History Main / FakeRussian

* Simon the sushi tout in {{Durarara}}. His voice actor doesn't even bother himself with imitating Russian accent -- he just uses [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign generic foreign one]], which (as it is Japan, after all) just happens to be English. And besides, he's actually a Russian of African descent.

* Not only does ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'' have several Russian characters likely to be played by non-Russians, its creators made the mistake of naming one of them "Svetlana Sergievsky."\\

* Simon the sushi tout in {{Durarara}}. His voice actor doesn't even bother himself with imitating Russian accent -- he just uses [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign generic foreign one]], which (as it is Japan, after all) just happens to be English.

* MickeyRourke and ScarlettJohansson play Russians in ''Film/{{Iron Man}} 2.'' Rourke spent time in a Russian supermax prison just to absorb some local flavor and was coached on the language by his Russian girlfriend. Johansson, on the other hand, [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent doesn't even try]]. It [[JustifiedTrope might just be]] because [[TheMole undercover]] the entire time.

** Robbie Coltrane (Scottish) portrayed Russian Valentin Zukovsky in ''{{GoldenEye}}'' and ''TheWorldIsNotEnough''. ''{{GoldenEye}}'' features at least ''five more'' of these characters. Natalya Simonova was at least played by a Slavic actress, Izabella Scorupco, but she is Polish, and to Poles it is SeriousBusiness to not be confused with Russians.

** Robbie Coltrane (Scottish) portrayed Russian Valentin Zukovsky in ''{{GoldenEye}}'' and ''TheWorldIsNotEnough''. ''{{GoldenEye}}'' features at least ''five more'' of these characters.

* [[SatireParodyPastiche Parodied]] in ''[[TotalDramaIsland Total Drama Action]]'' in the spy episode when Chris claims a fake Jamaican accent is Russian.

* British Daniel Craig played Belarussian Tuvia Bielski in ''{{Defiance}}''. This troper does not speak Russian, but has been informed by a Belarussian friend that Craig's accent when speaking Russian is less than convincing.

* From ''AxisPowersHetalia'' we have [[MoeAnthropomorphism Russia]], whose American actor has a distinct generic Russian accent, [[FetishFuel not that the fangirls seem to mind]].

* While we are at Little Odessa, LordOfWar: NicolasCage as Ukranian-pretending-to-be-Jewish arms dealer Yuri Orlov. Funny how Orlov is a very Ukranian surname and not at all 'Jewish'. Cage, as well as his brother played by EthanHawke, even manage several lines in Ukranian on-screen - surprisingly recognizable, at least compared to many other instances. Averted with several secondary characters, like Yuri's uncle, who are played by actual Ukranians and get their lines straight.

* The [[TheBigGuy Heavy]] from ''TeamFortress 2'', who has a Slavic accent, is played by the same voice actor who does the [[ViolentGlaswegian Demoman]].

* In ''{{Paranoia}}'', members of the "Commies" secret society tend to spek in FakeRussian accents. One rulebook recommends using [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Pavel Chekov's]] accent as a guide.

* In ''WerewolfTheApocalypse'' core rulebook, there is a picture of a werewolf from the Silver Fang ("Серебряные клыки" in Russian) tribe over the Cathedral of Vasily Blazhenny, titled: "СЕРЕБРЯНЫЦ КЛЫКЦ". This has become a meme among Russian [=WtA=] fans. Perhaps compounded by the fact that the werewolf in question appears to be the signature character King Albrecht; while the Silver Fangs as a tribe are associated with Russia, Albrecht himself is thoroughly American (and, to top things off, once called a Russian Silver Fang he didn't like a "commie bastard").

* While we are at Little Odessa, LordOfWar: NicolasCage as Russian-pretending-to-be-Jewish arms dealer Yuri Orlov. Funny how Orlov is a very Russian surname and not at all 'Jewish'. Cage, as well as his brother played by EthanHawke, even manage several lines in Russian on-screen - surprisingly recognizable, at least compared to many other instances. Averted with several secondary characters, like Yuri's uncle, who are played by actual Russians (or Ukraininas... gosh, even we here have trouble with that sometimes) and get their lines straight.

