To be sure, to be sure
Well b’gosh and begorrah, 'tis our national holiday in Ireland and sure top of the morning to you while we're at it.
Okay, we'll stop now, but unfortunately, the likes of above is just one way our lovely Irish brogue has been butchered over the years. We do understand it's a difficult accent to master, but if you can't do it, please don't try. Or better yet, directors out there, just give the role to a legit Irish person.
Down the years we've had some doozies too - we're pretty sure a lot of the below actor's voice coaches must have been Irish dancing leprechaun's they found under a potato somewhere.
Here are some of the worst offenders:
1. Tom Cruise in 'Far and Away'
Sure all Joseph wanted was a piece of land all of his own with his lovely Shannon, to be sure.
2. Brad Pitt in 'The Devil's Own'
Why, Brad Pitt, why?! By the time he made this movie, he already had 'Seven', 'Twelve Monkeys' and 'Interview with the Vampire' under his belt, and then this flick came along and he briefly lost all credibility to us. (All was well though, he redeemed himself with 'Fight Club', just two years later.)
3. Sean Connery in 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People'
The most cliched Irish movie to ever hit the big screen, bar none. In fact, 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' is essentially the barometer used for just how stereotypically Irish something is. Helping with this definition is the brogue of one Sean Connery who really hits peak-Oirishness in the clip below.
4. Kate Hudson in 'About Adam'
We had almost forgotten Kate Hudson had ever even tried an Irish accent, and we wish it had stayed that way.
5. Tommy Lee Jones in 'Blown Away'
This is so bad, it hurts our ears. Everything about Tommy Lee Jones is a stereotype in this flick (he's an IRA terrorist) but his accent just takes the biscuit.
6. Gerard Butler in' P.S. I Love You'
Thankfully Gerard Butler is dead for most of this movie (oh eh, spoiler alert?), so he doesn't get much of a chance to give the Irish accent a hammering - he damn well does his best though with what little screen time he does have. Could he return with a few more love letters to Holly in the just-announced sequel Cecelia Ahern is writing? No word of a movie adaptation yet but watch this space.
7. Justin Theroux in 'Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle'
We forget how long Jennifer Aniston's ex-husband Justin Theroux has been knocking around in the acting world, but this is one flick we're sure he'd be happy for everyone to forget about. He plays the crazy ex-boyfriend of Drew Barrymore's character, and there's no logical reason for him to be written as Irish unless they just wanted to get across just how bat sh*t crazy he was - because all Irish are either drunk or killing people, obvs.
8. Julia Roberts in 'Michael Collins'
Who could forget this one? We thought Julia Roberts could do no wrong in the nineties, and the fact is, she couldn't. However even she should have known that she was biting off more than she could chew with the role of Kitty Kiernan, It's fair to say she served her purpose in making the movie more of a draw to d'Americans though.
Oh and to add insult to injury, she tried the accent again the same year in the flick 'Mary Reilly'.
9. Sienna Miller in 'Live By Night'
Ben Affleck's box office flop 'Live By Night' had quite a few things wrong with it, namely Sienna Miller's take on the Irish accent. In fairness, she is not the worst offender on the list but it's a no from us.
10. Cameron Diaz - 'Gangs of New York'
Sorry Cameron, we're not buying what you're selling.
11. Russell Crowe in 'Winter's Tale'
Even Russell Crowe can't master the Irish accent, and he's always knockin' around these parts. Hollywood should really just stick with the real deal from here on out.