American Reacts to Top 10 Actors You Never Knew Were Australian 

Others include Alex O'Loughin, Anthony LaPaglia, Ben Mendelsohn, Chris Hemsworth, David Wenham, Errol Flynn, Eric Bana, Geoffrey Rush, Heath Ledger, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Jackie Weaver, Jai Courtney, Julian McMahon, Liam Hemsworth, Melissa George, Rachel Griffiths, Rebel Wilson, Simon Baker, Toni Collette...and so many more. Cheers.

I think some Australians can do the accents well, because we all grew up on a steady diet of American and British TV and film.

you missed Errol Flynn who was a Tasmanian, and no doubt a coupla others like the Hemsworth boys

Rose Byrne and Heath Ledger in Two Hands is a classic. Not as iconic as The Castle, but every bit as good a film (imho).

Australian here. Accents are easy for us. It's one of our superpowers. US accents are actually pretty easy. We spent decades hearing them on TV & movies. The varying English accents aren't too hard. Scottish is easier than it sounds (think in Sean Connery) but the real hard one is a proper Irish accent and their variants. When Brad Pitt nailed the Irish Traveler accent in Snatch I was astounded. Big points there. As a nation we collectively cringe when we hear any American do the "Dingo stole my baby" line from Meryl Streep's butchering of our accent. We find it odd than American's really struggle to do a proper Aussie accent.

Aussies know all the actors cause theyre always on neighbours or home and away first 😂

Rose Byrne played an Australian in the 2013 US Movie "The Internship" alongside Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughan. There are a few others that fly under the radar including another ex-Home & Away star, Julian McMahon (son of an ex-Aussie Prime Minister) starred as Doc Doom in Fantastic Four, FBI, and, Nip & Tuck. Then there's Toni Collette, Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving (Mr. Smith from Matrix and Elron from LoTR), Ben Mendelsohn who is a regular in US movies and shows, Sam Worthington and, Simon Baker who had a long-running starring role in The Mentalist, but there are one or two US actors who do a pretty good job of the Aussie accent too, e.g., Kate McKinnon and Kevin Kline.

Heath Ledger, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce come to mind fairly quickly, I’m sure there are more … Jackie weaver has had a Hollywood role too

Ben Mendelsohn would have been a worthy inclusion.

Rod Taylor was in dozens of movies. His first Hollywood movie was Time Machine in 1960, his last role was as Winston Churchill in Tarantino’s Inglourious Bastards in 2009, he was also in Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Rose Byrne & Heath Ledger in an aussie movie called "Two Hands" 10/10 check it out... also "Chopper" with the great Eric Bana

Apparently, the Australian accent has the flattest vowel sounds, whatever that means. It makes it easy for Australians to imitate people from other countries, but hard for people from other countries to do an Australian accent. Mostly they sound sort of Cockney, mixed with something else. I either knew these actors were Australian, or have never heard of them. The long running soaps Neighbours and Home and Away, have been a springboard for many actors to get a career overseas.

I'm and Aussie and I am just about to turn 77, only starting acting about 15 years ago, over the time I have had to learn accents, luckily the theatre companies I work with have great dialect coaches. I have played an American in many productions with much success.

I'm Australian, living in Sydney. When my son was about 7 years old he had a friend over and they were playing with matchbox cars on the floor. While they were talking to each other about the setup, ("this is my house here, and that's the driveway into your house and that's where you live there," ) they spoke normally in Aussie accents. But as soon as they started actually playing the game they switched to American accents. Until i mentioned it, they had no idea they were doing it. I guess it's because they see most of the make belielve action happening on the tv and it's in American accents.

Whittling the list down to ten left quite a few Aussie actors off the list I reckon. Heith Ledger, Hemsworth brothers, Isla Fisher, Jai Courtney, Anthony LaPaglia, are just a few that come to mind. We claimed Russell Crowe off the Kiwis - he does own the South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL team after all. Cheers. :)

You'd think Toni Collette would have made the list

Noah George Taylor is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage David Helfgott in Shine, Locke in the HBO series Game of Thrones, Darby Sabini in the BBC One series Peaky Blinder

I'm surprised that Anthony and Jonathan La Paglia or the Hemsworth brothers weren't mentioned. Very strange list indeed. Lol....stay safe, mate.

