acting accents

I've watched some episodes of 'The Mentalist' and none of 'House.' One thing I'm impressed with about the actors playing the lead roles is they are from other countries, Simon Baker ('The Mentalist') is from Australia and Hugh Laurie ('House') is from England. Either from watching episodes or seeing clips, it is easy to forget that they aren't American; they speak such perfect American English with no trace of accents. It always throws me for a loop when I see them appear on talk shows and they speak as they normally do.

I had to look up Anthony LaPaglia just now - according to Wikipedia, he is from Australia. He is probably most known for playing the lead in 'Without A Trace'; either that or playing Daphne Moon's obnoxious brother Simon on 'Frasier.' I'm just amazed that he has played both roles - talk about being two completely different people! And speaking with such different accents, American English on 'Without A Trace' and Manchester (England) on 'Frasier.' As I mentioned, I had to look up where he's from.

On the other hand, American actors have so often been criticized for not nailing the accents they are performing with. Even with regional American accents, the Boston accent for example. It's a tough business.