LOL...I had no idea Sam Worthington as an Aussie! Was just watching him the other day in "Avatar". Thought Hemsworth was a Brit for some reason. Mel is one of us. But you're free to have him back.
I've seen most of those actors...but they all seem to play nationalities other than Australians...except perhaps Paul Hogan. But it would make sense if you've seen them
in local roles and I haven't. That I get...and I've fallen behind on my movie watching in the last decade.
One thing for sure though...casting is a brutal and unfair process in Hollywood. Actors get unfairly "pigeonholed" for a variety of reasons. I see it a lot, especially when it comes to genres like sci fi in both television and film. Not always easy for them to transcend one genre to another. Very sad about Heath Ledger though....he was another who could effectively portray any character. I don't even recall him playing an Aussie...but then most of his most memorable roles were Americans I suppose.
Haha, yeah, most of them don't play Aussie roles, but they do get cast as good tough guys too, so I guess it's not so bad; there are worse stereotypes out there. It's just funny when we get visitors come to Australia, who expect us to be just as tough in real life
It is sad about Heath, he was a good one. He did have one role as an Aussie in '10 Things I Hate About You', but it wasn't a stereotypical role; he was simple introduced as an Aussie to explain his accent. He could have more, but can't think of them right now.
Hugh Jackman's a funny one, as he now plays tough guy Wolverine as his famous role in Hollywood, but in Australia, he got his fame from doing "The Boy From Oz" musicals on stage! I love Hugh though; he seems like one of those actors you'd actually want to meet in real life.
Sam Worthington interview for you too:
I actually never bought the "tough-guy-Aussie" stereotype. There's actually a podcast I listen to just because the host sounds so laid-back, like someone I would love to have a beer or two with.
Another, slightly related thing that bugs me: Accents. I've never heard anyone effectively fake an Australian accent. The show
The Walking Dead drives me nuts in part because their Southern "accents" are SO. BAD. In fact, the only person I've heard effecctively fake one was Kelly MacDonald in the Coen Brothers' adaptation of
No Country for Old Men--and she's Scottish! I also recall Leonardo diCaprio's atrocious imitations of Boston and New Zealand accents. I feel that American television in general is kind of "dumbed down" as far as accents go. This compared to British television--I watched
Downton Abbey and the first thing that struck me was how genuine all the accents were. You don't get that here.
It's actually interesting you mentioned how it's hard to hear a good Aussie accent faked. I once read an article about imitating accents, and apparently the hardest accent to mimic, is in fact the Aussie one.
It's supposedly because we open our mouths sideways as we talk, rather than with the natural motion of the jaw. Aussies also get lazy in their speech, and can combine several words in to one, or abbreviate them. In the cities it's not as extreme, but older Aussies from the country towns; sometimes I struggle to understand the thicker accents.
American accents are supposedly the easiest to pick up. It of course allows the natural movement of the jaw to better annunciate words. Americans also speak in a typical way, where as the words aren't generally changed in to a difficult to understand 'lazy slang' - at least not on Hollywood screens.
