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Having spent three decades earning a living as the quintessential English gent, Stephen Fry should be slower than most to point the finger at British stars who rely on their cut-glass accents to seduce audiences in the United States.
But the 49-year-old comedian, actor and novelist, who once mused he so embodied Englishness that his vocal cords were made of tweed, yesterday went one step further by questioning the recipe for British success in Hollywood - suggesting that plummy tones can also conceal a lack of talent.
In remarks which Fry described as "high treason", he suggested that Britons may be over-rated in the US because of their accent and the "brittle contrivances" of the acting style of the likes of Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh.
Fry, who has just finished filming a cameo role for the US drama series Bones, said he had been struck by the possibility while witnessing the triumph of British stars at the Golden Globe awards.
Among the British winners at the ceremony in January were Jeremy Irons, Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Hugh Laurie and Dame Helen Mirren, who went on to win the best actress Oscar for The Queen.
Fry told the Radio Times: "I shouldn't be saying this - high treason really - but I sometimes wonder if Americans aren't fooled by our accent into detecting a brilliance that may not really be there.
"I mean, would they notice if Jeremy Irons or Judi Dench gave a bad performance? Not that those paragons ever would. But it's worth considering."
The actor is best known in the US for his role as the clipped-toned butler in the Jeeves and Wooster television series, alongside Laurie, now the star of another US hit, House.
In his autobiography he wrote: "My vocal cords are made of tweed. I give off an air of Oxford donnishness and old BBC wirelesses."
But Fry said his encounter with US television had shown him how the relaxed nature of US performers contrasted sharply with their British counterparts.
"So it is with acting: the supreme relaxed authenticity of a James Stewart or a George Clooney compared with the brittle contrivances of a Laurence Olivier or a Kenneth Branagh, marvellous as they are.
"American actors are good at playing an Ordinary Joe. Can you imagine Ben Kingsley playing, 'like, this guy, you know'? No more than one could picture Tom Hanks playing Hannibal Lecter."
Suggesting that Britons are condemned to be cast as stereotypes in Hollywood, Fry added: "When American TV and movies call for a twist of limey in their cocktail, it's usually a character they're after: super-villain, emotionally constipated academic, effete eccentric, that kind of thing."
Professing a fondness for playing such roles, he did not exclude himself from the criticism.
"Generally, we admire the thing we are not," he said.
"On the set of Bones I have been amazed and impressed by the naturalness of the cast, and berate myself for sounding as if I'm speechifying instead of talking."
- INDEPENDENT
