Did you ever notice he was British? How does one achieve such a high level of proficiency?

There's an episode of House that ends with him saying "I...*hate*...tea." Always wondered how much extra they had to pay him to get through that line.

Hugh Laurie was pretty well known in the UK before House. His own accent isn’t just British, it’s genuinely upper-class. It was very odd at first seeing him putting on an American accent. My American friends say it sounds authentic.

As a Brit I’m quite proud of him. I’ve been watching him with Stephen Fry since forever. He was in Blackadder in the 80s

He famously auditioned using his US accent. The casting director supposedly commented that his was exactly the American accent they were looking for, having no idea whatsoever that he was British. He's been very well known in the UK for many, many years prior to House. Blackadder for example, and several stand-up-type comedy shows.

Myself and all my friends were completely shocked when we found out he was actually British, he is better than most who put on a fake American accent for sure. But it’s not too surprising from a professional actor who probably had a good dialect coach and went to school for that kind of thing. It’s interesting seeing in some interviews how he admitted to flat out avoiding using certain words that he felt would out him as a non American, very smart acting choice

He certainly fooled many of us Americans. Well, those who had not watched Fry and Laurie. Maybe he hits his “r”s a little too hard, but that’s common. There are plenty of British actors who do nearly-flawless American accents. Tom Holland, Dan Stevens, Will Poulter, Florence Pugh just off the top of my head. And Idris Elba in The Wire, especially.

so many great actors in hollywood are actually british, he is one of them

You wouldn't be able to tell from watching House, his American accent is pretty convincing

I have to say it’s a very easy accent to mimic, probably because we’ve been exposed to hearing it from childhood.

If you're familiar with Monty Python or Black Adder, then no, the fact that he's British isn't a surprise. Also, his American accent isn't that good (although its gotten better through years of practice).  Brits tend to drawl, slur, and mumble through their "American" words to avoid little recognizable mistakes, which is very much something he does as the character "House".  "How does someone reach this level of proficiency?" Easy question. The answer is, "to practice".  It also helps to learn a different dialect or accent of a language you *already know or are native in*. Obviously, this actor-- who speaks British English-- will have an easier time learning an American accent than a person whose native language is not English at all.

How did a British person achieve a high degree of proficiency in speaking English? Nobody knows.

In the UK, we've been watching American TV and films, and hearing pop music sung in American accents, (even if the artists themselves aren't always American) since we were little kids. If someone has any facility for accents in the first place, generic American will be one of the easier ones to do. 

I heard he was British before I watched much of the show, so I can't guarantee that I would have figured it out myself, but there are occasionally words he pronounces in ways that would be unusual for an American accent. I think one that came up was "Harvard", where generally Americans hit both "r"s hard, but he pronounced something more like "Hahvuhd", if I remember correctly. (There are American accents that pronounce "r"s more like that, like the Boston accent, but House doesn't speak with that accent, so it sounds out of place). That said, his American accent is great, and the vast majority of the time nothing sounds unusual/out of place. As to your question of how to get to that level, I can only assume it was a ton of practice, possibly working with a dialect coach? Those exist, but I have no idea if he worked with one. I also wonder if it's easier to pick up an American accent coming from a British one, where they're based in the same language and use a lot of the same sounds and have a common ancestry, versus picking up an American accent from a very different language entirely.

He has such a high level of proficiency because he's a british man from England, where the english language comes from. If you're asking about his american accent some people have an uncanny ability to imitate other accents. I'm not an expert but his american accent in House is generally considered a great example of non american imitating the american accent. Honestly, some people just have that talent. I guess you could study how to imitate accents but some people do seem to have it naturally (obviously they also practice a lot). Just listen to Daniel Day Lewis imitating various accents in his movies, he really is that good. Obviously there's also the opposite phenomenon: some actors, even amazing ones, are utter shit at imitating accent not their owns.

There are quite a few British, Irish, and Aussie actors who do very good American accents. American media is ubiquitous, so non Americans hear the American accent more than say an American hears an Irish accent. It’s also likely that an actor will want to work in Hollywood if they want to be famous/successful. Having a good American accent is an occupational skill worth investing in for non American actors. But anyway, Hugh Laurie has one of the best American accents of any actor.

I love the dichotomy of Laurie achieving such an impressive fake American accent on a show where none of the 1,000 characters they introduce even attempt to sound like they're from New Jersey.

Speaking as an American, his accent’s pretty good. I didn’t notice. His “proficiency” is due to several things. *House* filmed in LA, so there’s an immersion factor. As an actor, there’s likely an accent coach helping him. He’s also a native English speaker. It’s probably easier for him to do an American accent than for non-native speakers. He’s familiar with the language, he’s spent his life consuming global English media (e.g. watching American shows), etc. English speakers also do other English accents for fun sometimes (e.g. Brits doing an American accent) so even if it’s not good, he might have some practice. So immersion, exposure to American media (or some Canadian), and practice are general tips for doing an American accent.

