Is it normal that usa actors don't adopt foreign accents for movies?

Or at least it's not very common.

Actors from around the world take on American (USA) accents for movie roles all of the time. Some are quite adept at it and you cannot detect their original accent. For others, it's obvious they’re trying but you can still hear their original accent in some of their words. But no one really criticizes them;
...accept for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Although, he doesn’t try to hide his Austrian accent and he's technically an American anyway.

Yet, when an American tries to adopt a foreign accent for a movie role there’s an abundance of scepticism and criticism about how well they’re doing it. There’s even a cloud of shame that hangs around them for even trying, as if they should have never attempted it in the first place even if they were good at it.

And, not that I’ve watched a lot of films made in the UK so I may by wrong, but it seems to me like there’s something similar going on there as well. Irish and Scottish actors take on English accents for movie roles, yet there’s rarely and English actor who takes on an Irish or Scottish accent.

What's your thoughts on why this happens?

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Voting Results
57% Normal
Based on 35 votes (20 yes)
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Comments ( 7 )
  • VirgilManly

    No matter what role Arnold Schwarzenegger plays, he always sounds like an Austrian with severe brain damage. Even when playing the role of Govinator of Cahly-fone-yah.

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  • Peanuts

    Leonardo Di capric does an amazing south African voice in blood diamond.

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  • kingofcarrotflowers

    Some are good some are bad

    Leonardo dicapro is good at accents, especially in blood diamond.
    Forest Whitaker was good in the last king of scotland but then for every good performance you have dick van dyke in Mary poppens or steven segal in...... Well take your pick

    Same for English actors for every hugh Laurie in house and idris elba in the wire you have Jason Statham in transporter or Danny Dyer in..... Again.... Anything

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  • jeebley

    I think there's a few examples of Americans doing a really good job of other accents. Not Schwarzenegger, but Zellweger (eh? see how I did that?) Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones and also Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors did really good British accents (cos apparently I like 90's romantic comedies...who knew!).

    But I think there's a few cringeworthy examples as well. Nothing comes to mind tbh, but when they do a bad job it can almost ruin a good movie! It's hard to take seriously, especially for people who have or are familiar with that accent. And it makes them look kinda lazy as an actor when they stuff it up. So I think because of a few bad examples, Americans are probably more scrutinised when they're trying to do an accent than other actors...maybe?

    But it works both ways. Other actors look equally foolish when they can't pull off an American accent. I just think that's a lot less common because EVERYONE is exposed to the American accent. I honestly think that's why. In Australia, most people in the street can probably do a half way decent American accent because they hear it on TV constantly. So for that reason alone I think it's easier for foreign actors to switch to an American accent, but I think it might take more effort for American actors to be able to do it convincingly and realistically. - Not just a caricatured version or a generic hodgepodge version of an accent.

    I never knew that Hugh Laurie from 'House" was British (that's pretty stupid, I know) until I saw an old comedy show with him and Stephen Fry. And there was also an Australian guy on House who kept his accent, I don't know if that was because it was written into the script or what...
    Anyway. This answer is too long already...Ha* ;)

    tl;dr I think my point is that the cultural dominance of the US and Britain is the main reason why foreign actors will switch to those accents but not so much vice versa.

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    • kingofcarrotflowers

      After seeing him in Blackadder it's strange to see him in house

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      • jeebley

        Ahh yeah, for sure!! Once I saw him being "British" (lol) - it kinda clicked, and it's hard to see him being American again. I was missing out though, he was real good in blackadder and jeeves and wooster especially too!

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  • Teh4HorsMen

    I sometimes use a random accent for a random amount of time.

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