I think Aussies feel we get a raw deal in movies and on TV when it comes to actors trying to do our accent. They sound like sick Londoners or South Africans or someone trying to eat their face. Does anyone else feel their culture gets badly done over in the accent stakes. BTW I thought Meryl Streep was the only one to get it right in "A dingo took my baby" movie.

Ha! Try being English. Though no one has come close to Dick Van Dyke in the terrible English accent stakes - he opened his mouth and strangled a whole language. There are one or two who are pretty good though usually they either grew up here (e.g. Gillian Anderson) or live here (e.g. Gwyneth Paltrow).

My family is Cornish and I cringe at the attempts made at the West Country accent in films. It is true we roll our r's, but cannot say that any of us say " Oooh Arrrh"in front of everything, like demented pirates.

Kevin Costner as Robin Hood... now there was an accent. And to add insult to injury they had Sean Connery in that film as Richard Coeur de Lion. Now firstly Connery is a rampaging Scottish Nationalist who never does other accents, secondly the Lionheart was King of England not Scotland, and third, he couldn't even speak English!

Oi Mountaingoat stop slagging the "serf efrikans" LOL!

Hey playmate, you take Tony Greig back and alls forgiven.

I'd forgive anyone anything if they took Tony Greig !

No thanks! Why do you think we palmed him off on you lot?

As much as I like Johnny Depp I can't quite forgive him for his alleged Irish accent in Chocolat. It took quite a while to work out he was meant to be Irish. He sounded like an American who had had a stroke.

Being from Minnesota, the accents in "Fargo" were extremely exaggerated. There are a few areas in northern Minnesota and in North Dakota that will have the accent but it's very rare that it's that thick, or even close to it.

Yes pyonir, they sounded swedish, it was really weird.

Oh, "Fargo". I love that movie, but the first time I watched it, I was in the US and so obviously it didn't have subtitles. I can watch movies without subtitles, no problem, but this one was tough. I had to go back many times because I had no idea what they were saying.

And mountaingoat, Meryl Streep was brilliant in the dingo movie, I agree. But she always is, really. She's excellent at doing accents, I mean, how many has she done so far? Lots.

A bad accent that comes to mind was Tom Cruise trying to sound Irish in "Far and Away".

Must agree about Meryl Streep. In Margaret Thatcher, you can close your eyes and it's the old bag with her false posh accent all over again.

I recently just watched "Raising Arizona" again the other day, which is one of my favorite movies, but the accents in the movie were decidedly Southern US States twang. I haven't heard anybody from Arizona with an accent like that unless they're transplants.

Pyonir, I was in Fargo, North Dakota a few months ago and heard a couple of people at the next table in the restaurant that had a very thick accent like in the movie. It almost made me laugh out loud. But, you're right. The majority of the people I've met from the area (my former brother-in-law included) do not speak like that.

Edited to add: Ren, you just crack me up.

In Australian and American films and TV programmes, you know you can't trust a character who has an English accent and isn't naturalised.

And you know that they are irredeemably evil if they smoke.

Oh I've tried so hard to forget that accent. Woeful doesn't do that accent justice.

But what about Paul Hogan trying to sound Australian. I have NEVER heard anyone talk like that in real life.

When I lived in America back in the 80s I saw that Mad Max was going to be on the tv. I thought "Great, Mel Gibson, Mad Max, can't wait!" I was absolutely gobsmacked when all the actors were dubbed with American accents and Japanese grunts and groans were used!

Apparently it was thought that the Australian accent wouldn't be easily understood and not to mention the star was a relatively unknown actor, at that time. Not being able to understand us? What a crock! But possible I suppose in those times, as the Yanks thought they were the only country that could make great movies

But how you can't understand a grunt or groan is beyond me

As for Meryl Streep in "Evil Angels". It's one of the worse Australian accents I've ever heard.

"A dingoooooooooooes got my baybeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" is not the way Australians speak, we'd be more inclined to say "A dingoes got my baby!". It was almost as bad as Richard Harris in Guns of Navarone, but not quite.

How about James Coburn in The Great Escape? One of my favourite movies but who would have known Coburn was supposed to be an Aussie if it hadn't been spoken of early in the movie? Dreadful. Purely dreadful. Hmmm... might put the DVD on tonight or tomorrow as it's been a while since I watched it.

Agree with minkpenny Tom Cruise's Irish accent was not well done. Meryl Streep, huge talent that she is, can, however, also be off the mark. Her Irish accent in "Dancing at Lughnasa" was not well done either.

Yeah, now that was bad, considering he was supposed to play a New Zealander. But it was a bloody great movie

Richard Gere's Irish accent in The Jackal takes a trip through every county in Ireland.

I just introduced my son to Mary Poppins, and Dick Van Dyke's accent may be the worst ever. I giggled all the way through.

While there are Canadians embedded throughout the US entertainment world, many shows make fun of what purportedly are Canadian accents, e.g. South Park, How I Met Your Mother. What is odd about the second example is that Cobie Smuthers (Robin) really is Canadian, yet they somehow persuaded her to say "aboot" for "about" when she slips out of her "adjusted to American" accent. We pretty much say it the same way as anyone else (rhymes with "out"), although I figure this perception stems from many Americans prounouncing it as "abaout."

That's always been my feeling - the only way I can make sense of the whole "about/aboot" thing is that some Americans don't really have the "out" sound, and so can't hear it.

My own accent is something like a cross between the Mackenzie Brothers and the people in "Fargo".