I noticed, but to be fair it was when he was working with Stephen Fry.

For what it's worth, Hugh Laurie said that maintaining the American accent was never easy, despite how long he played the character and despite the amount of time in America. Don't beat yourself up over an accent. [https://youtu.be/1Q9F2-Se0Ss?si=kc7H\_LqI2gAZMIVA&t=37](https://youtu.be/1Q9F2-Se0Ss?si=kc7H_LqI2gAZMIVA&t=37)

Just wanted to inform anyone who doesn't know, [Christian Bale is British](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I-NllCQkXo). I think watching an alien talking would have made more sense to my mind the first time I watched an interview of his

He may very well be an American who does a good British accent. You can't convince me either way.

I was more surprised hearing how light his natural speaking voice is compared to his low, gritty House voice than I was the fact that he was British. Not that I picked up on the fact that he was British from watching the show. I'm just not surprised when actors are doing accents.

I watched House and never suspected he was British until on one episode he said the word "electricity." That gave him away, as there is a slight difference in how that is pronounced and for some reason he must not have noticed it. I don't think I can spell it out. I'll try: British: L eck tricity American: elect tricity. Much more subtle than accidentally calling an elevator a lift.

Actors often get expensive voice coaching for months before a role. It's still acting though, so it's not comfortable for them to use in daily life. It's faking an accent really well. Plus on TV if your real accent slips out you can redo the lines.

There is a space show called Avenue 5 where he plays the captain. Part of the plot is that he is secretly English, but puts on an American accent for his job.

I saw a clip from some british show where Laurie was talking about his accent on House and apparently he'd change the dialog to work around words he couldn't say reliably in an american accent. I'm sure that's not something most actors are given the freedom to do and it gives him an advantage in the "blending in" game.

His accent drove me to distraction until about season four, when he finally settled into the 'voice'. Until then, it was Hugh Laurie doing an American accent. Very hard to listen to if you already knew exactly who Hugh Laurie was.

If he had not been a fixture on shows imported from England, I would have thought he was American. But it is not like he was a complete unknown here in the US. It is just that we had not seen him with beard stubble.

I Was about to say how do you you not, then realised where I am...

Why is nobody in this comment section actually answering OP's question? I also want to know

Watching the show I occasionally noticed his British accent slip in, probably because he was tired. But overall he was great.

He has said in interviews that there are some words he just can't say in an American accent, so part of his skill is just avoiding those. I believe "murder" was the example he used

Yes, I noticed. What gave it away was seeing him on British TV for 30 years. I didn't notice that James Marsters who played Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer was American until after I'd watched 7 seasons of it and then saw him speaking normally in an interview. He was doing a generic cockney accent, but I always thought he was a British actor aiming to do an accent the American audience would recognise and understand.

a lot of lead roles in US shows are British. Damien Lewis in Band of Brothers (most of the cast were Brit). Andrew Lincoln in Walking Dead. i've seen Jason Isaacs in more roles with an American accent, White Lotus being the most recent.

I knew he was British because I had first seen him act in English shows like Jeeves & Wooster. He does one of the BEST fake American accents on TV, though. It's undetectable. Some actors aren't as good. Gerard Butler is terrible at an American accent. Generally, though, British and Australian actors are better at American accents than American actors are at British/Australian accents.

[Hugh Laurie first TV appearance 1982](https://youtu.be/0mlPyLTODBY?si=1f-EMb05jUUpixIB)

I did, but if I didn't it wouldn't have shocked me. Professional actors being able to emulate accents shouldn't be surprising, and non-American actors playing American roles (or vice versa) is nothing new. Granted, some are better at doing accents than others. There are actors like Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Idris Elba or Margot Robbie that plenty of people have assumed to be American because they have prominently played American roles.

It's not a separate language ffs. He just has to learn an accent. Actors practice their craft incessantly, and often have access to professional coaches. Hugh Laurie is a VERY experienced, highly proficient actor. Yes, I was surprised he wasn't American when I found out, because House was my first exposure to his work, but if you watch almost anything else he's been in, it's pretty obvious. He's done some pretty hilarious work with Stephen Fry, for example.

Can we talk about that comma for a second?

I was FLABBERGASTED when i saw an interview with him and realized he's super british. Hugh was excellent in that roll.

It’s really funny as a Briton, watching American fans of House lose their minds over this given he was a well established comedy actor in the U.K. by the time House came out. And that you never noticed it was a fake accent…

I don't know if it's fair to generalize this, but I think a lot of British actors are way, way better at American accents than the other way around. It's not just Hugh Laurie, but also for example Daniel Kaluuya (lead from Get Out). He sounds British AF when he's not in character. The obvious exception here is Daniel Craig doing that godawful attempt at a Louisiana accent in Knives Out / Glass Onion, but that is so fun somehow that I'm able to see past it.

