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The worst Irish accents in Hollywood movies

Julia Roberts and Sean Connery may have won Oscars, but they can't pull off an Irish accent!

Conn Corrigan,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Sunday, July 10, 2011, 7:08 AM

Updated Sunday, July 10, 2011, 7:08 AM

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Julia Roberts as Mary Reilly

4. TOMMY LEE JONES IN "BLOWN AWAY"

One of the other stock Irish characters in Hollywood movies is the Irish terrorist. (For example, Sean Bean in "Patriot Games," Brad Pitt in "The Devils Own," Richard Gere in "The Jackal," etc.)

Perhaps the worst bad Irish accent offender from the Irish terrorist category is Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal of Ryan Gaerity in "Blown Away," above and beyond the worst Northern Irish accent you are every likely to hear. Real-life Northern Irish terrorists must have been disgusted that their movement could be insulted with such a woeful accent.

5. JULIA ROBERTS IN "MICHAEL COLLINS"

Like Sean Connery, Julia Roberts is a repeat bad Irish accent offended: in 1996, she played Kitty Kiernan, the lover of Michael Collins in the movie of the same name.

(Although English actor Alan Rickman, playing Eamon de Valera in that movie does a pretty good job in his Irish accent - shame he didn't pass on any tips to Roberts.)

6. JULIA ROBERTS IN "MARY REILLY"

Things went from bad to worse for Roberts in "Mary Reilly," which was also released in 1996.

In it, she plays the title role, an Irish housemaid who becomes embroiled in a love affair with her employer Dr. Jekyll, and his alter ego, Mr. Hyde.

Apparently, Roberts had a voice coach for the part - and Roberts spokeswoman told a tabloid, "Julia wants her voice to be authentic."

Do yourself a favor, Julia - the next time you play an Irish character in a movie, get yourself a new voice coach.

7. TOM CRUISE IN "FAR AND AWAY"

To be perfectly fair to the much pilloried Tom Cruise, his Irish accent in "Far and Away" is truly appalling.

Joseph Donnelly, the 19th century Irish peasant played by Cruise, sounds like how a Hollywood film executive imagines Irish people talk.

If Cruise's Irish accent has any redeeming features it's that it might fall into the "It's so bad, it's funny" category of Irish on screen accents.

It also diverts attention from Nicole Kidman's efforts at an Irish accent in the same movie. (In one scene, Cruise tells Kidman, "Yer a corker, Shannon. What a corker you are!" - a well known Irish pick-up line.) While being fairly feeble, it's not the crime against Irish humanity perpetrated by her ex-husband, to be sure, to be sure.

8. BRAD PITT IN "THE DEVIL'S OWN"

While not sinking to the same depths as Richard Gere in "The Jackal," Brad Pitt still manages to embarrass himself - and indeed anyone from Northern Ireland - with his efforts at playing Frankie Gallagher, an IRA man on-the-run.

Apparently, Pitt spent a few days hanging around Belfast to perfect a Belfast accent. (He was even attacked in West Belfast while he was researching the role.)

Probably could have done with a few more days in Belfast....

9. GERARD BUTLER IN "P.S. I LOVE YOU"

Everyone involved in the making of this film, from the producer to the coffee maker, should be rounded up and shot - it's that bad.

First on the list to go is Gerard Butler, who plays lovable Irishman Gerry Kennedy, and whose Irish accent is only one of the many problems in this pretty awful film.

Sean Connery has shown that even Scottish actors can have trouble with an Irish accent - a point also demonstrated by Butler in this movie.

P.S. Gerry, your accent sucks.

10. THE LEPRECHAUN IN "LEPRECHAUN"

Like many of the films featured on this list, this movie falls into the "It's so bad, it's good" category. And it's hard not to laugh at a movie with the tagline, "Your luck just ran out."

This horror gained something of a cult following, and was also notable for giving Jennifer Aniston one of her first roles.

Of course, in a movie about Leprechauns, anything less than a ridiculous "Oirish" accent would be a total shock - and Leprechaun doesn't disappoint.

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cuchulain9 | Jul 31, 2011, 08:57 PM EDT

In the Untouchables, Connery appeared to make no effort to speak with anything other than his own Scottish accent. When I remarked about this to some very American friends, they didn't realize his accent was Scottish and not Irish! I guess the director assumed most Americans wouldn't notice either.

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OldMariner | Jul 11, 2011, 04:00 PM EDT

I have wondered why Brit, Irish and Aussie actors can master American accents (e.g. the guy that plays "House") and yet we native born Americans do poorly trying their accents regardless of our environment growing up. I do give some credit to Brad Pitt's Ulster accent.

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johnymac60 | Jul 11, 2011, 02:28 PM EDT

Hey, youse. "You're forgetting about the thousand men standing behind me. That's a mistake." Nay more o' these negative comments, or I'll start shootin' - me mouth off. Begorragh. Boyos.

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TriciaG28 | Jul 11, 2011, 11:55 AM EDT

And can someone explain to me why Leo DiCaprio is supposed to have an Irish accent in Gangs of New York when he was a very young child when his father is killed and he's raised in a workhouse in America!

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TriciaG28 | Jul 11, 2011, 11:53 AM EDT

John Wayne in The Quiet Man wasn't supposed to have an Irish accent. It's made quite clear that he was a young child when he travelled to America (he says about his mother "Dead, America, when I was 12".) But yeah, Gerard Butler, quite simply appalling!

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rachheals | Jul 11, 2011, 12:59 AM EDT

No, as a true Irishwoman I have to say the ENTIRE cast of PS I Love You should be shot, as well as BOTH Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Far & Away...extremely bad. And yes, I always wonder why other Irish actors on-set or behind the camera don't seem to have the heart to tell these "superstars" no person with any sort of Irish connection will ever fall for that accent...which is 3/4 of the world's population!!!!!

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JerryLynch | Jul 10, 2011, 06:29 PM EDT

Where's Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Gangs of New York?"

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oaklongan | Jul 10, 2011, 05:11 PM EDT

sorry, didn't get to the second page of the article and saw that you DID have Tommy Lee Jones in Blown Away included as one of the worst Irish accents in a film... THERE ARE SO MANY INTERESTING ARTICLES A DAY ON IRISHCENTRAL.COM, TODAY JUST RACED THROUGH...

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oaklongan | Jul 10, 2011, 05:06 PM EDT

You forgot to include Tommy Lee Jones in the 1990's in "Blown Away" about an Irish 'terrorist' Ryan Gaerity who gets sprung from prison in Northern Ireland and heads to Boston... Ireland.

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carrickcourt | Jul 10, 2011, 10:47 AM EDT

Your search of "archives" for worst Irish accents in film appears to be of only films from the late 1950's and on. Suggest expanding your historical "archive" search to include films since the 1930's. To me the worst Irish "accent" in a film is John Wayne in "The Quiet Man". The Duke does not even try to do an Irish "accent" in this film, though he is supposed to be an Irish man returning to his home place from a America.

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Youthguy | Jul 10, 2011, 09:40 AM EDT

you are missing the abysmal accent by Richard Gere of all people pretending to be an Irish terrorist in The Jackal. Awful movie, awful accent. Must be on a par with Brad Pitt!

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