Top 10 Worst Southern Accents in Movies

#10: John Travolta

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“Urban Cowboy” (1980) Bud Davis, John Travolta's character in "Urban Cowboy," is supposed to be from Texas, but you could visit all 254 counties in the state and not meet anyone who sounds quite like Travolta does. Here. Instead of embodying the raw masculinity of the region and honky-tonk culture, Bud sounds like he’s a northerner trying his best to sound like a Texan, much like Travolta. Although Travolta did plenty of research for the role, including visiting Texas, practicing with his own mechanical bull, and listening to a reading of the script in a Texas accent, he’s never convincing. As Frank Bruni put it in The Baltimore Sun, “Texas never sounded this dorky.”At least he didn’t lose his dance moves.

#9: Jessica Simpson

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“The Dukes of Hazzard” (2005) Jessica Simpson is from Texas, so she should have a pretty good idea of how to do a convincing southern accent. “The Dukes of Hazzard” is set in Georgia instead of Texas, but that still doesn’t excuse how Simpson’s Daisy Duke sounds when she opens her mouth. Her drawl is so exaggerated that it sounds ridiculous even in a comedy like this. Although "The Dukes of Hazzard" was a hit at the box office, it flopped with critics and fans of the original show. Simpson's film career didn't go much further, and this accent certainly didn’t help matters.

#8: Julia Roberts

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“Charlie Wilson’s War” (2007) There is no one universal “southern accent.” Different regions have different accents, some of them very distinctive. In this otherwise-excellent dramedy, Roberts plays Joanne Herring, a real-life socialite from Houston. But if you didn’t know better, you might think Joanne is supposed to be from Louisiana, like Shelby, Robert’s character in “Steel Magnolias.” Her accent is a deep south drawl that has no connection to Texas. Julia Roberts is a southerner, born and raised in Georgia. But she should've spent a little more time around Houston.

#7: Keanu Reeves

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“The Devil’s Advocate” (1997) Some of the bad accents on this list come from actors just trying too hard. For this entry, it’s a matter of simply not trying hard enough. In this supernatural horror movie, Reeves plays Kevin Lomax, a hotshot defense attorney in Gainesville, Florida who starts working for an unsettling law firm owner, played by Al Pacino. The Canadian Reeves wouldn't be our first choice to play a southerner, and he seems pretty indifferent to the idea of sticking to any one accent. If you weren’t paying attention, you could completely forget Reeves' character is supposed to be from the south. We still love you, Keanu, lousy accent or not.

#6: Alec Baldwin

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“Ghosts of Mississippi” (1996) Alec Baldwin's breathy baritone has been used to great effect in both dramatic and comedic performances. But as real-life Mississippi prosecutor Bobby DeLaughter, who, in 1994, helped to convict Byron De La Beckwith for the 1963 assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, he doesn’t sound like he’s spent much time in the south, Mississippi or otherwise. You can hear him trying, but that’s exactly why it doesn’t sound natural, and occasionally, he drops it completely. You can take the actor out of New York, but you can’t always take the New York out of the actor.

“Gone with the Wind” (1939) “Gone with the Wind” is a southern-set epic, but the casting for the main characters leaned less Bayou and more British. While Vivien Leigh did an excellent job of convincing audiences she was southern belle Scarlett O’Hara, the London-born Howard sounds like this is his very first time across the pond. As the object of Scarlett's affection, Ashley Wilkes, Howard sounds as British as a cup of tea on a rainy day, with hardly a trace of southern charm to be found. “Gone with the Wind” earned four acting nominations at the Oscars, but Howard was snubbed completely. Could things have gone differently if he actually tried for a southern accent?

“Young Guns” (1988) Emilio Estevez was born in the Bronx and spent part of his childhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. While Billy the Kid, who he played in this 1988 western, was also born in New York City, the similarities between the outlaw and the actor pretty much end there. Billy the Kid covered a lot of ground in his short life, living in places like Indiana, New Mexico, and Arizona, Estevez’s portrayal lacks any kind of regional nuance. Then, there’s the fact that - considering his background - Billy the Kid might not have even had a southern accent to begin with! So the biographical flick may be inaccurate when it comes to both whether Billy the Kid had one at all, and with their lead actor’s attempt at a generic southern drawl.

#3: James Van Der Beek

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“Varsity Blues” (1999) Forget practicing football: James Van Der Beek should’ve spent more time practicing his accent for this Texas-set sports drama. Now, to be fair, Van Der Beek, a Connecticut native, made an earnest attempt at sounding like a true Texan. Unfortunately it skews ridiculous, like he’s taking part in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch. Also unconvincing is his co-star and California native, the late Paul Walker, but the comparison doesn’t make Van Der Beek any more convincing. Van Der Beek has shown a sense of humor about its reception, though. In 2020, he shared an Instagram Story where he showed his children some of the movie. His son Joshua aptly described it as “the worst.” And we thought we were tough critics.

“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” (1997) There’s nothing good to be said about this accent, which finds Law, an accomplished British actor, sounding completely in over his head trying to play Georgian Billy Hanson, inspired by Danny Hansford, who was part of a real-life murder case. Law seems to be going for a mishmash of accents, with “southern” barely making a blip on our radar. Years later, another attempt at playing a southerner in “Cold Mountain” didn’t go much better for Law. He’s an actor of many talents, but this kind of accent just doesn’t seem to be in his wheelhouse.

#1: Nicolas Cage

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“Con Air” (1997) When Nicolas Cage is in a movie, he tends to give it his all. However, that can lead to some truly baffling decisions, such as his accent in this thriller, which is unforgettable in all the worst ways. Cage plays Cameron Poe, a recently paroled convict on his way home to Alabama via a plane that's eventually hijacked by inmates. And while the movie provides plenty of brainless fun, Cage’s accent is so bad, it sounds like he’s trying to make the entire state of Alabama angry. While he reportedly got training from a dialect coach for this role, it was either a very indifferent or a very ignorant one. If bad accents were a crime, we would have to find Cage guilty.