This St Patrick’s Day, we are taking a look at some of the worst Irish accents in Hollywood history.
From Gerard Butler’s questionable accent in P.S I Love You, to Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt’s viral “leprechaun-sounding” accents in Wild Mountain Thyme, these attempts at sounding Irish were cringe-worthy.
Take a look:
Tom Cruise, Far and Away (1992)
Unfortunately, Tom Cruise in Far and Away is the benchmark by which all bad Irish accents are measured.
The actor’s dialect is constantly changing in this film – one minute he sounds like he’s from Belfast and the next he sounds like he’s from Dublin. At one point, he even sounds like a pirate!
In one scene in the film, Tom’s character Joseph Donnelly announces: “You’re not in Ireland anymore”, and his pronunciation would suggest that the actor has never been either!
Tom Hanks, Cloud Atlas (2012)
Tom Hanks played Dermot Hoggins in Cloud Atlas, Dermot is said to be an Irish gangster turned novelist.
However, Tom seems to be playing Dermot with what sounds like a Cockney accent.
Chris O Donnell, Circle of Friends (1995)
Minnie Driver was praised widely for her portrayal of Bernadette in the 1995 film Circle of Friends.
However, her co-star Chris O’Donnell didn’t quite reach the mark when it came to the Irish accent.
Chris played the male lead in the movie who is meant to be Irish, but Chris however essentially speaks in his normal American accent throughout, throwing a few “ahh-roit then”s in for good measure.
Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt, Wild Mountain Thyme (2020)
Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt’s Irish accents in Wild Mountain Thyme were so bad, the film’s director John Patrick Shanley has had to come out and defend them.
The director said that a normal Irish accent would be too difficult for an international audience to understand.
Meanwhile Jamie, who is from Ireland, told Sky News: “There’s so many dialects based on a very small island and I get the p*** taken out of me for the way I sound all the time, just as me.”
“A lot of people don’t understand me all the time, and that’s fine. That’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life.”
Gerard Butler, P.S. I Love You (2007)
Gerard Butler was seriously ridiculed for his attempt of an the Irish accent in the film adaptation of Cecilia Ahern’s novel P.S I Love You.
The actor publicly apologised for how atrocious his accent was, and has promised his fans he would never try to play an Irish man again.
Matthew Goode, Leap Year (2010)
In the film Leap Year, Amy Adams’ character meets a barman supposedly from Kerry, played by Matthew Goode.
In our opinion, Matthew couldn’t sound any less Irish if he tried!
The feel-good movie was definitely shot in Ireland though, with scenes in Wicklow, Dublin, Mayo, Waterford and Galway.
