A well-executed accent can be the sharpest tool in an actor's toolbox. But when an accent is off, everyone notices. Everyone. (Remember Tom Cruise in Far and Away? Kevin Costner in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves? Of course you do, because you winced through their awfulness.) Sometimes bad actors can do good accents. Sometimes great actors do terrible ones. In the video here, dialect coach Erik Singer analyzes the accents of 32 different actors to see who aces the accent test. Turns out, Idris Elba is one of greatest around. From his performance as Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom to his mastery of the Baltimore accent in The Wire, he's amazing. But he's rare. Actors ranging from Brad Pitt to Will Smith have struggled with their ability to sound like they're from somewhere else. Watch Singer analyze the best (and worst) in the biz above.
A Lot of Actors Suck at Accents. Not Idris Elba!
You know who is not so great at accents? Brad Pitt.