And the list goes on... I'll add Yvonne Strahovsky from Chuck and the Handmaids Tale; Eliza Taylor, Bob Morley and Alycia Debnam-Carey from The 100; Poppy Montgomery from Unforgettable; Anna Torv and John Noble from Fringe.

Cate Blanchett is my favourite actress & I mean across the board. The male actor I think is without doubt the best is Hugo Weaving who whilst born in England, he trained at NIDA in Sydney & has lived in Australia for the majority of his career. Wiki calls him English but he's hardly that. He is the monster who refers to the main character as "Mr Anderson" & is the only convincing sighted actor I've seen playing a blind man. He's Aussie. He studied at a Grammar school here & NIDA.

What I find interesting is that as an Australian, we find it very easy to pick these actors from their accents. We don't recognise the Australian films or shows that they were on but we can recognise their accent straight away.

I've seen somewhere that an Aussie accent is one of the hardest for other countries to speak. But on the other side Aussies can seem to master other countries fairly easily.

There are some good Aussie musicians too. Sia Furler hails from my home in Adelaide SA as well as many others.

There's no Eric Bana. He's originally a Tullamarine boy and his old man used to work for Caterpillar. He started off doing comedy in Full Frontal before being chosen to play Mark "Chopper" Reid in Chopper. Since then he's been in Black Hawk Down, The Hulk, Troy, The Time Traveller's wife among other movies.

Damon Harriman, who played Dewey Crowe in the series "Justified" is an awesome Aussie actor.

There are 2 actors I can name drop that are on this list; I worked with Rose Burn on her first professional acting job, a very bad, short lived, sydney based TV show called Echo Point. She grew up in Byron Bay even if she is listed as coming from sydney she isn't. Cate Blanchett toward the end of my acting career worked with her for 10 weeks on one of her movies. The most kind hearted and inclusive person I've ever met. The generic American accent is the easiest - It's the accent all actors learn when they do voice work as it's the closest to not having an accent and it takes only subtle tweaks to be for a particular region. Plus it's the country you make real money in. There are so many Aussie actors that have broken through; Errol Flynn, Heath Ledger, the Hemsworth brothers (Chris, Liam, Luke), Simon Baker (The Mentalist), Sam Worthington, Isla Fisher ... Let's not Forget the New Zealand Actors; Sam Neill, Russell Crowe, Lucy Lawless, Anna Paquin, Jan Campion. It is truly amazing how many make the big time. Even more surprising is how many production and crew are Australian/NZ. Shout out the Dwayne Johnson who went to school in NZ and Jason Momoa who married an Australian and lived here.

I'm in my mid 40's and growing up, the majority of TV and movies was British and American. Being kids, we'd always mimic what we saw and therefore, we would do the accents. Getting the accents right was obviously an important part of that mimicry, so we got better at them. I'm not at all surprised that Aussie actors can nail those accents. We've all done it to some degree. When it goes the other way it's usually easy for us to pick. My assumption there is that other nationalities are mostly exposed to an exaggerated version of the Aussie accent through advertising, characters like Dundee, and personalities like Steve Erwin. My 2c

The titans tv show atm has 3 main characters that are aussies. Superboy Raven & Dick/Night Wing/Robin

If you watch yellowstone tv series jacki weaver the new big bad older lady is an aussie.

The one that got me is Anthony LaPaglia. I had no idea and then I saw a film called Lantana about 20 years ago. Up to that point he had made a career in the US playing Italian-American types (often either cops or mobsters). Would never have guessed.

Joel Edgerton and Hugh Jackman in either Hugh's first or second big movie break. The classic Aussie movie called Erskinville Kings. Amazing movie, and also highly strung and deep feeling movie for everyone that has lived that life.

I knew Margot Robbie was an aussie but I never knew she was from Queensland so I looked it and she is from Dalby which is in the middle of nowhere, but we use to visit there occasionally when I was a kid, probably about the same time, small world.

Most Australians can pull off just about any accent after hearing it for a couple of weeks. I find it hard not to copy the local accent when I'm travelling overseas.

