Well b’gosh and begorrah, 'tis our national holiday in Ireland and sure top of the morning to you while we're at it.
Okay, we'll stop now, but unfortunately the likes of above is just one way our lovely Irish brogue has been butchered over the years. We do understand it's a difficult accent to master, but if you can't do it, please don't try. Or better yet, directors out there, just give the role to a legit Irish person.
Down the years we've had some doozies too - we're pretty sure a lot of the below actor's voice coaches were Irish dancing leprechaun's they found under a potato somewhere.
Here are some of the worst offenders...
1. Tom Cruise - Far and Away
Sure all Joseph wanted was a piece of land all of his own with his lovely Shannon, to be sure.
2. Brad Pitt - The Devil's Own
Why, Brad Pitt, why?! By the time he made this movie, he already had Seven, Twelve Monkeys and Interview with the Vampire under his belt, and then this flick came along and he briefly lost all credibility to us. (All was well though, he redeemed himself with Fight Club, just two year's later.)
3. Sean Connery - Darby O'Gill and the Little People
The most cliched Irish movie to ever hit the big screen, bar none. In fact Darby O'Gill and the Little People is essentially the barometer used for just how stereotypically Irish something is.
Helping with this definition is the brogue of one Sean Connery. Head to the 50 second mark below for peak-Oirishness.
4. Kate Hudson - About Adam
We had almost forgotten Kate Hudson had ever even tried an Irish accent, and we wish it had stayed that way.
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(Shout out to Tommy Tiernan, who also turns up in the clip below.)
5. Tommy Lee Jones - Blown Away
This is so bad, it hurts our ears. Everything about Tommy Lee Jones is a stereotype in this flick (he's an IRA terrorist) but his accent just takes the biscuit.
6. Gerard Butler - PS. I Love You
Thankfully Gerard Butler is dead for most of this movie (oh eh, spoiler alert?), so he doesn't get much of a chance to give the Irish accent a hammering - he damn well does his best though with what little screen time he does have.
7. Justin Theroux - Charlie's Angels Full Throttle
We forget how long Jennifer Aniston's husband has been knocking around in the acting world, but this is one flick we're sure he'd be happy for everyone to forget about. He plays the crazy ex-boyfriend of Drew Barrymore's character, and there's no logical reason for him to be written as Irish, unless they just wanted to get across just how bat sh*t crazy he was - because all Irish are either drunk or killing people! *lols*
8. Julia Roberts - Michael Collins
Who could forget this one? We thought Julia Roberts could do no wrong in the nineties, and the fact is, she couldn't. However even she should have known that she was biting off more than she could chew with the role of Kitty Kiernan. It's fair to say she served her purpose in making the movie more of a draw to d'Americans though.
Oh and to add insult to injury, she did the accent again the same year in the flick Mary Reilly...
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So there you have it, who do you reckon was the worst of them all? Anyone we're leaving out?
Let us know in the comments, to be sure to be sure.
