'Downton Abbey' With American Accents Is Bizarre

Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville and Allen Leech perform a scene from "Downton Abbey" using good ol' American accents, and it's unsettling.

[puppyjessicabunny]

Our boy had two lines written for him on that card and he made the most of it and stole the entire scene!!

[squamish]

Hugh Bonneville still sounds like he's an aristocrat from a period drama, except now he's a captain of industry in New York.

[pabriny]

It turned into Housewives real quick with the american accents lol .

[jemetjean]

Hugh immediately went full Rockefeller-capitalist for this scene 😂

[fromthehaven]

Leech: the gay flight attendant
Dockery: valley girl
Bonneville: juror #3 in 12 Angry Men

[MsGrapeNehi]

"Yeah, hey, guyssss?" xD I lost it. He sounded like Tim Gunn.

[kaoutermouslimhaliba]

" Yeah, hey guys, that may be hard to achieve" I went nuts ! 😂😂😂😂

[LDi]

The "Yeah hey guys" came out of nowhere and now is tattooed on my brain forever 😂😂

[daniellebelisle]

Nearly spit out my beverage when Allen spoke. The wait is worth it.

[LaKellita]

That moment when Downton Abbey turned into Dynasty.

[komalahayes]

THAT'S TALENT. No small parts, just small actors. Took two lines and made that scene. And threw in "Who are you wearing?" 😄 Wouldn't be surprised if he got hired after that👍💛

[pinkosmondfan]

I love how Hugh bellowed "Do you think that's wrong?!" right in Michelle's face, and she didn't even bat an eye. LOL

[-C.S.R]

A New York tycoon a valley girl and a gay guy all walk into a

[calebanderson]

whoa an accent change just turned it  into cheap American daytime television

[hgmet]

I like how Allen Leech's way of acting American is acting camp.

[NiVi]

Damn, those three actually nailed their American accents!

[superficialdramafan]

It wasn't just the accent. It was also the exaggerated facial expressions and the hand gestures. These are good actors.

[ashcross]

Lol at those saying those are not good American accents. They were deliberately using cliched American accents! That was part of the joke. Trust me, if they wanted to fool you with an American accent, without being tongue in cheek, they could do it.

There are a number of American actors who can do English/British accents, but I think British actors find it easier to do American accents because (a) they grew up with American movies, in a way many Americans don't grow up with British movies, (b) someone with a RP accent (BBC English / the Queen's English) find it easier to "add" an American accent, whereas Americans find it more difficult to "remove" their accent to sound British RP, (c) British actors tend to be terrifically well-trained and there is an excellent tradition of acting schools and repertory performances that make them very rounded performers, (d) American producers love hiring Brits because they tend to be cheaper and more conforming than some bigger American actors, so British actors get a lot of real-world exposure to American culture and film-making, and (e) Brit actors want to make it in America in ways most American don't want or need to make it big in the UK, so they don't bother to develop a British accent.

I would also add that Brits are renowned for their natural acting ability, sense of humour and irony, for playing a role, and for using linguistic skills to say one thing and mean another. As John le Carré said, the English, above all nationalities, make excellent spies.

Thus ends my essay.

[merindymorgenson]

I’m really impressed how well they ditch the British accent and adopt an American accent.

[spookyloop]

My parents watched the whole show, they now insist on being called MaMA and PaPA, or my dad prefers His Lordship