Hi Ian I'm surprised Eric Bana, Guy Pierce , Isla Fisher, and Mel Gibson didn't get a mention. I have tried an American and an English accent and nailed them. I definitely know a lot of Americans can not do an Aussie accent. I've watched a lot of American movies and they supposed to be Australian, and failed. You should do some about Kiwi actors. Keep up the good work 👍 from Dave in Australia 🇦🇺.

Nicole i believe is also related to one of the big land owning companies in Australia. With land that would make most countries weep. The kidman properties. Stations. Basically a name equivalent of Ranches. The Kidman story is super impressive. Literally have a penny type story to one the biggest land owners on the planet.

i smile when i see Margo she went to school with my son and was at a lot of parties at our place so happy she is doing so well

Seeing that somebody remembers Errol Flynn I'll throw in a couple more names I don't see. Peter Finch actually won n Acadeny Award in 1976. We claim him but he was born a Pommie. And there's Chips Rafferty who made several movies but they were mostly in Oz.

When I was 18 I holidayed in the US for a few months. From the start no one could understand a word I said. They said I spoke too fast, so I quickly slipped into an American accent without problem and slowed my speech. Coming back home I found it hard to slide back into my own accent for a while. Not many Americans new much about Oz then. (50 years ago) One lass asked me how come I spoke such good English as she knew I was Australian. Surprised by her question I asked her where she thought Australia was? She thought for a moment then answered "South America." lol.

Eric Bana, Jai Courtney, Hemsworth brothers (there are three of them), Heath Ledger, Vernon Wells, Hugo Weaving, Jacki Weaver, Guy Pierce, David Wenham, Simon Baker, Rebel Wilson, Ben Mendelsohn, Melissa George, Rachel Griffiths, Toni Collette, Anthony LaPaglia, Isla Fisher, going back a ways, Frank Thring, Michael Pate, Rod Taylor, George Lazenby, Peter Finch, Errol Flynn. Aussies been at it a while...AND nailing it.

You will like this Cate Blanchett was in one of the early Tim Tam adds. Anthony LaPaglia is born in Adelaide South Oz, Been big since mid 80s to current. Movies and tv in the states. Julian McMahon largely tv shows including Charmed. Son of Australian Ex Prime minister Billy Mcmahon. Toni Collette who has been active in movies and Tv for many many years in the states. Just a couple of extras.

Not all Aussie actors start out on neighbours or home and away, Rebel wilson started out on fat pizza.

Russel Crowe, Eric Bana, Geoffry Rush, Sam Worthington, Mel Gibson. We go alright on the world stage.

Surprised that Geoffrey Rush didn't get a mention he is really top-notch. Some of these here I didn't know myself to be honest. (Ian remember the 5th December on the mountain😉)

Joel Edgerton's brother directs an Aussie series I HIGHLY recommend you take a look at "Mr Inbetween" 😉👍

Most of the cast from Thor Ragnarok were either from Australia or New Zealand. Even Liam Hemsworth and Sam Neill were in it playing Thor and Odin in the play for Loki pretending to be Odin

Rod Taylor was an Aussie, and big name at one time, I'll forgive the omission of Olivia Newton John, as she's mainly a singer, and the Bee Gee's, as they were totally singers. As already mentioned, Eric Bana and Toni Collette, who played the mom in the sixth sense, would have made my list. Hugo weaving, from the Matrix films, all shot down under, btw, as well. Oh, and George Lazenby, who played James Bond in one movie.

I reckon Robert Taylor deserves a mention. No, not the Robert Taylor born in the US in 1911, but Robert John Taylor born in Melbourne in 1963. First time I saw him was as Agent Jones in The Matrix. Granted, not as big a role or as (in)famous as Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving). Most recently I saw Robert as Sheriff Walt Longmire in the Netflix series "Longmire," which I enjoyed, and to me he made a good fist of an American accent.

There are quite a few others, but they are pretty well known as being Australians: the Hemsworths, Mel Gibson, Naomi Watts, Eric Bana.

