Top 10 Actors Who Sound NOTHING Like Their TV Characters in Real Life

A former wealthy soap star, Moira Rose still has the sensibilities of a one-percenter, despite having lost all her money. Her unusual manner of speaking is noticeably deeper and more prim and proper than Catherine O’Hara’s. This adds to the character’s eccentricities, since it gives the impression that her voice is an affectation, even when she’s trying to appear warm and friendly. O’Hara, on the other hand, comes across as super approachable and down to earth. The fact that she can sell this snobby, upper-class character so well is just proof of her greatness.

If you’ve only seen American interviews with Barrowman, you might be wondering why he’s on this list. His best known character, Captain Jack Harkness, might be a product of British television, but he sounds decidedly American, and so does Barrowman – most of the time. Although he was born in Scotland, he moved to the States when he was only eight years old, and his typical accent is an unremarkable Midwestern one. As a result, however, when he finds himself among his fellow Scots, he reverts to his native Scottish dialect, and the difference is stark. This is a phenomenon referred to as being bidialectal, which is when someone who grew up around two different accents can switch between them depending on which one they hear, and it’s very cool.

By now, Idris Elba is famous enough that most people probably know he sounds nothing like his character Stringer Bell in real life. But when “The Wire” first hit airwaves, Elba wasn’t such a big name, and many fans had no idea that his native dialect is quite different from the ruthless Baltimore crime boss’s. Elba actually grew up in an inner borough of London, and his natural English accent has been said to be almost close to Cockney. He’s also not the only Brit pretending to be a Baltimorean on “The Wire.” His co-star, Dominic West, hails from Yorkshire, and unlike many English actors, his voice gets higher pitched when playing his American character.

Rosa Diaz is the quintessential no-nonsense, hard-nosed detective. Many of her colleagues are intimidated by her, and she has a somewhat deep, serious voice to fit her personality. Stephanie Beatriz’s natural pitch, on the other hand, is much more high-to-moderate. But diehard fans might have noticed that Rosa’s voice evolved over the course of the series. In season one, it was only slightly deeper than Beatriz’s ordinary speaking voice. In the later seasons, her pitch dropped considerably, to the point that by the show’s end, Beatriz and her character sound like completely different people.

Many people assume that the Chilean-born actor naturally speaks with a Spanish accent. It’s not an absurd idea, considering that he sometimes uses one. But Pascal actually grew up in California and Texas, and his native accent is pretty standard American. Oberyn Martell was the first Dornish character to appear on “Game of Thrones,” so Pascal played an important role in determining what the people of the fictional Dorne would sound like going forward. Since he grew up in a family of Spanish speakers, it makes sense that this accent is the one that comes easily to him.

Oh. My. Gawd. If you know “Friends,” then you know Janice, Chandler’s (mostly) ex-girlfriend whose surprise reappearances eventually became a running joke. Janice’s most distinctive feature is her voice – loud, nasally, and extremely New York. It would probably be pretty grating to listen to in real life. But her voice – along with her famous catch phrase – made her into one of the most beloved recurring characters on the series. Although Wheeler drew inspiration for Janice from the New Yorkers she grew up around, her real voice couldn’t be more different. It’s almost jarring to hear it coming out of that familiar face.

Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz’s high pitch and usually sweet intonation seem to fit with Rauch’s diminutive stature. That’s one reason it’s always surprising and hilarious when she suddenly belts out a line like Howard’s mother. In fact, the voice and the character have become so intertwined, that fans sometimes don’t recognize the actress when she’s speaking in her natural tone. It turns out that Rauch is a bit of a vocal chameleon. She’s done voice work for a number of animated shows and films and even brought Harley Quinn to life alongside the incomparable Kevin Conroy.

Laurie became fairly well-known on the British comedy scene as part of his two-man act with Stephen Fry in the ‘80s. But many Americans were first introduced to him as the brilliant yet caustic Dr. Gregory House. He might be humble about his talent, but Laurie pulls off an American accent so flawlessly that lots of fans were shocked to discover he’s actually English. House’s voice is almost gravelly, while Laurie is a bit more soft-spoken with a polished and proper British dialect. It’s almost hard to believe that both voices come from the same man.

If you’d told us in 2009 that Mark from “Love Actually” would totally nail the role of a Kentucky law man in a gory zombie apocalypse show, we probably wouldn’t have believed you. And yet, that’s exactly what happened. To portray Rick Grimes, Lincoln takes on an American accent with a light but noticeable twang, completely unlike his usual posh English speech. Rick’s voice also gets progressively more gruff over the course of the series, reflecting the trauma and violence he’s lived through. Lincoln disappears so completely into the part, it’s easy to forget what he really sounds like.

Her name might not have been in the title, but Karen stole this show so many times, maybe it should have been. Thanks to Mullally’s over-the-top performance and that impossibly squeaky voice, some of the funniest and most memorable moments come from when she’s on screen. Of course, her real voice has a much more reasonable tone. Mullally admits that her risky acting choices haven’t always paid off in the past. Playing Karen with that absurdly high pitch was certainly taking a chance, but in the end, it’s one of the things that made the character downright iconic.