Are British and Australian actors/ actresses better as a whole than American actors/ actresses

Submitted by Beta_Ray_Trill t3_z6o5a0 in movies

My SO and I were watching a show and the actor who portrays an American is British and I realized how common place that is. I see it all the time, so I asked her why that is, to which she responded that she’s sure there are American actors who act with a British accent but I can’t think of any example. Which, to me, begs the question: are British/ Australian actors considered better than their American counterparts to the point where they’re cast even when they don’t have the correct accent for the role?

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ComeAlongPonds t1_iy2gkgx wrote

Australian & New Zealand actors generally have to get out of the country or change their accents to find a home in Hollywood. Hugh Jackman, Cliff Curtis, & Rose Byrne would so different in their native accents. Then there's Temuera Morrison who'll always be Jake the Fett.

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Beta_Ray_Trill OP t1_iy2guh0 wrote

Right, but why is it so common to see Brits/ Aussies play Americans and not vis versa?

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tootsmcgeees t1_iy2ituj wrote

American media is consumed more frequently abroad than other country’s media is consumed in America, so Australians and British people are likely to have grown up having been exposed to American English at a higher rate than the other way around. I don’t think it’s a matter of acting skill so much as it is more exposure to American English dialects.

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Beta_Ray_Trill OP t1_iy2j8uy wrote

Ah Word ok, this is an answer I am jive with. Thank you for that.

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FranxNBeans t1_iy2f8wo wrote

Fuck off with this bullshit.

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Beta_Ray_Trill OP t1_iy2gcsj wrote

Nah you can fuck off with your Jim and Pam bullshit name haha

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Liftin-Larry-92 t1_iy2gnkv wrote

I don't agree about the acting but when it comes to music, it seems amazing and odd that so many of the all-time great music acts have come from the UK, when it's a country that only has 1/7th the population of the United States --- it's almost like everyone born in England has musical genes or something

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oscarx-ray t1_iy2wj3w wrote

I am from the UK and my favourite artists are Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and Warren Zevon. We have produced an inordinate number of talented acts, but the alien aspect is not to be dismissed - I like American accents, because they're different, Americans like "British" accents because *they're* different as well. We've just been allowed to be creative in the face of capitalism, whereas my USian friends are told that they have no worth or value unless they're generating income - so the pursuit of art is more hollow.

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FandomMenace t1_iy2heu7 wrote

The thing I noticed about British actors is that they have no qualms whatsoever about hiring an actor based on their merits above their looks. They have some of the ugliest actors in the business, and some of the best, and it's absolutely refreshing. The result is you tend to be more immersed. Contrast that with the opposite approach of the "hire the prettiest, shittiest actors" where you get a lot of empty, bad shows that are easy to see the actors running lines, or struggling with crying scenes, etc.

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oscarx-ray t1_iy2w7qt wrote

David Thewlis is - by any measure- an outstanding actor. Put him up against any *picture perfect* American actor and he - with Gary Oldman - will act them under the table. Are they vile, and impossible to behold? No. Are they gorgeous, with perfect white teeth? Also no. But they learned a craft and are lauded in the highest regard for good reason.

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Beta_Ray_Trill OP t1_iy2i72g wrote

This makes sense, and it is refreshing. Of course it’s good to see better actors get cast because they’re better at acting and not better looking. So does this mean they might have better actors as a whole like I was saying? At least employed actors?

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FandomMenace t1_iy2iws8 wrote

America has a population that dwarfs both countries, so it has a larger pool of people to draw from. On top of thar, entertainment is one of our biggest exports, and everyone knows the industry is bigger here, and very well-funded.

That said, I feel like British TV is just more classic and classier. They do less gimmicky shit and stick to raw talent and great fucking writing.

I can't speak to Australian TV because I haven't seen any.

I would try to think less about who is the best and more about enjoying both US and British TV for their strengths. Foreign TV and movies in general ate pretty fantastic. Squid Game showed us Korea has arrived. The empress is very well done (Austrian). French movies are 10/10 for drama. Canada is a mecca for sci fi. Japan's animation is the best in the world. Get out there and see what the world is doing.

