10 Actors Who Refused To Play Themselves On Screen

Cary Grant is one of the most statuesque and instantly recognisable actors of all time, and one of his most defining characteristics is undoubtedly his uniquely implacable transatlantic accent.

Though Grant was born in England, he moved to the U.S. as a teenager, setting him on a path to eventually become a worldwide Hollywood icon.

It's generally accepted that Grant's unique vocal register was actually a result of the actor consciously attempting to make himself sound more American, and therefore more likely to win roles in American films.

This American-ish accent was combined with both the Cockney accent he used as a young performer in the travelling Pender Troupe and a spicing of his own native Bristol accent, to create an amalgam accent quite unlike any other in Hollywood.

It was a gamble that certainly paid off, and though Grant did occasionally trot out his questionable Cockney twang in films such as 1935's Sylvia Scarlett and 1944's None but the Lonely Heart, his iconic faux-accent basically became part of his "brand" for the remainder of his career.