British -> American is easier (or less noticeable) for the vast majority of actors when compared to the reverse American -> British

How would you not notice that he's British when he has the most British accent ever??

It does help that the writers are American - so long as he stuck to the script, Hugh Laurie only needed to nail the accent. Only when he improvised did he run the risk of saying something that would have off sentence structure. Also, the script meant he could practice the accent ahead of time.

He's quite a well known English actor for a bunch of other things than house

https://youtu.be/lyHSjv9gxlE?si=s8lvrEyIlkNH7JGq

His American accent is also so neutral that you wouldn't be able to tell where he's from. Just like all countries, if you try for a more nuanced regional accent you'll have a much harder time being convincing.

Yeah I watched a lot of this show before I learned he was British, I didn't think twice about it. Watching for signs now, I can *kinda* hear it, but it's not so much a matter of pronunciation as like, pacing, which mostly makes him feel more methodical, if anything. Damn good actor.

Wasn't he in the final episode of Friends also playing an American?

Mastering different accents in one’s native language is completely different than mastering accents in languages acquired after childhood.

He's an actor and would have had access to accent coaches. Also, being British is an advantage. Lots of British (and Australian and New Zealand) actors are very familiar with American accents just through media exposure. That familiarity would count for a lot and also explains why Americans actors are often not very good at British or Australian accents - they don't have that initial familiarity.

Funny enough, many Brits think his American accent sounds really fake, while most Americans have no idea he’s not American.

Actors get professional dialect training.

Skilled actors become proficient at other accents by training them through exposure, study, and practice.

I can’t remember which episode it was, but I distinctly remembering a moment where he shouted something at another actor and his accent sort of broke… not noticeable unless you know he’s British already though.

Didn't you watch jeeves and wooster? Or bit's of fry and laurie?

His education is documented here: https://youtu.be/0ZPZC12t7Yg?si=beyIh5OqvRIQcqYi (from 29:40) And here https://youtu.be/tgUFk2jWlGY?si=ffLHJKD2y17Z5oE9 (from 3.04) For anyone wanting to see him being very British, check out Jeeves & Wooster, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth.

Yes, from Blackadder and Fry and Laurie. It was weird seeing him as a drama actor. As for proficiency in American accent he himself said: "A misspent youth watching American shows." And also: "I didn't lose my British accent, I am putting on an American accent." Apart from that he is a really fucking good actor, that's why he can do it.

He was very well known in Australia way before House. We get a lot of UK TV here. So yes, I did catch on that he was British.

Definitely. He plays Americans really well but I've seen his interviews.

I knew! I love his work, with no prejudice against any accent he decides to use.

If you're that surprised about High Laurie being English, I assume you don't know that Jesse Spencer, who played Chase, is Australian? He also played Matt Casey in Chicago Fire and one of the funniest scenes was when he had to pretend to be Australian. An actual Australian playing an American putting on a "fake" Aussie accent takes some talent!

There were some words writers avoided because Laurie was unable to pronounce them in his American accent.

Hugh Laurie struggled immensely with putting on an American accent according to him in every interview he's given on it.

He is multi-talented. Being a jazz musician is another one...

rick grimes in Walking Dead is also british - blew my mind when i saw him in an interview being very british

Yes. Because he’s English and I’d grown up watching his U.K. work before House. It was weird watching him in House. Not only the accent, but he also drops his register to a deeper tone. In House, I can pick the occasional accent misstep - whether it’s over-pronunciation or it’s just a bit flat. Laurie’s normally on point, but the occasional mistakes in this USA accent on House are there.

Omg. House is Hugh Laurie? I need to sit down. Omg. How did I not recognize him.

it’s the same with jacob anderson in interview with the vampire and hugh dancy in hannibal. jacob anderson in particular was amazing with his nola accent.

I’ve never seen House, so to me Hugh will always be English. It sounds like he did an impressive job convincing people otherwise in his role though!

I always thought Dr House (the character) was British, not from his accent/voice but from his mannerisms granted I am neither american or british so don't know as much about either cultures

I "noticed" he was British because he was famous outside the USA long before being cast on House. I remember him from Blackadder.

Also grew up watching American Cinema

I mean just watch Stuart little. I saw him in that as a kid. That said he doesn’t sound British at all in house md

I watched black adder, where he played characters when he was younger, and I watched house where he played house. I watched both of these for years, and did not know it was the same person until it was pointed out to me.

I mean as an actor you get professional coaches and courses to master an accent. Also, if you're an actor, you already have more skills than the average person in mimicking voices/accents.

Meaning? He is a native speaker.