some camp helps.
| by Anonymous | reply 62 | July 8, 2022 3:20 PM |
Connery’s accent was spot on-
| by Anonymous | reply 65 | July 8, 2022 4:07 PM |
I love Sigourney Weaver, but the worst part of her Brit accent in Year of Living Dangerously is that it appears at the start of a scene... then disappears mid-sentence. Incredibly sloppy accent work in an otherwise fine performance. She's improved since then. (Wasn't YOLD her first major film?)
Julianne Moore, I like you. But please stop attempting regional/period accents. You're really not good at it.
Jodie Foster shouldn't attempt accents, except maybe for her remaining handful of worshipful fans. Even her most-acclaimed performances are laughable in retrospect. Her Clarice Starling borders on camp.
| by Anonymous | reply 66 | July 8, 2022 4:18 PM |
Olympia Dukakis and Steel Magnolias. Even Sally Field made fun of it to her face on Donahue once. Olympia seemed unbothered by the comment.
| by Anonymous | reply 67 | July 8, 2022 4:19 PM |
Harvey Keitel in The Last Temptation of Christ.
| by Anonymous | reply 68 | July 8, 2022 4:31 PM |
Julia Roberts, Erin Brokovich.
| by Anonymous | reply 69 | July 8, 2022 4:33 PM |
Matt Damon in Invictus... And he claimed that he had lessons for several months in order to learn the accent.
| by Anonymous | reply 70 | July 8, 2022 4:36 PM |
Will Smith when he played that african doctor. Cringey.
| by Anonymous | reply 71 | July 8, 2022 4:37 PM |
Not a movie, but Kevin Spacey in House of Cards. It was so bad I turned if off after the first five minutes. Also, Tom Hanks in Charlie Wilson's War.
| by Anonymous | reply 72 | July 8, 2022 4:37 PM |
R72, Kevin Spacey is brilliant in House of Cards. His accent is spot on. Are you the, I hate Spacey troll.
| by Anonymous | reply 73 | July 8, 2022 4:40 PM |
R39 you're an asshole but that made me laugh.
| by Anonymous | reply 74 | July 8, 2022 4:45 PM |
R14- Her New York accent in Angels In America was CRINGEWORTHY
| by Anonymous | reply 75 | July 8, 2022 4:46 PM |
Tom Hanks' accent is supposed to be unsuitable in "Elvis" as Col. Tom Parker, who didn't have a Southern accent anyway.
| by Anonymous | reply 77 | July 8, 2022 4:49 PM |
If Zelllweger was too posh sounding for her character's class and generation, that still would not land her anywhere near the top 10 or 20. At least she managed a recognizable and real English accent.
It's always struck me that in The Little Foxes only one character has a clear Southern accent. Some people have said "those were upper class Southerners" but I think back then, the accents should have been stronger. But the cast couldn't manage, evidently.
| by Anonymous | reply 78 | July 8, 2022 5:16 PM |
Jessica Lange Scottish accent in Rob Roy.
| by Anonymous | reply 79 | July 8, 2022 6:06 PM |
Marlene Dietrich's Cockney accent in "Witness for the Prosecution" rivalled Van Dyke's. She said Noel Coward helped her with it.
| by Anonymous | reply 80 | July 8, 2022 6:11 PM |
R7 I agree with you. A friend of mine, a fellow Stanwyck nut, insists that her accent was deliberately iffy. Some the audience could see how she was conning Henry Fonda’s character.and his family.
| by Anonymous | reply 81 | July 8, 2022 7:12 PM |
[quote] Matt Damon in Invictus... And he claimed that he had lessons for several months in order to learn the accent.
If I recall, in an interview Matt claimed his accent coach told him he couldn’t pronounce one word correctly no matter how hard they tried until they found a trick to get him to do so.
| by Anonymous | reply 82 | July 8, 2022 7:13 PM |
John Ritter in noises off.
| by Anonymous | reply 83 | July 9, 2022 1:34 AM |
Michael Caine’s attempt at a Southern accent in Hurry Sundown is hands down the worst ever captured on film. It is career-ending in its epic awfulness. Fortunately for him no one saw that movie. (Except me, and I hold a mean grudge.) Jane Fonda is also terrible in it.
| by Anonymous | reply 85 | July 9, 2022 4:28 AM |
[quote]Jodie Foster shouldn't attempt accents
Odd you say this, as Jodie Foster speaks French with a perfect French accent. You couldn't even tell she isn't an actual French woman.
| by Anonymous | reply 86 | July 9, 2022 6:40 PM |
R86 is right. She went to a French school in LA. Doesn't mean she should attempt a lot of other accents though.
| by Anonymous | reply 87 | July 9, 2022 6:45 PM |
