All-time best/worst accents from TV or film

[Dawsonforehead]

Best: Harry (Billy Crystal) in when Harry met Sally

Worst: Daphne from Frasier

Dick van Dyke is the worst by a mile.

I used to hate Dick’s accent when I was a young and angry Cockney. Now I am middle aged and angry about actual stuff that matters, I love him!

Honourable mention for Pete Posethwaite in The Usual Suspects, which I can't quite work out but I think is some sort of comedy Pakistani.

Russell Crowe in Robin Hood is the worst.

The best is Spike in Buffy. Like a pp said, i though he was English for years!

David Tennant doing English is always convincing. I'm always surprised when I hear Michael Fassbender's and Daniel Craig's own accents too.

Leonardo Di Caprio's accent in Blood Diamond wasn't great!

Good: Damian Lewis as an American in Homeland and various other US dramas.

Also Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises.

Worst is anyone trying to do a Brummie accent, even Cillian Murphy struggles.

90% of the cast in Vera. Every time I watch one I marvel at the miserable housing, baffling locations and terrible accents.

Daphne's 'brothers' in Frasier, one Cockney, one Scottish etc ... oh yes Russell Crowe as Robin hood was hilarious - never did figure out what he was aiming for!

James McAvoy. Was so surprised to hear his Scottish accent.

Couldn’t get past the first couple of episodes of Peaky Blinders. I was told the accents get better, but they just irritated me. Brummy is a tough one- don’t think I’ve ever heard a convincing West Midlands accent on telly.

Johnny Depp. From Hell. Meanders around between cockney, Dorset, posh, goodness knows...

I loved Daphne getting together with Niles in Frasier, the whole storyline with her family and the dreadful accents of her brothers mean I never watch those episodes.

Anne Hathaway’s Yorkshire accent in one day was pretty bad.

Gerard Butler in everything.

Aaah! Gerard Butler was the one I blocked out because of PS I Love You!

HughLaurie’s American accent is amazing.

Michael Fassbender always make me laugh because he slowly gets more and more Irish as the film goes on

Peter Dinklage has an odd speech pattern but I really love it.

The Geordie on Castle was horrific. I live just under an hour from Newcastle and no one sounds like that.

I must be the only person who hated Spike’s accent! When he first appeared I remember cringing. I could tell he was putting it on straight away. But I’ve got used to it now, and he has always been my favourite anyway. Dru on the other hand...

I was watching Agents of Shield the other day, also a Joss Whedon series I believe, and a conversation between two (actual, I assume) Brits was subtitled because obviously Americans couldn’t possibly understand it. I found that hilarious. Joss Whedon’s male British characters call everyone love, which I do find weird.

I was once at a wedding in Canada, talking to some guests from New York. They genuinely thought that Hugh Laurie was American.

Bad accents - I was watching the film of Cloud Atlas recently as it was on Netflix. There is a (mercifully brief) section where Tom Banks does the most buttock clenchingly awful Oirish accent that I have ever heard. Truly awful.

Charlie Hunnam pretending to be cockney in Green Street

Gwyneth Paltrow’s RP was absolutely faultless in both Sliding doors and Shakespeare in love.

Robert Downey jrs many accents in tropic thunder was great too.

Virtually no one does Irish accents well. Brad Pitt in The Devil’s Own, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Far and Away and Julia Roberts in Michael Collins stand out as particular lows.

I used to work in a cinema and someone walked out of Breakfast on Pluto complaining that Cillian Murphy's Irish accent was terrible .

I don't really have a point, just thought it was funny!

99% of the cast of Gangs of New York - Cameron Diaz' Irish accent was particularly awful.