History Analysis / FakeBrit

It should not be ignored how much of a miracle it was that JK Rowling was able to see her books adapted the way they were supposed to be. Filmmakers were sure that the films would flop if the setting wasn't changed to America - and Steven Spielberg wanted to cast Haley Joel Osment as Harry. But Rowling fought tooth and nail that the cast had to be entirely British. She got her way and only three Americans appear across all eight films - one had already had an English accent,[[note]]Zoë Wanamaker has lived most of her life in England and is only considered "American" in that she was born in the United States, which means she has American citizenship in addition to her British one.[[/note]]; one had no lines and one was dubbed. ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' faced a similar thing; no one would touch the books unless the film changed the setting to America. But once ''Harry Potter'' proved a success, all those barriers were gone. ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' too featured all its cast using TheQueensLatin. So two of the biggest franchises in history featured no American accents at all - thus proving to investors that American audiences would sit through media that had English accents. Hell, these days there have even been some TV shows like ''{{Series/Merlin|2008}}'' and ''{{Series/Primeval}}'' that are [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff far more popular in America than their native Britain]].

It should not be ignored how much of a miracle it was that JK Rowling was able to see her books adapted the way they were supposed to be. Filmmakers were sure that the films would flop if the setting wasn't changed to America - and Steven Spielberg wanted to cast Haley Joel Osment as Harry. But Rowling fought tooth and nail that the cast had to be entirely British. She got her way and only three Americans appear across all eight films - one already had an English accent, one had no lines and one was dubbed. ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' faced a similar thing; no one would touch the books unless the film changed the setting to America. But once ''Harry Potter'' proved a success, all those barriers were gone. ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' too featured all its cast using TheQueensLatin. So two of the biggest franchises in history featured no American accents at all - thus proving to investors that American audiences would sit through media that had English accents. Hell, these days there have even been some TV shows like ''{{Series/Merlin|2008}}'' and ''{{Series/Primeval}}'' that are [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff far more popular in America than their native Britain]].

It should not be ignored how much of a miracle it was that JK Rowling was able to see her books adapted the way they were supposed to be. Filmmakers were sure that the films would flop if the setting wasn't changed to America - and Steven Spielberg wanted to cast Haley Joel Osment as Harry. But Rowling fought tooth and nail that the cast had to be entirely British. She got her way and only three Americans appear across all eight films - one already had an English accent, one had no lines and one was dubbed. ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' faced a similar thing; no one would touch the books unless the film changed the setting to America. But once ''Harry Potter'' proved a success, all those barriers were gone. ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' too featured all its cast using TheQueensLatin. So two of the biggest franchises in history featured no American accents at all - thus proving to investors that American audiences would sit through media that had English accents. Hell, these days there have even been some TV shows like ''{{Series/Merlin|2008}}'' and ''{{Series/Primeval}}'' that are far more popular in America than their native Britain.

For non-American tropers, think of how much American media you consume every day. TV shows, films and occasionally commercials are exported all over the world. When animes and video games are dubbed into English, it's American accents that are used. And it has been this way for decades. Think about the reverse; how much British media gets exported to America? The ratio is much smaller. In the past there was the odd TV show that got shown over there - Monty Python and ''Series/TheAvengers'' for instance. But just compare that to the sheer volume of American shows and films that go everywhere else. That was the past however, and things are slightly different now. The game changer? ''Film/HarryPotter'' of course.

This analysis is less about the why of casting non-Brits to play characters who are supposed to have English accents, but rather the stereotype of North Americans doing bad English accents. Yes there are plenty - Keanu Reeves in ''Film/BramStokersDracula'', Don Cheadle in ''Film/OceansEleven'', Dick Van Dyke in ''Film/MaryPoppins'' (although in his case he was deliberately making it [[SoBadItsGood entertainingly awful]]). And there are just as many who can do flawless takes - Glenn Close, Meryl Streep, Claire Danes, Brad Dourif, Renee Zellweger etc. There is a grain of truth to every stereotype, so let's examine the background behind this.

It should not be ignored how much of a miracle it was that JK Rowling was able to see her books adapted the way they were supposed to be. Filmmakers were sure that the films would flop if the setting wasn't changed to America - and Steven Spielberg wanted to cast Haley Joel Osment as Harry. But Rowling fought tooth and nail that the cast had to be entirely British. She got her way and only three Americans appear across all eight films - one already had an English accent, one had no lines and one was dubbed. ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' faced a similar thing; no one would touch the books unless the film changed the setting to America. But once ''Harry Potter'' proved a success, all those barriers were gone. ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' too featured all its cast using TheQueensLatin. So two of the biggest franchises in history featured no American accents at all - thus proving to investors that American audiences would sit through media that had English accents. Hell, these days there have even been some TV shows like ''{{Series/Merlin}}'' and ''{{Series/Primeval}}'' that are far more popular in America than their native Britain.

This analysis is less about the why of casting non-Brits to play characters who are supposed to have English accents, but rather the stereotype of Americans doing bad English accents. Yes there are plenty - Keanu Reeves in ''Film/BramStokersDracula'', Don Cheadle in ''Film/OceansEleven'', Dick Van Dyke in ''Film/MaryPoppins'' (although in his case he was deliberately making it [[SoBadItsGood entertainingly awful]]). And there are just as many who can do flawless takes - Glenn Close, Meryl Streep, Claire Danes, Brad Dourif, Renee Zellweger etc. There is a grain of truth to every stereotype, so let's examine the background behind this.