5 actors with German accents who've made it big in Hollywood
Antje Binder / dbFebruary 3, 2017
A German or Austrian accent doesn't necessarily have to stand in the way of a successful career in the movie industry. These five actors have made it big in Hollywood - despite their accents, or perhaps because of them.
5 actors with German accents who've made it big in Hollywood
A German or Austrian accent doesn't necessarily have to stand in the way of a successful career in the movie industry. These five actors have made it big in Hollywood - despite their accents, or perhaps because of them.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Universal Pictures
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Few German-language actors have been ridiculed for their accent as much as Arnold Schwarzenegger. In turn, he managed to market his accent like no other. Today, the Austria native and former California governor says he only pretends to have an accent, because it's what his audience expects.
Image: picture-alliance/KPA
Armin Mueller-Stahl
He barely knew a word of English when he first moved to the US. That didn't matter much, because in Jim Jarmusch's 1991 film "Night on Earth," he played a taxi Driver from eastern Germany who couldn't speak English. Armin Mueller-Stahl is good at accents - he can do Jiddish and Russian. But his English is still rather poor, he says - a fact that never harmed his career.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Malzahn
Marlene Dietrich
Her English was far from perfect, but with charm and sex appeal, the German actress and singer succeeded in Hollywood. Though she worked hard at it, she never quite managed to lose her German accent. For her fans, however, how she spoke was part and parcel of the wicked appeal of the "Blue Angel."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Jürgen Prochnow
His biggest success, the role of a submarine captain in "Das Boot," catapulted Prochnow all the way to Hollywood. Initially, acting in English was difficult for the stage actor, but in the end, his tenacity and fastidiousness garnered him numerous roles. He was often cast as the bad guy, including in "Air Force One" and "The English Patient."
Image: picture-alliance/KPA
Christoph Waltz
In the role of Nazi Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds," he even overshadowed Brad Pitt. It garnered the Austrian actor his first Oscar and the hearts of Hollywood. Christoph Waltz is said to speak English with barely the trace of an accent - which hardly matters anymore, since the 59-year-old can pick and choose the roles he wants to play. He is also fluent in French.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Universal Pictures
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To make it to the top in Hollywood, you usually need to speak perfect English.
But that's not the case for actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Christoph Waltz, Jürgen Prochnow, Marlene Dietrich and Armin Mueller-Stahl, who have enjoyed great success despite or - even because of - their German or Austrian accents.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the best-known German-language actors to conquer Hollywood. The former bodybuilder's early films, "Hercules in New York" (1969) and "Mr. Universe" (1976), were actually dubbed because of his heavy Austrian accent.
Hollywood stars with an accent
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Arnie's breakthrough with 17 sentences
For his first lead role in the 1982 film "Conan the Barbarian," he took intensive speech lessons. Two years later, "Terminator" was his great breakthrough - and he uttered all of 17 sentences.
But Schwarzenegger continued his rise to fame in hit films "True Lies," "Terminator 2" and "Total Recall" in the 1980s and 1990s. By then, his accent was no longer a casting obstacle, it was his unmistakable trademark.
Arnold Schwarzenegger - who claims to speak English perfectly when not on camera - still cultivates the accent to please his fans.
