I knew nothing about him until I saw him in Fear the WalkingI heard a Scots accent immediately. I just came here to confirm it. I don't hear a bad English accent, I hear a somewhat muted Scottish burr.

Yeah, I keep noticing how he sounds nothing like the Americans around in in Hemlock Grove.

Could someone post a clip of him in My Week with Marilyn? Did he speak very much in the movie?

His American accent as Arthur Miller is cringe-worthy.
Clearly, a good ear is not his strong suit and they should be casting him accordingly.

Yeah he does a truly awful English accent..I find it really annoying

I am picking up on a really old post here but I have just been watching the second episode of Father and Son on TV in which Dougray is having to speak with a Mancunian accent - I have never actually been to Manchester to hear the locals so I don't know if his accent is good or not, to be honest it sounds a bit odd but then I am a Southerner !
I have to say that his own natural Scottish accent is a delight to listen to, nothing like the harsh Glasgow accent which is very difficult to understand unless you are a Glaswegian of course ! He also does a very good English accent.
For me the Worst Ever Accent Award goes to Dick Van Dyke playing the cockney chimney sweep in Mary Poppins - really excrutiating.

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personally i ave no problem with his accent!! I AM british and i couldnt even tell he was puttin it on! he couldn't sound sweeter in DH! it can't be easy to do an english accent when you have a really strong stottish accent, you should all stop being so damn critical! he was also awesome in ever after and he made that one of my fave movies.
people who can't believe in fairies aren't worth knowing. ~Tori Amos

haha his original scottish accent sounds like alex ferguson's. which, really, is no surprise since fergie's scottish too. but fergie's rather hard to understand in post-match interviews. hmm. scottish commentators are fine though. this is strange
i actually think he sounds rather adorable in desperate housewives. i don't live in europe but i do understand that the brits dont actually speak with such an accent. but it's the stereotype of an englishman, and seriouslyisn't DH allll about stereotypes?

The interesting thing is that he can do a good english accent. I've seen him do it in "To kill a king". It's the americans who are insisting that he do it. What's wrong with our normal accent? Is it not bizarre enough?

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Because he's scottish? you must be really dumb not to be able to distinguish between english and scottish accents.

Thats totally weird because when he was in Ever After his accent was good. I haven't watched Desperate Housewives so i can't judge.

Well, I have to say i think it's hillarious that i've been called a "Yank", i couldn't be much more british! and from London to boot!
AHAHAHA! That's priceless.
I rarely notice "bad" accents unless they are really really bad. I personally have BIG issues with Kyra Sedgwick's Southern accent in The Closer, but that's because I'm Southern.
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Well, I have to say i think it's hillarious that i've been called a "Yank", i couldn't be much more british! and from London to boot!
My only point was as previous posters have said, he has a beautiful scottish accent and i know that he could have toned it down as he has done in the past to appeal to the american viewers.
It's just a shame as i have loved this last serious of Desperate Housewives and the only bad thing about it was his accent!

still! What happened to his beautiful Scottish accent???? That's like taking the cream out of a Tunnocks teacake and dabbing him in a cup of English china. He's just a soggy chocolate now. Shock horror. Remember the way he yelled in thick Scots:
"Will ye put a sock in it!" in Mission Impossible. Och! The memory is tarnished forever!

It was a Yorkshire accent, not a Scottish one.

I agree with the OP. Bad accent. I'm from London and it's borderline insulting lol. Why do Americans say "British Accent" when what they mean is "English Accent". A British accent could be Scottish, Welsh or even Irish. While were on the topic of Ian though him having a butler, and an old masion - its such a very outdated stereotype of English life. The US doesnt seem to think weve moved on from Victorian times

Terrible in DH! Hard to believe it's the same guy as the bent copper Terry Walsh in Twin Town. Now that was a great accent. Give me a working class Scottish accent over a plummy southerner any day of the week.

Truthfully, i thought his english accent was fine in Ever Afterbut in DH, it almost sound like a parody of Cary Granti just keep expecting him to yell "Judy, Judy Judy!"It wasn't badjust odd.
But again, it was just the role of Ian on DH that it seemed strange to mehe's usually fine everywhere
but then again, i AM just a Yankbut i do have mad respect for my british bretherenand by brits, i mean ALL of them-the Scots, the Irish, the Welsh, the English

I really wonder where you hang out if you think this accent is rare in the South and London area! Do you mean that people talk better in the North?

I wish that they would have cast his desperate houswives character with his beautiful Scottish accent - it just makes him sound so much sexier! His English accent is gash and its a really poor impression of the English accent as hardly anyone speaks that posh antmore!!! Especially if your from the South or London area.
His voice in the show just makes him a turn-off for me even though I normally love the guy!

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I thought we got over the whole 'no one but a Southerner can do a Southern accent' with Vivienne Leigh in Gone With the Wind. It seems not.
JASPER HALE Nothing like a bit of southern comfort . . .