Top 20 Celebs with Confusing Accents
Anya Taylor-Joy
10 Celebs with Confusing Accents
This actress’ talent is undeniable, but her voice is incredibly hard to pin down. She was born in Florida but raised in both Buenos Aires and London. Her father is Argentine and her mother Zambian. Furthermore, she has donned a variety of accents for her roles, like Old English in “The Witch,” American in “The Menu,” and even Slavic in “The Northman.” As for her real voice, it’s some kind of combination between English and American. Indeed, Taylor-Joy lived in London for most of her young life, so her accent is primarily English. However, there’s also a strong hint of American laying just below the surface, and it creeps in every now and again.
Lauren Cohan
Donning a Southern American accent on “The Walking Dead,” Lauren Cohan is quite convincing. But her real voice sounds nothing like that. No, it’s far harder to place. Cohan was born in New Jersey and lived in America until she was 13, presumably developing a natural American accent. She then moved to England and lived there throughout her teenage years. As the voice is still prone to change at that age, Cohan picked up the English accent and continues to speak with it to this day. But her formative accent is also there, resulting in an often bewildering mix of English and American. Listening to her speak is like taking a trip around the Atlantic.
Dorit Kemsley
This star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” has often been criticized for her accent. Is it a fake accent? You be the judge. Kemsley was born and raised in Connecticut, even attending that state’s Quinnipiac University. Yet many people claim that she does not have an eastern American accent. Fans have questioned the nature of her accent online, and Kelly Dodd of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” has publicly made fun of it. If you ask them, Kemsley is faking – or at least, exaggerating – it. Some even point to a 2013 fashion show where she supposedly sounds different. For her part, Kemsley claims that her distinctive accent is a result of her British husband, Israeli parents, and experiences traveling.
Gwyneth Paltrow
To this day, Gwyneth Paltrow speaks with a clear American accent, having lived much of her life there. But being married to a British man seemingly did some interesting things to her vocabulary. In 2003, Paltrow famously tied the knot with her now-ex, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. The two were married for over a decade, started a family, and at one point they settled overseas in Europe. As such, Paltrow picked up a few British mannerisms over the years, like saying “mum” instead of “mom.” The accent became so pronounced during her marriage to Martin that some actually wondered whether it was fake.
Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts moved around the UK throughout much of her childhood. She was born in Kent, and later moved to both North Wales and Suffolk. She even reportedly told Interview magazine in 2001 that “wherever [she] moved, [she] would adapt and pick up the regional accent” This was probably even more noticeable when Watts was a teenager, because she and her family relocated to Sydney, Australia. Naturally, she feels connected to all the places she’s lived in different ways. As you can imagine, all this moving around resulted in a very hard-to-place accent, sounding like some Lynchian amalgamation of English and Australian.
Liam Payne
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Liam Payne was born and raised in Wolverhampton, and rose to fame as a member of one of the most famous English boy bands in history. So his accent should point in One Direction. But fans aren’t so sure. There have been numerous occasions where Payne’s accent has been questioned, including this “Good Morning Britain” interview. Payne was asked about the Will Smith Oscars slapping incident, and his answer came out with a slew of different accents that had viewers hilariously perplexed. Even funnier is the fact that Payne didn’t really have an answer for it. He reportedly claimed on Instagram Live that he had been drinking and that a number of different accents just sort of came out.
Nadine Coyle
Hailing from Derry in Northern Ireland, Nadine Coyle found success with Girls Aloud, a girl group that landed twenty straight top ten singles in the UK. Coyle still carries a pronounced Irish accent, but as anyone who watched “Derry Girls” knows, it’s not nearly as strong as it could be. That’s likely due to her extended time living in California. Coyle moved to Los Angeles when she was about 21 years old, and resided there for nearly a decade, often traveling between the two places. She eventually moved back to her native country in 2015, taking an auditory reminder of her time overseas with her.
Elizabeth Taylor
Few names scream classic Hollywood quite like Elizabeth Taylor. That’s funny, considering Taylor was actually born in England and remained there until she was seven years old. In 1939, Taylor – a dual citizen – moved to California with her family in order to escape the escalating political tensions that were occurring in Europe. She quickly found work as an actress and appeared in a movie called “There's One Born Every Minute.” According to Taylor, she was told to speak in a faux American accent, as she still had a pronounced English inflection. She ultimately carried something of a transatlantic-type accent into her adult life, confusing millions around the world.
Meghan Markle
There has been lots of discussion about Meghan Markle and her place within the Royal Family. But while some were confused about who was keeping what title, others were more bemused with Markle’s manner of speaking. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, and her American accent is clearly evident in her pre-Royal acting work. But things got muddy once Prince Harry came into the mix. There have been many reports in the media of Markle getting a bit of an English accent after she spent time overseas with him and the Royal Family. Markle’s staff also reportedly saw a change in this regard, as she apparently incorporated some British terms into her repertoire.