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Kitahorror t1_iy2ozmz wrote

In the UK there's less of a distinction between stage acting and screen acting. Which means you'll find a lot of popular British actors you see in TV started out being classically trained in theatre. That amounts to another skillset that increases the actors range. Big name British actors will go and do a run in West End show and my impression is that doesn't usually happen as much in the US.

In addition, yes, I would say that overall, British TV is less focused on finding perfectly attractive models. There's still an attractiveness bias but, even hot British actors are still a person you could believably see walking down the street. As opposed to like CW shows who I assume are grown from a vat somewhere in a lab.

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Comfortable-Clue7758 t1_iy7nwl1 wrote

CW actors are models who go through a Schnellkurs to become an actor. And bam!! new CW show.

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Volcano_Tequila t1_iy2wush wrote

Because many of the British actors we see were trained in the theater, where they would get to play all sorts of character roles, they may bring more versatility to the screen than their American counterparts. Many American actors on movies/TV have no theater experience, so wind up bucketed into similar sorts of parts on screen based on their particular physical attributes. So it can feel that British actors are superior to American actors.

But a British acquaintance once pointed out that there are "bad" British actors who we are blind to, because the accent is all the acting they do. That as an American, I may not hear or see that the acting is bad, but as a British person, it was painfully obvious to him. Food for thought.

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Beta_Ray_Trill OP t1_iy57xr9 wrote

Heard, I had a feeling it had something to do with classically trained actors vs not. But that’s interesting about bad British actors not being obvious to us.

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xole t1_iy2jplj wrote

I think there’s a ton of really good actors now, especially if you look at movies not aimed at teens. It might simply be the US might make more movies where action is more important than the script, directing and acting.

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Obi-Lan t1_iy2n3up wrote

More relatable and real, but maybe that’s because of better British writing. Not sure.

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freezingkiss t1_iy2qvy0 wrote

Gillian Anderson does the other way around. There's plenty of terrible Australian and British actors they're just, say on Home and Away and Coronation Street and soaps, not in big movies. There are also rly good actors in soaps who just like the regular paycheque. Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep did excellent Australian accents, and Meryl of course has also done British. Plenty do the other way.

Whomever can just act well and suits the role gets the part I presume?

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DueGuest665 t1_iy2x386 wrote

Gillian Anderson is kinda half and half.

But other female leads get work in Brit stuff Paltrow, Hathaway, Zellweger

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oscarx-ray t1_iy2vyv4 wrote

I forget the actor who said it, but they pointed out that drama is more accepted in English schools. Not "Hollywood" or "movies", but stagecraft, and because we're more exposed to American media, we can ape your accents more easily. The result being that we have more ability to *PERFORM ON STAGE* and *USE ACCENTS*! So, our actors seem more well-rounded that Americans, who tend not to be encouraged to engage in the dramatic arts, outside of a few schools on either coast.

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Biscuits_N_Gravey t1_iy4fp1k wrote

Ive heard this explained that there isn’t quite the same “theater kid” stigma over there compared to the US so more young ppl get into dramatic arts in the UK and Australia. So we have a ton of would be great actors who never gave it a shot bc they didn’t want to look uncool or get called a loser or queer by the high school bullies

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Beta_Ray_Trill OP t1_iy57qb5 wrote

Shit that’s bleak… why are we like this? Lol

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Biscuits_N_Gravey t1_iy59q1e wrote

No idea but it’s really odd. Our culture worships and celebrates celebrity and movies but we look at the youth in theater almost like there’s something wrong with them.

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Beta_Ray_Trill OP t1_iy5twoh wrote

American culture has no idea what it’s doing a lot of the time and it sucks that people, especially kids, have to deal with the repercussions when they’re just trying to do things that make them happy.

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Darth_Nevets t1_iy2mr4q wrote

Basically every actor on earth, like any person in general, would want to work in the industry leader. California alone has an economy superior to the UK, much less the commonwealth compared to the USA. Do you think Spaniards like Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, and Javier Bardem want to act in a foreign language? No, but they want to be in the cinema people actually see.

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Beta_Ray_Trill OP t1_iy58btw wrote

I get that! Not exactly what I was asking, but duly noted.

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DickieGreenleaf84 t1_iy2f57s wrote

No, but when you want a good looking idiot to be in your film, why bring someone from overseas? America's has a bunch of film stars that are anything but actors. Why get a dumb good looker from overseas?

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