12 foreign actors playing Americans in this year’s best TV shows and movies

As awards season is in full swing, some of the top nominations highlight the work of actors from overseas who've made a splash by playing American this year.

This is by no means a new trend. After all, "Gone With the Wind" Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara was played by British actor Vivien Leigh in 1939. But it is always fun to note which actors have embedded themselves so deeply in their characters that the public may not be aware of their actual origins or accents. Notable foreign actors like Daniel Kaluuya in "Get Out," Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln" and Christian Bale in "American Psycho" all played quintessential American roles. Kaluuya's portrayal of a Black American man embodied the nuances of the country's systemic racism thanks to Jordan Peele's sharp writing and directing. Day-Lewis literally played one of the most influential American presidents, Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. As for Bale, if Patrick Bateman isn't peak American, I don't know what is.

Even the government noted how foreign actors are ditching countries like the U.K. for Hollywood gigs. In 2013, Homeland Security reported a 500% increase in the number of visa petitions approved for British actors and directors seeking work in the U.S.  

The stars of this year's best-performing films "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" are played by foreign actors. Let's take a look at who else put on an accent to play all-American onscreen.

01

Emily Blunt, "Oppenheimer"

Christopher Denham, Seth Neddermeyer, Emily Blunt, Gustaf Skarsgård, and Josh Peck in "Oppenheimer" (Universal Pictures)

Emily Blunt starred in one of the most talked about films of the year, Christopher Nolan's epic "Oppenheimer." The British actress plays Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer, the wife of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who built the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan during World War II.

 

In "Oppenheimer," Blunt portrays a very emotionally embattled woman who is said to suffer from alcoholism and mental illness. But Blunt plays her with sympathy and strength, supporting Oppenheimer through it all. Blunt's scene defending Oppenheimer in front of government officials is a standout in the movie. 

 

The actress was born and raised in the U.K. and has played a wide range of American roles like Emily the assistant in "The Devil Wears Prada" and the lead heroine in "The Quiet Place" series directed by her American husband John Krasinski.

02

Sam Claflin, “Daisy Jones & the Six”

Sam Claflin in “Daisy Jones & the Six” (Amazon Studios)

In the Prime Video series "Daisy Jones & the Six," Brit Sam Claflin plays '70s-era American rocker Billy Dunne. Based on the book of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid, the series chronicles the journey, fame and eventual burnout of the band The Six with the talented but deeply troubled Billy as frontman. The story was inspired by the trajectory of America's biggest rock band Fleetwood Mac.

 

You may know Claflin for his role as Finnick Odair in "The Hunger Games" series. The actor was born and raised in the U.K. and went to school at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and soon thereafter began his acting career.

03

Jacob Elordi, "Priscilla"

Jacob Elordi in "Priscilla" (A24)

This "Europhia" heartthrob is one of the few mainstream Australians in the awards conversation. Not only does he star in Emerald Fennell's "Saltburn," but he also plays the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola's "Priscilla." The film portrays the fraught relationship between Elvis and his young wife Priscilla. Elordi's Elvis is a surprisingly vicious but charming version of the rockstar. 

 

Elordi is used to acting with an American accent. He's best known for playing Nate Jacobs in the HBO hit "Euphoria" and starring in the crowd-pleasing "The Kissing Booth" series on Netflix.

 

The actor grew up in Australia and went to St. Joseph's Nudgee College where he studied acting. 

04

Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”

Matthew Macfadyen in "Succesion" (Graeme Hunter/HBO)

Matthew Macfadyen's flat midwestern delivery is so good as Tom Wambsgans in "Succession" that you kind of forget he also played the quintessentially British Mr. Darcy in "Pride & Prejudice." The actor keeps you on your toes as you watch Tom try to snake his way into the Roy family media empire even though he is clearly an outsider, regardless of his marriage to one of the potential heirs, Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook). 

 

Born and raised in the U.K. Macfadyen attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at 17.

05

Helen Mirren, "1923"

Helen Mirren as Cara in "1923." (Emerson Miller/Paramount+)

The esteemed Dame Helen Mirren is an acting legend. She has an Oscar, BAFTA, Tony and an Olivier plus many other accolades for playing roles like Queen Elizabeth.

 

But in "1923," a Western drama and the prequel to breakout drama "Yellowstone," Mirren plays American Cara Dutton, one-half of the power couple and the wife of Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford). Cara is a cutthroat matriarch in bloody Prohibition-era Montana.

 

The actress was born and raised in the U.K. but comes from a long line of Russian aristocrats. Her decades-long career began when she attended the New College of Speech and Drama in London. At 18, she joined the National Youth Theatre.

