English Baddies?

Question

Why do American films normally have the role of a bad guy played by an English actor or use English voices? If you haven't noticed it before keep your eyes peeled.............

Answer 1

Many foreigners are potrayed as bad guys in American films, your right - its easiest to cast a role like that, - someone you can identify with the least. Big movie production houses are rarely willing to take the risk, of casting someone you can see a little of you in. Characters that are instantly recogniseable are the subjects of choice. Stereotypes provide the audience with prepackaged characters, often accessorized with easily recognisable motivations and predictable one-liners, sparing everyone (producers and audience both) the need to develop and understand a unique persona.

Star wars is a good example - All the bad guys, the worst ones, have British accents,. The original Darth vader was actually British, and James Earl Jones was cast later on, merely dubbing the lines of the British actor- and even then at the end - he is redemed where as the officers are not. The good guys had American accents.

In previous times, Hollywood stars were American, while character actors came from everywhere else. Your American star carried the film, and never played a villain because it might tarnish their image. The role of the villain was handed to a stock of character actors. Any US actor wanting to be a star some day might avoid the villainous role, whereas British character actors have always been more flexible.

The English accent in film has had a unique history. The casting of bad guys has often been politically motivated. During the first half of the century, they often had German accents, and during the Cold War, the thrillers of the era naturally had Russian bad guys. However, ever since film has become a popular medium has there been an overt political need to cast Britons as baddies. The connotations of the accent come from centuries of anti-imperialistic fashionable thought. Even so, modern Americans don't necessarily associate modern Britons with the big, bad Empire of yesteryear. It's the accent that's seen as evil, not the nationality. It has become merely a stereotypical way of indicating the bad guy (This paragraph taken from www.bbc.co.uk

Answer 2

Probably because they have an ability to sound really sinister. A great example is Jeremy irons doing the voice of Uncle Scar in The Lion King. Also Alan Rickman is another one. He is what you might call "an iron fist inside a velvet glove"! Particularly when playing the part of Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies. Having said all that, I always thought Vincent Price had a really eerie voice. Used to send shivers right up my spine!

Answer 3

OMG I know what you mean, as a fellow english girl, i always get very annoyed when we are portrayed as baddies it's sooo annoying like a recent film that comes to mind is hsm 3 when the evil girl is REALLY english and then everyone hates her!! and also what is up with our accents i don't think people actually understand that we don't ALL talk like that, i mean i'm not cockney or anything but i'm not like really posh like hugh laurie either!! but in american films the actors always have extremely posh accents and they all think we love tea and cucumber sandwiches. ugh!! and i also read somewhere that apparently they can't understand our accents if they are not really posh, and in some normal english accent ,my friend who lives in America now told me this, they even had subtitles under them in case americans can't understand what we are saying. which is totally ridiculous!!!

Answer 4

Didnt you all know?

Every budding English actor is taught how to sneer, enunciate every syllable clearly and with aplomb. Also they are taught to act calculatingly evil with a cold hearted mercilessness towards American or Scottish heroes ( Braveheart and the Patriot spring to mind)

Also every prop maker in hollywood is expert at making minis with union jacks on the roof, red phoneboxes and bowler hats,
because of course that is exactly what dear old blighty is all about.

Now if you dont mind I have a feindish plan to execute!

Answer 5

For years, baddies in American films were usually Russian or "Arab/Eastern" looking. I guess now that the Cold war is over, Russians are no longer the enemy & with the world's current political issues, it's too sensitive to portray certain people as baddies.

That leaves Us......I don't mind having English baddies in films, what annoys me more is when the UK is portrayed as having to wait for the Americans to come along and save us from threats. Independence Day anyone?

"The Americans have got a plan"
"Well, its about bloody time"

Oh, its ok, we'll just sit here in the desert, shaking and crying and praying for the Americans to come and save us!

Answer 6

We're evil!!! Ah, everyone knows the Americans love the hero bit. A little bit of lime light & they're there. I'm not knocking them, the heroes are usually the boring characters, the bad ones are far more interesting, twisted & crazy!!! Nothing like the stiff upper lip thing. xxx

Answer 7

Because us British have such a good accents and we CAN BE B****Y BAD WHEN WE WANT TO.

Answer 8

It always seems to be Sean Bean(Boromir).

Answer 9

maybe we are more 'charming' when we are bad guys!! - just a thought!

Answer 10

Yes that's soooo true I have no idea why they do that.