Five British actors who tried to crack Hollywood and failed miserably
From Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne to Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh, the list of British stars who went to some of the most expensive schools in the country to get the best teaching on offer, and meet well-connected people in the industry is seemingly endless.
But why is it that Britons seem so much better at doing an American accent compared to the average Hollywood star’s attempt at a British one? I’m not too sure, but what I do know is that a large group of British actors have found the transition from their native country to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood rather easy.
However, in that, there are a handful of stars who really seemed to be shaping up for success overseas, landing a big role in an American production that signalled a breakthrough moment of anything seeming possible, only for them to fade into nothing, unfortunately.
Perhaps it’s because of the roles they’ve chosen, perhaps it’s a case of bad luck, but for the five in the list below, long-lasting Hollywood fame was evidently not meant to be.
Five British actors who couldn’t crack Hollywood:
Lenny Henry
There was a time when Lenny Henry was one of the country’s leading comedians, with The Lenny Henry Show beginning in 1985 and running on and off until 2005. Bringing race into the comedic landscape, which, especially in Britain, has long been overrun with white comedians, Henry was an incredibly influential figure, so it was only natural he’d want to take his fame across the pond, but sadly, it never worked out for him.
He tried to give acting a proper go with the 1991 American comedy True Identity, which featured the likes of Frank Langella and James Earl Jones, but it was a major flop, so he returned to England with acting roles in bigger films, like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. But he was limited to just a few voice parts, and has since found way more success on TV, voicing shows on CBeebies, appearing in the hit drama Broadchurch, or lending his voice to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Sheridan Smith
Praised as an icon of British television, Sheridan Smith began in sitcoms like Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and Gavin and Stacey, before working her way towards grittier, more dramatic parts, but even then could never successfully make it into Hollywood. Predominantly starring in low-budget British films in the early 2010s, she landed a role in the Hollywood blockbuster The Huntsman: Winter’s War, but it wouldn’t be long before she was back on British TV screens.
She has hardly had any non-voice roles in movies since then, but she has appeared in shows like Cilla, Four Lives, The Moorside, Cleaning Up, and Rosie Molloy Gives Up Everything. She has the potential to have a much bigger career outside of her home country, but it seems like her one attempt at Hollywood didn’t really go anywhere.
Holliday Grainger
With a name like Holliday Grainger, you’d think she’d be more recognisable, and while it’s a shame that she has never broken into Hollywood, it’s perhaps her tendency to consistently appear in British period dramas that has held her back. Seriously, she’s done everything from Jane Eyre and Great Expectations to Anna Karenina, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and The Borgias, to name a few, but hardly any modern movie projects.
In 2016, she appeared in the Disney action thriller The Finest Hours, which was a box-office flop, and more recently, she reunited with her Bel Ami co-star Robert Pattinson for Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17, another financial failure. It seems like she thrives best in slightly smaller projects, as evidenced by her recent string of leading roles in British shows such as The Stolen Girl and The Capture.
Max Irons
Max Irons was lucky enough to be born the son of Jeremy Irons, the iconic star of everything from The Lion King to Dead Ringers, making him one of many nepo babies to attempt to break into the industry, but unfortunately he might not make it in Hollywood like his father, having mainly succeeded in the realm of mid-level British productions.
After a few small roles, including the BBC miniseries The White Queen, he appeared in the teen-oriented sci-fi movie The Host alongside Saoirse Ronan. Released in 2013, the $40million movie emerged amid that Divergent, The Hunger Games, and The Maze Runner craze, but it was a major flop, and since then, he has appeared in a few movies to mixed reception, having recently found success in British shows like Miss Austen and Young Sherlock.
Alex Pettyfer
There was a time when Alex Pettyfer seemed poised to become the next big Briton in America, with the early years of his career seeing him in hits like the Emma Roberts teen rom-com Wild Child, and the Hollywood sci-fi movie I Am Number Four, in which he played the lead. Then came Magic Mike in 2012, and that seemed to be his big break, but then everything appeared to go downhill, fast.
Since then, he hasn’t returned to the Magic Mike series, nor has he been in anything particularly noteworthy, with seeminly his volatile personality to blame, such as domestic abuse allegations from his former partner, Dianna Agron. He reportedly clashed with Channing Tatum on the set of Magic Mike, too, and was accused of being a diva, so it was only inevitable that he was going to fade off into obscurity.