06

Carey Mulligan, "Maestro"

Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre in "Maestro." (Jason McDonald/Netflix)

British actress Carey Mulligan plays Leonard Bernstein's American wife Felicia Montealegre Bernstein, who was born to an American mining executive and a Costa Rican mother.

 

The biopic "Maestro" focuses on the relationship between Leonard and his wife. When they first meet, Felicia is an aspiring actress and goes on to have a successful career. The pair begin dating and then get married. But the relationship becomes complicated when Leonard's affairs with men come to light. Mulligan was nominated for a best actress Golden Globe for the role.

 

Otherwise, Mulligan is known for playing another American in Emerald Fennell's "Promising Young Woman."

 

07

Cillian Murphy, "Oppenheimer"

Cillian Murphy in "Oppenheimer" (Universal Pictures)

Irish actor Cillian Murphy is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Tommy Shelby in the gang drama "Peaky Blinders." But in this summer's blockbuster hit "Oppenheimer," Murphy's star has gotten brighter. In his lead role in a Christopher Nolan film, he plays the bright quantum American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who would later join the Manhattan Project to create the atomic bomb. Murphy plays Oppenheimer in all the phases of adulthood, and it's both fascinating and troubling to see the way he embraces inventing the weapon that takes hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives.

 

Murphy has been nominated for best actor at the Golden Globes for his performance. The actor has also starred in "Batman Begins," "Inception" and "Dunkirk." 

08

David Oyelowo, “Lawmen: Bass Reeves”

David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves in "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" (Lauren Smith/Paramount+)

British-Nigerian actor David Oyelowo is best known for his portrayal of another American, Martin Luther King Jr. in "Selma." The film was nominated for best picture at the Oscars in 2015. Oyelowo is now on television screens in the show "Lawmen: Bass Reeves." In the Western drama, he plays the titular character Bass Reeves, one of the first Black U.S. Marshals. It is also another foray into the Taylor Sheridan "Yellowstone" universe. Oyelowo earned himself a best actor in a limited series nomination at the Golden Globes for the role.

 

09

Bella Ramsey, "The Last of Us"

Bella Ramsey in "The Last of Us" (Liane Hentscher/HBO)

Known for their small but mighty standout role as Lady Lyanna Mormont in "Game of Thrones," Bella Ramsey is the youngest foreign actor on the list. They were nominated for a Golden Globe for best actress in a television drama for their role as Ellie in HBO's adaptation of the video game "The Last of Us." Ellie is a young, spunky rebellious kid who befriends Pedro Pascal's Joel as they travel through a dystopian America decayed by a rapidly spreading fungus that turns people into zombies. They are the most delightful part of the harrowing show.

 

Ramsey is only 20 and has been acting since they were four. They finished their education online as they worked in sets in America and in the U.K.

10

Margot Robbie, "Barbie"

 

Margot Robbie as Barbie in "Barbie" (Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

In one of the best performances of the year, Margot Robbie ditches the Aussie accent for a perfectly stereotypical American "Barbie" one. The actress is best known for playing comic book antihero Harley Quinn seen in "The Suicide Squad" movies. But in "Barbie" she trades her bat for heels. The Greta Gerwig-directed fantasy comedy stars Robbie as a Barbie forced to enter the real world to correct her human failings.

 

Robbie was born and raised in Australia and studied drama at college. But her career really took off in America for her role in "The Wolf of Wall Street." 

11

Sarah Snook, “Succession”

Sarah Snook in "Succession" (Photograph by David Russell/HBO)

Another Australian, Sarah Snook made a name for herself for her portrayal of Shiv Roy, one of the potential heirs to the American media empire Waystar on HBO's prestige TV drama "Succession."  Up against corporate misogyny and her ambition, Shiv often falters, but Snook never does. She has been nominated for best actress in a drama at the Golden Globes this year.

 

The actress was born and raised in Australia and was trained as an actress at Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art.

12

Juno Temple, “Fargo”

Juno Temple as Dorothy "Dot" Lyon in "Fargo" (Frank W. Ockenfels III/FX)

Finishing out a successful run as the fan-favorite Keely on "Ted Lasso," Juno Temple's currently stars in FX anthology series "Fargo." In the show's fifth season, the British actress plays a Midwest housewife named Dorothy "Dot" Lyon. According to FX, Dot is "tenacious to almost a delusional fault, never giving up no matter how impossible the circumstances. Ultimately, she’s a mama bear with a lion’s heart."

 

The actress was born and raised in the U.K. and went to King's College. But she had a very early start in the British entertainment industry, starring as a child actress in the late '90s. Her father Julien Temple, a British filmmaker, cast her in his film, "Pandaemonium."