Here's a fact very few people know..there has only ever been two Actors to win the Oscar posthumously and both of them are Australian..the first was Peter Finch in 1976 for his role in Network and the other of course is Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight !

I’m an aussie and i did not know some of those actors where aussies. Australia with the accents is like America in reverse imo, the further up north you go , the more colorful the lingo gets “Ay mate”, melburnians and other southern states are bit more straight , except for probably Tasmania ', taswegians are a bit of a mix of northerners and southerners in my experience. If you go from one end of Australia to the other even the food is different , if you walk into a fish shop in WA (western Australia) and ask for a chips and a piece of flake , they look at you funny and ask what’s flake , (flake is battered shark). Australia is a weird place …….. in a good way.😀

Eric Bana , Heath Ledger, Errol Flynn, Geoffrey Rush , Yvonne Stahovski, and so many others

Sam Worthington, Simon Baker, Eric banna, Ruby Rose, Naomi Watts, Rachel Griffiths, Toni Collette, Emily Browning, Teresa Palmer. And many more

Australia has different regional/ subcultural accents just as the US does.

Russell Crowe (although technically he is from New Zealand, but we'll claim him), Christopher Hemsworth and Eric Bana come to mind.

So many people forget that actor Errol Flynn was born in 1909 in a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania. Peter Finch classed himself as an Aussie because his acting career started here. Chips Rafferty is another golden oldie, Michael Pate 1920 until 2008, not to mention George Lazenby who played Bond 007 for a bit.

As an Aussie who lives in Australia, I can say that the idea of being picked out for a role off the street is very very slim. Our actors go through drama schools with intense training. The National Institute for Dramatic Art or their state counterparts are very important in developing new talent and it is very hard to get into these. The actors are trained to play roles rather than having roles written for the style of the actor. You know the movies where you know what the story line is going to be by who the lead male actor is. The actor is ultra-famous but typecast. We turn out actors who adapt to roles and will do the work to make the character work. That is the training method. The UK uses the same type of system. So if an accent is needed they will bloody well go out and learn it until they speak it better than a native! The American accent is something kids grow up hearing via TV and movies so it is not entirely new. Still, I couldn't do an American accent as mine is real Aussie. :)

I disagree that it's as hard for Australian or British actors to do (general) American accents as it is for Americans to do general Australian or English ones. Brits and Aussies are inundated with American TV, film and music from childhood and even have to 'unlearn' American pronunciation and spelling from shows like Sesame Street at times. Of course, there are some strong regional accents in the US and UK which can be hard to get exactly right (less so in Aus), but overall, I think it's easier to fool a yank that you're American than the other way 'round.

You should do athletes. No one really know Kyrie Irving was born in Melbourne. There had been quite a few nba players that are Aussie. Love your work😉✌️

Couple of Oldies / Aussie Actors > (1) Errol Flynn born in Tassie 1909 Movies like Capt Kidd ....(2) Micael Pate born NSW 1920 , always played American Indian part mostly ... Check the both out ! Cheers Mate

Next time you watch a movie, see if you can find the Aussie Classic "The Castle", you'll love it.....

A Aussie here, knew about them all except Dominic Purcell. I wonder if everyone knows the Hemsworth brothers from Thor and Hunger games were Aussies.

Ive lived in Australia for most of my life but was born in Canada to parents from NZ. I had a Canadian Partner for a decade. I can convincingly do 3 accents, and given lots of Aussies think a Canadian accent is American I guess I could pull that off in certain circumstances, not so much in a movie. My ex hated that everyone thought he was American here so much that he would always wear a hat or shirt with a Canadian flag on it.

Sam Worthington, from the movies Avatar and Clash of the Titans is also worth a mention.

And some more: Anthony LaPaglia ( lead Without a Trace), Simon Baker (lead The Mentalist), Yvonne Strahinksi ( Serena Joy, Handmaid's Tale), Ben Lawson ( lead male Firefly Lane), Toni Collette ( lead United States of Tara) just to name a few.

they should have had Jai Courtney on the list. I think he's been in enough Hollywood roles you would not know he's from here.

