British actors on TV are usually relegated to the comfy period piece (“Downton Abbey”) or prestige costume drama with top names (“The Crown”).
Not anymore.
They’ve been stealing roles and awards from their American peers for years now on television, racking up no less than 15 acting Emmy nominations this year alone, including seven for “Game of Thrones” (Alfie Allen, Gwendoline Christie, Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams).
As popular as “GoT” has proven with fans, the Emmy buzz is all about London-born “Fleabag” creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who is nominated for acting and writing on the subversive Amazon comedy as well as producing the BBC spy drama “Killing Eve,” which has an acting nominee in Liverpudlian Jodie Comer. “Fleabag” played big with the Emmy voters, who gave nods to Sian Clifford and Kristin Scott-Thomas for her priceless monologue about women’s lives being all about pain.
HBO’s limited series “Chernobyl” was a largely British production that picked up nominations for Brits Jared Harris and Emily Watson. Ditto “A Very English Scandal” (nods for Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw).
British actors now also easily establish themselves as series leads on American TV shows. Blame it on their rigorous drama schools whose students must master an American accent to graduate. Freddie Highmore is going into his third season on ABC’s “The Good Doctor,” after doing four seasons (with an American accent) on “Bates Motel.” Millie Bobby Brown has three seasons of “Stranger Things” to her credit and Birmingham native Daniel Ezra starts his second season as the star of the ironically titled “All American” on The CW.
The cast of Hulu’s “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” meanwhile, is largely British, being played by Brits such as Nathalie Emmanuel, Nikesh Patel and Tom Mison, once the star of Fox’s “Sleepy Hollow.”
As the next few weeks and the new fall season attest, our British cousins are here to stay. On Aug. 30, Orlando Bloom and supermodel Cara Delevigne make their leading role debuts in “Carnival Row” (Amazon) — a crime story with various genre influences — while, on the same day, steely-eyed Jason Isaacs, who used an American accent in his appearance on “Star Trek: Discovery” (CBS All Access) will lend his voice to the animated series “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” (Netflix), a prequel to Jim Henson’s “The Dark Crystal” (1982).
Welsh actor Michael Sheen first impressed American audiences with his portrayal of pioneering sex researcher Dr. William Johnson on the Showtime series “Masters of Sex.” He graduates to network series lead on Fox’s “Prodigal Son” (Sept. 23), playing American Dr. Martin Whitley, an imprisoned sociopath who killed at least 23 people and helps a criminal psychologist help the NYPD solve crimes.
Waller-Bridge may have opened the door for Daisy Haggard, an offbeat British comic whose six-episode series “Back to Life” premieres Oct. 6. She plays a woman getting out of prison after 18 years and moving back home with her parents.
“Princess Bride” star Cary Elwes, who played slimy mayor Larry Kline on Season 3 of “Stranger Things,” will next be seen in an unspecified role on Season 3 of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Dec. 6. on Amazon).
And Glaswegian actor James McAvoy is coming to HBO this fall via the BBC in the adaptation of the popular 1990s trilogy “His Dark Materials.” He’ll swallow his natural burr to don a British accent portraying Lord Asrel, father of adventuring young protagonist Lyra (“Logan” star Dafne Keen).