Actors From Other Countries Who Played American Icons

Acting is a powerful tool. With enough skill and dedication, actors can become someone else and convince everyone watching in the theater that they are someone else. Actors can become a presidents, lawyers, or even wizards. Enough time passes, and viewers no longer see an actor and instead see a character. 

This idea is especially true for actors from other countries when they play American characters. Viewers become so transfixed with the character that they forget the nationality of the corresponding actor. Some foreign actors have become so good at their jobs that they are hired to play American icons, both fictional and historical. Due to how masterful some of these performances are, certain actors have become associated with their respective American roles. With how many actors from around the world have played American roles, this article will look at ten thespians from other countries who have played iconic American fictional characters or real-life historical figures.

The character of Spider-Man is as American as he is iconic. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko introduced the wallcrawler in 1962 as a young man from Queens who is bitten by a radioactive spider and gains both super strength and agility. The 2016 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Captain America: Civil War makes clear that Peter is from Queens with an establishing shot with large text that says "Queens" before cutting to the first shot of him. 

The actor portraying Peter in the MCU, Tom Holland, was not born in Queens and was instead born in Great Britain. Although his New York accent is rather convincing, Holland told the BBC about how he had to redo a scene from Spider-Man: Homecoming after realizing that he let his British accent slip. Hopefully, Holland has mastered his American accent well enough to score more American roles in the future. 

Gone with the Wind may be a problematic film, but that shouldn't take away from the great performances, specifically Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara. The manipulative yet enduring Southern belle captured the hearts of American audiences ever since the film was released in 1939. Funnily enough, the actress who played Scarlett is not American but rather British. 

Leigh's nationality almost kept her from being cast. While casting Scarlett, producer David O. Selznick initially dismissed Leigh as Scarlett because he thought she was "too British," but his brother, who just so happened to be Leigh's American theatrical agent, convinced him otherwise. Legend has it that Myron Selznick took Leigh to the Atlanta set (which was under construction) and sarcastically addressed his brother, "Hey, genius, meet your Scarlett O'Hara!" Leigh's casting proves that an actor does not have to be American to play an American.

The American people have considered Neil Armstrong a hero ever since he landed on the Moon in 1969 and became the first man to walk on it. It would make sense that an American actor would play him in the inevitable biopic, but that was not the case when Damien Chazelle, the director of Whiplash and La La Land, cast Canadian actor Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong.

In an interview with The New York Times, Chazelle was asked about casting a Canadian as Neil Armstrong. He explained, "The short answer is, for reasons that are hard to describe, there almost never was a moment where I didn't see Ryan in this role. When I met with him about it, that was actually our first time meeting — we hadn't worked on "La La Land" yet. But all during "La La Land," Neil, and Ryan as Neil, were in the back of my mind." Once again, nationality should not stand in the way of portraying American icons, especially if the actor is right for the part.

Abraham Lincoln is another historical figure who needs no introduction. The man ended slavery, after all. Of all the onscreen portrayals of Abraham Lincoln, none are as prolific as that of British-Irish actor Daniel Day-Lewis.

Day-Lewis is known for his constant devotion to and research of his roles, and Abe Lincoln is no exception. Per The New York Times, Day-Lewis used Lincoln's voice between takes and even when the camera wasn't rolling, to the point where director Steven Spielberg couldn't remember if he used his Lincoln voice during their private conversations. Jared Harris, who plays Ulysses S. Grant in the film, recalled how he was one of the many British actors and crew members who were asked not to speak in a British accent as well, as that would throw off Day-Lewis' American accent, so Harris also spoke in his American accent. Day-Lewis was so committed to his character that he made his co-stars commit to their characters as well.

Although she was a controversial figure, Phyllis Schlafly did mean something to many Americans, specifically American women who just wanted to be housewives. In the FX miniseries Mrs. America, Australian actress Cate Blanchett portrayed Schlafly as relatable without sidestepping her questionable beliefs.

Even as an Australian, Blanchett still understands Schlafly's impact on American politics. In an interview with Collider, Blanchett explained, "She's such a polarizing figure and quite contradictory, but it's undeniable that she was a contemporary woman who really changed the course of the American political landscape, and I think she did that by shifting the language. She really did move the notion of anti-abortion, which then became pro-life, as the central platform of the Republican party, and conflated that with being pro-American and pro-family, and characterized the feminist movement as being anti-family." It's not everyday that an actor from another country adequately comprehends American politics.