And I just found out that Louise was also Irene Adler in Sherlock!

Oh, man, I need to see Arrival so bad so I can jump into this discussion! Stupid work. And sleep. Etc.

I always wonder if the American version of an "English" accent sounds as bad to them as many of the British "American" accents sound to me.

Well, it varies. The best are the ones where you don't realise they're not British, like Alexis Denisof or Kyle Soller off of Poldark. I'm sure there are equivalents in the US, but you don't notice because you don't clock they're not American.

Then there are the ones where you know they're not British, but the accent is OK, especially given that you're probably listening out for it. Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones falls into this category.

And then there are the out and out disasters. Dick van Dyke and Don Cheadle are probably the most well known.

But there are also lots of British and American actors not doing their native accents most of the time - David Tennant springs to mind, his Scottish roles are in the minority - and mostly pull it off. I honestly couldn't say if it's harder for a Scot to do British-English or American.

I'm sure there are equivalents in the US, but you don't notice because you don't clock they're not American.

I notice this more with Australian actor than British, but it's the toupee fallacy - since you only notice the bad ones, you think they're easy to spot.

I've been re-listening to the Outlander series, and to my ear, Davina Porter switches effortlessly between a variety of UK-based accents, but chokes when it comes to Americans. Her Bree, with two British parents, I can forgive, but her Joe Abernathy is kind of painful.

Camilla Luddington on Grey's Anatomy is one I didn't notice -- mostly. I think her accent is almost perfect, except she can't quite say "anything" right. (But could her name be more English??)

Well, it varies. The best are the ones where you don't realise they're not British, like Alexis Denisof or Kyle Soller off of Poldark. I'm sure there are equivalents in the US, but you don't notice because you don't clock they're not American.

Denisof (like Gillian Anderson, who was raised there) had the advantage of having lived there for years. Stuff made when he was still a UK resident but supposed to be an American character is hilarious because, at the time, his US accent was as god-awful as, say, Kenneth Branagh's. Which is pretty bad.

I watched a cute-if-predictable rom-com a few months back called "Man Up" and thought Lake Bell (who's from NYC) had a pretty decent British accent to my admittedly untrained ears. You can hear her from the trailer: [link]

(If you're interested in the watching the film, the trailer pretty much gives away the entire plot. But hey, it's a rom-com so you know it's gonna end a certain way.)

There was a movie in the 90's called Judas Kiss that had Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson trying to do New Orleans accents without any success. It was really awful. I see now that Simon Baker was in, too, but I Have no recollection of his attempt.

Speaking of Baker, I never guessed that Owain Yeoman was British until he turned up one time on Midsomer Murders using his (presumably) real accent. Same thing for Damien Lewis. I never picked up his real accent at all in either Band of Brothers or Life.

New Orleans accents are always terrible.

Simon Baker is pretty good, but there's some particular vowel-consonant combination that gives him away. I forget what, but it's something to do with an American rrrrrrr.

Agreed on Owain Yeoman and Damian Lewis. (Damian Lewis. Yum.)

Edit: Oh, and Rose McIvwer on iZombie is flawless. I had no clue, and I can usually pick up on it.

I watched a cute-if-predictable rom-com a few months back called "Man Up" and thought Lake Bell (who's from NYC) had a pretty decent British accent to my admittedly untrained ears.

Well she did direct In a World... so I figure she has access to good vocal coaches. I highly recommend both that one and Man Up, which is very cute. I particularly liked the dynamics of the older couples in the latter.