Andrew Garfield
From Spider-man to the emotional biopic musical artist in Tick, Tick… Boom! You wouldn’t have guessed he isn’t American. Garfield is in fact British. His boyish charm and laser focus in his roles immerse you completely in the story he wants to tell the audience.
Meryl Streep
When it comes to embodying other people, few are as accomplished as Meryl Streep. Part of what makes her so successful lies in her vocal inflection, which lends itself to some convincing accents. Streep took up more accents than most people likely even recognize: Irish, Danish, Bronx, Australian, British, Upper Midwest, Polish, Italian, Android, and Irish-American. Her embodiment of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady led BBC America to proclaim “Meryl Streep nails a British accent… again!”
Johnny Depp
A chameleon in his own right, Kentucky-born Johnny Depp cloaks himself in the accents and quirks of his roles. In addition to his recognizable characters like the Mad Hatter and Edward Scissorhands, many of Depp’s personas come paired with an accent that adds to their charm. One of his well-known characters, Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, was inspired by Rolling Stones guitarist, Keith Richards, down to the mannerisms from the dialect.
James Mcavoy
Mostly known for his British accents such as Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men: First Class, James Mcavoy stole the show in M. Night Shamalayan’s Split. Mcavoy is Scottish-born and raised, saying he played 23 roles in one movie. A majority of his 23 characters were American and they varied widely between age and gender. He said in a 2017 interview with Today, he described how the different character’s postures and voices helped him make these personalities come out. “You’d change your voice, so it changes the muscle in your throat. You change the muscles in your throat, and it changes the shape of your mouth. You change the shape of your mouth, and it changes the shape of your eyes. And it’s all tiny, but it makes a difference,” he said.