** [[Film/StarTrek {{Anton Yelchin}}'s version]] is a borderline case; Yelchin ''is'' Russian, but came to America as a young enough child that he doesn't normally have a Russian accent at all when speaking English. He's also doing it in homage to Chekov.

* Not only does ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'' have several Russian characters likely to be played by non-Russians, its creators made the mistake of naming one of them "Svetlana Sergievsky."
** The original Anatoly on the concept album (and the West End production) was Swedish performer Tommy Korberg. His accent is tough to place, sounding somewhere between English (to match the rest of the cast) and his native Swedish. Bjorn Skifs, the original Arbiter, is also Swedish, but his character's nationality is made intentionally ambiguous--pretty much the only thing we can say for certain is that he isn't American or Russian.
** Actually, the 2008 concert performance in London has David Bedella as Molokov with a splendid Russian accent. Anatoly and Svetlana merely speak English, though - perhaps for the audience to understand the words.

* MickeyRourke and ScarlettJohansson play Russians in ''Film/{{Iron Man}} 2''
** Rourke [[DyeingForYourArt spent time in a Russian supermax prison]] just to absorb some local flavor and was coached on the language by his Russian girlfriend. On the other hand, Johansson [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent doesn't even try]] (though [[JustifiedTrope that might just be]] because [[spoiler:she's [[TheMole undercover]] the entire time]]).

Also called FakeRussian, {{Lzherusskie}} literally means "false Russians", in this case referring to ethnic Russians (there are over 100 ethnicities in the Russian Federation).

* Maria Tachibana from ''SakuraTaisen'' is Ukrainian, born in Kiev. Both Japanese and English dubs feature Russian dialogue of varying quality.
** Now that's complex. For starters, there's very little difference between Russians and Ukrainians in almost all aspects, except ''maybe'' political. Then, in the time of the show (early XX century) Ukrainian nationalism was in infancy, and almost everybody, including most Ukrainians themselves, ''did not'' consider Ukrainians a separate ethnicity -- they were just some rustic Russians with funny accents. Now, of course, situation changed, but Russians still make the second most numerous ethnicity in Ukraine, and vice versa. Kiev, for example, is mostly Russian-speaking city.
** Maria is also described as having fought with the Red Army, and being a longstanding expatriate in the meantime. Her father is also described as Russian, rather than Ukrainian (assuming this is not a oversight on the part of the creators).

** This is probably deliberate. He is a 7' tall Afro-Russian who can jump 60 feet down with no ill effect; giving him a realistic Russian accent would be very much against the character. By contrast, Russian tourists in the same show speak very decent Russian.

* ''WhiteNights'' cast Soviet defector and ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov as a Soviet defector and ballet dancer who accidentally winds up back in the Soviet Union. As the chief KGB officer assigned to keep track of him, the film cast Jerzy Skolimowski, who had a lot of experience with agents of the secret police while making films in his native Poland.
** The movie also features Isabella Rossellini (Swedish-Italian) as a Russian.
** It also features HelenMirren (born Ilyena Vasilievna Mironov), who is actually half-Russian, half-British, and all hot.
* In DrStrangelove the Russian ambassador is played by British actor, Peter Bull.
** Though to be fair he's not really fooling any-one.
* Helen Mirren again in ''[[TwoThousandTen 2010: The Year We Make Contact]]'' as mission commander Tanya Kirbuk, not only doing the accent, but speaking Russian too.
** To be fair, Helen Mirren is of Russian ancestry (though she can't actually speak the language in day-to-day life).
** She's done it again, too, playing the wife of Leo Tolstoy alongside the Canadian Christopher Plummer in ''The Last Station''.