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Did you know that Catherine Zeta-Jones was Welsh? Well, neither did a lot of people. Zeta-Jones found incredible success after moving to Los Angeles, and starred in a number of popular films, including “The Terminal,” “Chicago,” and “The Haunting.” What do those movies have in common? Yep, her characters have American accents. Others know Zeta-Jones from “The Mask of Zorro,” in which she plays Elena Montero. This has led many people to believe that she is either American or Latinx. Nope, she’s from Swansea, and she has the accent to prove it – though you can also hear some US inflection. This has recently stirred up disbelieving reactions on social media, especially after she presented Best Film at the 2023 BAFTAs.
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj was born in Trinidad and Tobago and raised in Queens, New York, but sometimes a third accent slips out. When people get nervous they may stutter. When Nicki gets nervous, she goes full British. We have to admit it's a great way to distract people from the difficult or personal questions she's asked. She also just loves the accent and wishes she was born with it. We personally love her natural Queens accent, but at least her alter ego, Roman Zolanski, hails from London so a bit of Brit does live in Nicki the Ninja.
Anna Paquin
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You may be surprised to learn that Anna Paquin, who plays a lot of American roles, is actually from New Zealand. She’s had a lot of time to practice different accents since she’s been acting since she was 9 and won an Academy award at 11. In general she tries to blend her accent with her surroundings, even in interviews, and taught herself to speak with a Californian accent. In “True Blood” she has a convincing southern accent but sometimes her natural accent sneaks in. She even avoids talking to her mom and sister back home before a take so she doesn’t slip into her Kiwi accent… that’s some serious dedication!
Priyanka Chopra
Rriyanka Chopra has a pretty impressive resume: she won Miss World, she was awarded a Padma Shri, she’s a UNICEF ambassador and she has a confusing accent. The accent thing may not be an accomplishment, but it’s something she fully admits to. She hails from India, but her Dad was in the military so they moved all a lot. When she was 13 she moved to the United States, where she once again moved around the country. With all this moving her accent never settled, leaving her with this amazing ‘global’ accent that has shifted and evolved with her experiences.
Portia de Rossi
Usually Australian accents are very distinct, but Portia, who was born Down Under, has been living in the United States so long that her accent has significantly faded. It not only faded but for a while she actually lost it, and even lost an Australian acting role because her accent wasn’t strong enough. Luckily she redeemed herself in 2015 with her role in “Now Add Honey” where she got to relearn her natural accent. She still uses her American in everyday life and interviews, like when she’s interviewed by her wife Ellen DeGeneres, but at least she can bring back her Aussie when she needs to.
Gillian Anderson
Poor Gillian has gotten a lot of criticism over her seemingly fake British accent. She may have been born in Chicago, Illinois but she spent a lot of her childhood in London. That’s where she lived and where she was schooled until her family moved back to the U.S. when she was 11. Because of this Gillian actually has two accents that she can shift between, a useful skill for an actress. This is why she sounds English in a BBC interview one second, then perfectly American the next. Both accents are just who she is, so haters back off!
Ryan Gosling
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Ryan Gosling was born and raised in London, Ontario but he sounds like someone straight out of Brooklyn. Apparently he decided at a young age to change his accent to sound “tougher.” Who said Canadian accents aren’t tough, eh? He was inspired by legendary actor Marlon Brando, who really was the epitome of masculinity in Hollywood’s Golden Age. Gosling says that he’s been using the fake accent for so long that it’s no longer fake. Gosling has had no problems with success and maybe his accent gave him an extra edge.
Johnny Depp
Johnny has played a lot of different characters throughout his career with dozens of credits to his name as an actor and oh so many accents. Depp may have been born in Kentucky, but he never seems to speak with the same accent twice and there is a reason behind it. Depp has admitted that he likes to escape behind his accents and his characters because he doesn’t want to be himself. He has purposely morphed his voice over the years to the point where he doesn’t know his own accent.
Audrey Hepburn
This Golden Age actress has an accent that’s all her own. She was born in Belgium but she moved a lot throughout her life between America, England, Switzerland and more. This already gave her a unique accent, but she also spoke a whopping 5 languages fluently! Wait, there’s more, she also took elocution lessons from fellow actor Felix Aylmer. These lessons focused on diction, just like in “My Fair Lady” which is why Audrey spoke like such a proper Disney Princess. Clearly the lessons paid off and she became one of the most influential actresses of all time.
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay was born and raised in New York, but you wouldn’t always know it based on her accent. She’s been known to irregularly speak with a French-ish accent, which needless to say, has left folks confused. The actress told the Daily Mail that she’s been learning a lot of different languages, including French, which is why her accent has changed. Many people don’t buy this excuse since she constantly shifts between her American and her ‘other’ accent. She even named her own accent the “Lilohan,” a unique name for a unique accent.
Madonna
Would she be Madonna if she didn’t pull stunts like this? The Queen of Pop was born and raised in Michigan but when she married her British hubby, Guy Ritchie, she inherited a new accent. She moved to jolly old London and almost immediately started talking with a noticeable London accent. According to a spokeswoman, Madonna also went through a lot of vocal coaching for her role in “Evita” where she plays an Argentinian, which also affected her speech. Hey, it may be a confusing blend, but Madonna always makes it work.
