8 actors you probably didn't realize are actually American
Marilyn La Jeunesse
- American actors have used accents for some of their most iconic roles, and sometimes they're good enough to fool fans into thinking they aren't from the US.
- Peter Dinklage, Gillian Anderson, and James Marsters are some famous TV stars who have believable British accents.
- Other stars you perhaps didn't think were American include Renée Zellweger, Julianne Moore, and Chloë Grace Moretz.
There have been a number of British and Australian actors who have done a phenomenal job convincing us that they're American with their spot-on accents.
But the same can be said for a number of American actors who've perfected their British accents.
Here are some major stars you probably forgot are actually American.
"Game of Thrones" actor Peter Dinklage isn't British.
Fans often forget that the actor who played the sharp-witted Lannister is American because of his convincing accent as Tyrion on HBO's "Game of Thrones."
In fact, Peter Dinklage was born and raised in New Jersey, and he has used his natural accent for several roles outside of "GoT."
Gillian Anderson can switch back and forth seamlessly between her British and American accents, but she was born in the US.
BBC Two's "The Fall" and Netflix's "Sex Education" star Gillian Anderson has plenty of audiences believing she's a born-and-bred Brit because of her spot-on accent.
The actress was actually born in Chicago, but she spent a good portion of her childhood living in England before her family moved back to the US. As an adult, she calls London home, and she's been known to flip back and forth between near-perfect British and American accents.
Of course, fans of Fox's "The X-Files" will remember Anderson's American accent.
Renée Zellweger fooled tons of fans with her accent in the "Bridget Jones's Diary" series.
Bridget Jones might hail from England, but the actress who portrayed her is actually from Texas.
Renée Zellweger kept fans guessing for so long, that when she accepted the Golden Globe in January for her role in "Judy," many viewers took to Twitter to express their confusion over her natural Southern accent.
He might have played a British bad boy on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but James Marsters is actually American.
It turns out James Marsters had fans of The WB's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" convinced he wasn't from the US.
The American actor made a name for himself playing British-born Spike on the popular 1990s TV show, and audiences just assumed his English accent was natural.
He was actually born in California.
Julianne Moore is an American actress despite her familial ties to the UK.
Julianne Moore has given fabulous performances using a British accent in both "A Single Man" and "The End of the Affair." But the actress was born in North Carolina, and her natural accent is American.
It turns out her British accent is so strong because her mom was from the UK, and Moore has since obtained her British citizenship.
Alan Tudyk is a Southern boy, despite his convincing performance in "Death at a Funeral."
Born and raised in Texas, Alan Tudyk is a Southern boy with an impressive British accent.
After his performance in the 2007 rom-com "Death at a Funeral," many people thought the actor hailed from England and were shocked to learn otherwise.
Today, many fans know Tudyk for the wide array of accents and character voices he's developed for Disney and "Star Wars."
Sean Astin doesn't actually have a British accent. He's from California.
A California native, Sean Astin has starred in a number of fan-favorites including "The Goonies" and Netflix's "Stranger Things."
But, his iconic role as Samwise Gamgee in "The Lord of the Rings" franchise had many fans convinced that he was British.
Chloë Grace Moretz tricked Martin Scorsese into believing she was British.
This Georgia-born actress starred in Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," and she earned the role, in part, because of her impressive British accent.
In a 2011 interview with Digital Spy, the star said she even tricked the director into thinking she wasn't American during the audition process.
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