*** And his in-film wife is played by Brigitte Nielsen, a Dane.

*** In their defense, Harrison Ford in that movie at least ''looks'' authentic. He could pass for a Russian and for a Russian officer easily as long as he doesn't speak.
* Another Ford movie, ''Film/AirForceOne'' had GaryOldman playing a Russian nationalist from Kazakhstan.
** Which, nevermind the fake accent, makes as much sense as [[DidNotDoTheResearch an English nationalist from Scotland]]. By the way, Kazakhs [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Talgat_Musabayev.jpg just don't look like Gary Oldman...]] nor anything Occidental, by the way.
* ''EasternPromises''.
** Viggo Mortensen spent some time unaccompanied in the rural region of Russia his character is meant to originate from to not only absorb the dialect, but the regional culture as well. His costars did not however go to such lengths.

** Justified, however : the first few scenes show Connery et al. speaking actual Russian (albeit with a Scottish accent, in Ramius' case :)), then speech switches over to English mid-sentence during an extreme close-up on one character's mouth, hanging a lampshade on the TranslationConvention, i.e. "From then on when these guys speak, assume it's in Russian, and since they are not "really" speaking English they are not going to make with the silly accents".
** The transition between Russian and English takes place at a word that is the same in Russian and English: '''Armageddon'''.

* ''{{Enemy at the Gates}}'', set during the siege of Stalingrad, featured Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Joseph Fiennes as members of the Soviet army... plus Bob Hoskins as Nikita Khrushchev. All of them are Brits. None of them used fake-Russian accents in that movie, however. Some of the American actors affected British accents as well. Led to some oddity when the Germans were primarily American actors, using American accents.
** Could be TranslationConvention; English=Russian, American=German.

** [[StealthPun Guess what breed he is?]] You got it, [[DogStereotype Russian Blue]].

* RobinWilliams in ''MoscowOnTheHudson''.
** Williams was particularly dedicated to being fluent in Russian for the role. Years later, he could still carry on a conversation in the language.

* Curiously enough, the Tartars (derived from real life Tatars) in ''TheGoldenCompass'' speak perfect Russian! That can be considered a part of Lzherusskie phenomenon, because, well, real Tatar language is quite different from Russian.
** While it's arguably true for the book/movie (where one guesses the Muscovites had not united Rus', though it's not stated outright), it's worth noting that most real life Tatars do speak fluent Russian, Tatarstan being part of the Russian Federation, after all.

** Rourke [[DyeingForYourArt spent time in a Russian supermax prison]] just to absorb some local flavor and was [[GrammarNazi coached on the language]] by his [[SensualSlavs Russian girlfriend]]. On the other hand, Johansson [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent doesn't even try]] (though [[JustifiedTrope that might just be]] because [[spoiler:she's [[TheMole undercover]] the entire time]]).

*** Except that Walter Koenig is actually Russian Jewish; they were living in Lithuania (but were not considered Litvaks), and the name was originally Koenigsburg. And of course, recall that Russian Jews tend to have German names, having emigrated from Germany many years ago.
* In ''[[TwentyFour 24]]'', Julian Sands, a British actor, played BigBad Vladimir Bierko. MarkSheppard, also British, played Bierko's [[TheDragon Dragon]], and notably [[OohMeAccentsSlipping switched between British and Russian accents]] during his tenure on the show. However, since the nationality of them bad guys was [[AnonymousRinger Generic Central Asian]] it's rather pointless to discuss whether the names and accents were accurate to any particular real Central-Asian / Eastern-European country

* A classic example was Illya Kuryakin on ''[[TheManFromUNCLE The Man From U.N.C.L.E.]]'', played by the [[strike: British]] Scottish David [=McCallum=] (who would go on to play Ducky in ''{{NCIS}}'').
** Somewhat averted in that Illya's accent is only evident in the first couple seasons; in the last couple [=McCallum=] is pretty much using his (genuine) English accent. (Presumably the show-runners were less than eager to remind their Cold War audience that one of their heroes was Soviet.)
*** David [=McCallum=] [[DidNotDoTheResearch is Scottish, not English]].
* Averted in ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' where Claudia Christian uses her own (American) accent for the Russian character Susan Ivanova. The new president at the end of the fourth season was accused of it, but the actress was Polish and also using her own accent.
** Ivanova was particularly notable for the subtle hints of Russian inserted in her lines - most notably, the line "This, to me, is not a good combination".