Good morning everyone

and of course the whole accent thing goes both ways - I was blown away after watching the Australian film 'Nitram' based on the Port Arthur Massacre in Tasmania only to find that the actor who played Martin Bryant was an American actor Caleb Landry Jones I tip my hat to this guy his Aussie accent was SPOT ON

Heath Ledger and Errol Flynn should have made the list. Errol gets bonus points for being Tasmanian and having inspired an Australian Crawl song.

We have NO "large and dangerous animals" Only little ones :P We have no apex predators. Kids in Australia say we're glad there is no lions, tigers or bears in our country.

Some other Aussie actors are Claudia Black, Ryan Kwanten, Bryan Brown and Jesse Spencer. Though most people who know Jesse Spencer would know he's Australian, considering his most famous role, Dr Chase from House, was Australian.

Did you also know that only two post-humous Oscars have been awarded and they are both Australians? Peter Fawlk for Network and Heath Ledger as the Joker in Batman.

I’m surprised that so many more well known actors weren’t include. In the old days Errol Flynn, Rod Taylor, Frank Thring, George Lazenby. More recently : Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Toni Collette, Rebel Wilson, Rachel Griffiths, Chris Hemsworth, Simon Baker, Heath Ledger, Hugo Weaving, Ben Mendelsohn, Naomi Watts….. goes on Paul Hogans a bit obvious.

Alex O'Loughlin /oʊˈlɒklɪn/ (born 24 August 1976) is an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer,[1] who played Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett on CBS' remake of the TV series Hawaii Five-0 (2010-2020). He had starring roles in the films Oyster Farmer (2004) and The Back-up Plan (2010), as well as on such television series as Moonlight (2007-2008) and Three Rivers (2009-2010). Alex O'Loughlin  O'Loughlin at the 2011 GQ Men Of The Year Awards Born: 24 August 1976 (age 45) Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia Nationality: Australian Occupation: Actor, writer, director, producer Years active 2001-present

Rose Byrne was in a great Aussie film, Two Hands, with Heath Ledger. They both used they’re real accents. Highly recommend - one of the great films of the 90s!

She forgot another great Aussie comedian actor in Eric Bana, best known for his role in Black Hawk down where he has a bit of a southern drawl. It’s really proud to be an Aussie when there are so many performing in Hollywood in recent times, not only actors but also a technical staff on movies. Love your channel keep up the good work. Love for you to come down under and catch up, cya, It might be take you to a port power game of AFL.

What’s truly amazing about these actors is that they give amazing performances while not just speaking in another accent but also mimicking the character’s native characteristics. Just incredible.

Sam Worthington-Avatar, he spoke in his Aussie accent but some people can confuse it with English or south African

Great as always Ian thank you for your amazing interest in our country , I’m constantly flattered. I think Aussie actors have an advantage because we grow up with American and British tv so can more easily adopt your language, almost like a child growing up in a multi cultural home. In comparison you don’t hear much from us especially when our actors make a living ripping off your accent. Keep up the good work !

Eric Bana, Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, Toni Collette, Rebel Wilson, Hugo Weaving...

Growing up we were always "mimicking & taking the piss out of others", I believe it's in our DNA and why our actors are good at accents.

Also Isla Fisher Wedding Crashers - Now You See Me married to Sasha Baron-Cohen Samara Weaving Three Billboards… Bill&Ted Face the music

Nicole Kidmans break through role was in the movie "Dead Calm" Her performance in this movie seriously impressed all the right people big time. Sam Neil and Billy Zane were also in the movie and it was a fight to the death with Zane who they rescued from a sinking boat. Nail biting stuff, people in the trade talk highly of this movie.

I would've thought Ryan Kwanten would've been in that list (Jason Stackhouse in True Blood). He's doesn't have the huge name the ones included in the list have though, that's no doubt why.

Rose Byrne was in a film called '2 Hands' with Heath Ledger... one of the best if not the best Aussie film ever. A must watch!

The uk has so many accents. It’s unreal. I think if you can do any other accent than the one you grew up with, you’re talented.

I recommend watching Two Hands to see both Rise Byrne and Heath Ledger in their early roles at home. Great film 🤙

It probably far easier for Aussies to do American accents, than vice versa, simply because we’re inundated with American content here, whereas I’d be surprised if many Americans see any Aussie content. In fact, I note that many “millennials” and later are speaking with a very feint American accent in their everyday speak.

