Are there not enough talented North Americans that could
do the job?
I say North Americans because a lot of our television shows are filmed in Canada and
that country has lots of talent. Not a lot of difference in accent either.
Ciao
Do which job? Being Linus Roache? No, I think he's got that one pretty well buttoned up.
"You're fakin' nicked me ol' beauty!"
John Cleese, The Life of Brian
It seems not. And Roache is an amazing actor.
"Sometimes my ruminations are too confusing for someone not inside my head." -Anon
No offence, but I always think that when Americans are cast as Brits in movies, e.g. Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones or Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. Don't get me wrong, I liked these movies and I know the studios have to have big names attached to them to attract audiences, but surely there's a stock of good British actors to play British characters, at least the accents are more convincing. By the way, I'm from Northern Ireland and don't even get me started on Americans trying to do an Irish accent (Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own or Snatch?)Come on!!
shareWell, I thought Angelina Jolie did a very good job with Lara. Brad has admitted he's not all that good with accents, so the more humble the actor is in their shortcomings, the more I'm apt to be more forgiving. Zellweger was just awful in Bridget Jones.
I'm a huge fan of Brian Cox and think he's amazing as an American. He's got all that self-righteousness down to a tee. An amazing actor indeed. That's why I'm looking forward to Linus coming onto the mothership. If anyone had to replace Sam, thank god Wolf found someone who was capable. I would have hated to see someone like the male counterpart of Mariska Hargitay come on and take over. Disaster be thy name.
"Sometimes my ruminations are too confusing for someone not inside my head." -Anon
First off, what's wrong with the Brits?
Now, as far as North American accents, what corner of North America have you been isolated in? Southern accents, north-eastern accents, mid-western accents, west-coast accents, and I've heard several different Canadian accents, someone from Vancover doesn't sound like someone from Toronto or diffenetly Montreal.
North America (US & Canada) is the melting pot of the world, so why is it so hard to accept a British accent, especially on a television show set in New York City.
NBC is rife with the Equity this year, it's true. Besides Linus [which I'm pretty happy about], there's Kevin McKidd on 'Journeyman' and the new 'Bionic Woman' who was excellent on the BBC's 'Jekyll'. If I thought about it longer I could think of a few more. 'L&O" has been a pretty domestic affair up to this point in it's long run. What's the harm?
CBS and Fox have their fair share of Australians. Any complaints?
Hey bibimimi, don't forget about Chuck's fake CIA girlfriend. She's Austrailian.
And Damian Lewis the lead character on the show Life. He's English. My mom freaked out when we watched the making of Band of Brothers.
re: why is it so hard to accept a British accent, especially on a television show set in New York City
Because they're (for the most part) not doing British accents and it's distracting watching them (Brits AND Aussies) struggle through their interpretations of American accents. While there are indeed many American accents from many regions of the States, there's a brand-new one on television: Brits & Aussies straining to sound American.
Hugh Laurie is COMPLETELY excepted from this. ;o) (and probably to blame for opening the floodgates).
Now, I wouldn't care if every character on every TV show were British, just stop giving them American accents. I understand the Bionic Woman and Sarah Connor needing to be American (get American actors for these roles), but why does the Journeyman dude have to be American? Or, Michael Cutter from L&O? Or the British chick from Moonlight (the Aussie lead on Moonlight nails the accent)? Or the dude from The Wire? Or LaPaglia on WAT? Or, or, or, there are sooo many....