* Aversion: Radek Zelenka in ''StargateAtlantis'' was originally supposed to be Russian, but the producers changed the character's nationality to fit the actor's Czech origins.
** It should be pointed out that while actor David Nykl can speak Czech fluently, having been born in the country to Czech parents, he left at a very young age with his family (after the Prague Spring of 1968) and his actual accent is Canadian. That and it appears he's actually been a fake Russian in the past. Nevertheless, Nykl's Czech accent is pretty much spot-on.

* The 2007 [=BBC1=] adaptation of ''Ballet Shoes'' features at least two, possibly three. With one, Petrova Fossil (played by London-born Yasmin Paige) the accent is not an issue- the character was brought up in England and accordingly has an English accent. She does on occasions have a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yulia_Tymoshenko Yulia Tymoshenko]]-style hairdo (Ukrainian, but near enough).
** The funny thing is that Timoshenko (nee Grigian) ''isn't Ukrainian'' herself -- she's Russian-Armenian, and speaks Ukrainian with a heavy Russian accent. Her hairdo is an attempt to distance from her roots and lure hardcore Ukrainian nationalists to support her.

* The ''{{MacGyver}}'' episode "Gold Rush" had several supposedly Russian characters.
** ''{{MacGyver}}'' full stop, really.

* Alex Krycek (''{{The X-Files}}'') is played by Canadian actor Nick Lea. However, due to the untrustworthy nature of the character, we're never sure if he is actually Russian.
** Nevermind, series 9 and 10 of 4th season hit the [[http://community.livejournal.com/ru_klukva_ru/417554.html cranberry fields]] already, for other [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer extra hilarious details]].

** It later emerges that "Victor" is [[spoiler: really Anthony Ceccoli; an American]].

* In ''WerewolfTheApocalypse'' core rulebook, there is a picture of a werewolf from the Silver Fang ("Серебряные клыки" in Russian) tribe over the Cathedral of Vasily Blazhenny, titled: "СЕРЕБРЯНЫЦ КЛЫКЦ". This has become a meme among Russian [=WtA=] fans.
** Perhaps compounded by the fact that the werewolf in question appears to be the signature character King Albrecht; while the Silver Fangs as a tribe are associated with Russia, Albrecht himself is thoroughly American (and, to top things off, once called a Russian Silver Fang he didn't like a "commie bastard").

** The big exception- Slovene Zeljko Ivanek, who typically plays Americans, who even won an Emmy [[Series/JohnAdams for playing a character with a thick southern drawl]].
*** But did play a Serbian in the first season of ''24''.

[[AC:TVTropes]]
* ThisTropeNameReferencesItself. Even though "Lzherusskie" is a properly constructed Russian word, no Russians actually use it. In Russia this trope (which Russians are fully aware of) is commonly called "A la Russe" or "Vodka Matryoshka Balalayka". A caricature-level imitation (whether in propaganda or just lame) may be "klukva" (cranberry). This name comes from an infamous CriticalResearchFailure usually attributed to AlexandreDumas, who allegedly claimed that in Russia, cranberry grows [[YouFailBiologyForever "on branchy trees"]].
** More neutrally, it may be called "psevdorussky", the prefix "lzhe-" having grown somewhat obsolete.

* In ''GrandTheftAutoIV'' pretty much all of the actors were Americans faking Eastern European accents - and how! You wouldn't believe they're Americans unless you've seen the credits.
** Yes you would, ask any native speaker- they did a god-awful job.
*** Considering GTA4 is a Deconstruction of the Trope... OH DEAR GOD. THE FridgeLogic.

[[redirect:{{Lzherusskie}}]]