A great Travis Finmel movie to check out is ‘Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan’, about the Aussies in Vietnam and probably the biggest battle for us over the war. And you’ll get to hear his native accent through the whole movie. It also has another Aussie, Daniel Webber, who played American rockstar Vince Neil in ‘The Dirt’, the Netflix movie about Motley Crue.

What really gets me the American and the British love the Aussie accents and I am born and raised Australian I honestly think like most of us do that we were the only ones without an accent, It still blows Aussies that anyone thinks we have an accent, my parents where born in Scotland and my sister can turn it on and off like even I can't believe it. love your channel my friend, some days she is full on Aussie and other times you would think she is full blown Scotts and she dose American. I think she is one of these people that can take off anyone, I love it makes me cack myself laughing. 🤪

Rose Byrne played an Aussie with her natural accent in the internship alongside Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughan. Most Americans think of an Aussie accent as either kath and Kim or fat Amy but many of us sound very neat and normal.

I totally agree with Mike Parkes, Jeffrey Timmings and FIIK - and don't forget Damon Herriman, Heath Ledger, Hugo Weaving, Judy Davis and Errol Flynn :-)

A few Aussie actors not mentioned (I'm not sure if they've all starred in Hollywood films and/or TV shows): Russell Crow (though, he's actually a New Zealander) The Hemsworth Brothers - Chris starred on Home & Away and Liam starred on Neighbours, and their brother Luke Naomi Watts Isla Fisher - wife of Sasha Baron Cohen and a fabulous actress in her own right. Starred in Now You See Me movies as well as many others. Heath Ledger (R.I.P.) Toni Collette Guy Pearce Hugo Weaving Ben Mendelsohn Sam Worthington Simon Baker - acted in the lead role in the Mentalist, Home & Away, Heartbreak High Julian McMahon - he played Cole in Charmed (the original) and is William McMahon, the former Prime Minister's, son Richard Roxburgh - He also acted in Moulin Rogue as the Duke Anthony LaPaglia Jonathan LaPaglia Rachel Griffiths Paul Hogan Olivia Newton-John - was the lead actress in Grease (the original), Xanadu and a great songstress Rebel Wilson Miranda Otto Melissa George - Actress in Grey's Anatomy, Home & Away, Heartbeat, the Slap, the Good Wife etc. Barry Humphries Michael Caton Alex O'Loughlin Portia de Rossi - Ellen DeGeneres' wife and actress in her own right Sam Neill Teresea Palmer Rachel Taylor Mel Gibson Isabel Lucas Kylie Minogue Dannii Minogue Baz Luhrmann - He's a director of many movies including Moulin Rouge, Australia (the movie), Romeo + Juliet, Strictly Ballroom, the Great Gatsby

This Aussie knew about half of them.. a couple I'd never heard of.

Essie Davis was not mentioned , she stars in Australia, miss fisher's murder mysteries, girl with a pearl earring.

Peter Finch "I'm mad as hell..." another Oscar winner, I think. English/Aussie. Also if you want to go waaaay back, (1916 or so) Annette Kellerman who also 'invented' synchronised swimming and was the first actress to appear nude in a major Hollywood film.

Jackie Weaver - Gracepoint & Yellowstone and Canberra boy Alex O'Loughlin - Hawaii Five - 0

Rose Byrne was in the cult Aussie classic “two hands” alongside Heath ledger, A movie well worth watching in it’s own right!

Chris Hemsworth, in full Christopher Hemsworth, (born August 11, 1983, Melbourne, Australia)

My brother got I to the habit as a kid from doing an West Coast American accent from watching American TV Shows, which are big here in Australia. I instead went for European accents, British, Italian, Irish, Scottish, and German. My mother can do Spanish and Italian. Yeah, I guess we are good at accents. It's not like American or Biritsh is a hard accent to do, though we do get both amused an annoyed at other countries for butchering our own accent. Yeah, our Australian accent is hard. Most people over do it.

A proud indigenous man. David Gulpilil R.i.p. 🙏 😭😭😭