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  3. 20 actors you forgot (or just didn't know) were British

20 actors you forgot (or just didn't know) were British

By Mary Sollosi Updated October 28, 2022 at 01:55 AM EDT
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Daniel Kaluuya

90th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals
Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Though he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing American activist and Black Panther party deputy chairman Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah (2021), Daniel Kaluuya was born in London, where he still resides.

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Charlie Hunnam

Celebrities Visit SiriusXM - May 1, 2017
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Unlike Jax Teller, Charlie Hunnam is no California boy; the Sons of Anarchy star is English.

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Naomi Watts

Christian Dior : Front Row - Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2018
Credit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

While many think this Oscar nominee is Australian, she was actually born in Shoreham, Kent and spent many years of her youth in England before moving Down Under when she was 14.

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Hugh Laurie 

Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston: A Timestalk Conversation
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Dr. Gregory House is English! Surprise!

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Andrew Garfield

2018 Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Junket
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Your former friendly neighborhood Spider-Man wasn't always web-slinging around Manhattan; he grew up in Surrey, England.

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Naomie Harris

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Naomie Harris got her first Oscar nomination for playing a Miamian in Moonlight (2016), but showed off her London roots playing Eve Moneypenny in the Bond movies Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021).

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Aaron Taylor-Johnson

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His American accent might have kicked ass in Kick-Ass (2010), but Aaron Taylor-Johnson is English.

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Andrew Lincoln

"The Walking Dead" Season Six Premiere
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Convincing as his American accent may have been on The Walking Dead, Andrew Lincoln is, in fact, English. (He's in 2003's Love Actually! That's a tell-tale sign!)

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Chiwetel Ejiofor

Moet British Independent Film Awards - Arrivals
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Remember, if they're in Love Actually, they're actually English. That goes for 12 Years a Slave star Chiwetel Ejiofor, too.

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Gillian Anderson

An English Garden Party To Celebrate The Re-Launch Of Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel
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The truth is out there. And the truth is that Gillian Anderson is British American.

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Damian Lewis

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Don't be fooled by his flawless American accent; the Billions star's real Homeland is England.

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Rebecca Hall

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The Christine (2016) star is a Londoner, not an Ohioan.

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Will Poulter

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From We're the Millers (2013) to Detroit (2017) to Dopesick, Poulter has played American so much you might never suspect he's from London.

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Rosamund Pike

"Gone Girl" Press Conference
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Her British accent might have been Gone Girl (2014), but the Oscar-nominated actress is from England.

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Dominic Cooper

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Whatever Preacher would have you think, Dominic Cooper is no Texan, but a Londoner.

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Hugh Dancy

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Unlike Hannibal's Louisianian Will Graham, Hugh Dancy is English.

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Matthew Rhys

FX Network 2017 All-Star Upfront
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The star of The Americans is no American (or Russian, for that matter). Matthew Rhys is, in fact, Welsh.

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Mischa Barton

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Welcome to the U.K., bitch! The O.C.'s Marissa Cooper is British American.

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Michael Sheen

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 27: Michael Sheen attends "BIFA Meets" in association with Time Out at the Picturehouse Central on October 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
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You might not realize it for his talent for accents, but Michael Sheen is Welsh.

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Stephen Moyer

Build Presents Stephen Moyer Discussing "The Gifted"
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Despite his True Blood southern drawl, true British blood runs through Stephen Moyer's veins: He hails from the county of Essex in England.

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  • By Mary Sollosi @missollosi

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    1 of 20 Daniel Kaluuya
    2 of 20 Charlie Hunnam
    3 of 20 Naomi Watts
    4 of 20 Hugh Laurie 
    5 of 20 Andrew Garfield
    6 of 20 Naomie Harris
    7 of 20 Aaron Taylor-Johnson
    8 of 20 Andrew Lincoln
    9 of 20 Chiwetel Ejiofor
    10 of 20 Gillian Anderson
    11 of 20 Damian Lewis
    12 of 20 Rebecca Hall
    13 of 20 Will Poulter
    14 of 20 Rosamund Pike
    15 of 20 Dominic Cooper
    16 of 20 Hugh Dancy
    17 of 20 Matthew Rhys
    18 of 20 Mischa Barton
    19 of 20 Michael Sheen
    20 of 20 Stephen Moyer

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