Films have a strange habit of casting actors outside of their accent comfort zones. Australians for Brits. Brits for Americans. Tom Hardy for random spins on the nationality wheel.

But it's not all diphthong disasters. Some UK actors are so good at getting their Stateside drawl on, you'd think they were as American as apple pie. In fact, in some case, many cinemagoers on both sides of the Atlantic are still none the wiser.

These guys are just really good at accents.

1. Christian Bale – American Psycho

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Pembrokeshire-born Bale made a name for himself as the all-American murderer (not to mention all-American billionaire superhero, Batman). Just don't call him Welsh, mate.

2. Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn's "cool girl" was playing a complicated game, framing her husband for her own murder while pretending that she wasn't born to London-based opera singers.

3. Naomie Harris – Moonlight

Londoner Naomie Harris scored an Oscar nomination for her role as an abusive, drug-addicted, increasingly haggard and generally terrifying mother from the Miami projects. What's even more impressive is that she filmed her part in three days, without rehearsals.

4. Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Who to get in for the very American role of abolitionist Solomon Northup? How about that guy from Love Actually, Forest Gate's own Chiwetel Ejiofor?

5. Kate Winslet – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

For a certified English Rose™, Berkshire's Winslet had no trouble keeping up with Jim Carrey in Michel Gondry's oddball drama. She got another Oscar nomination for her efforts.

6. Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood

...and Lincoln. And Gangs of New York. And The Crucible. Let's just face it, Daniel Day-Lewis does everything better than everyone.

7. Alfred Molina – Spider-Man 2

Molina got his looks from his Italian mother and Spanish father, and he gives off a real born-and-bred New Yorker vibe as Doctor Octopus – but we promise you he grew up in West London.

8. Henry Cavill – Man of Steel

There's nothing more American than Superman, right? We're not the biggest fans of our newest Clark Kent, but you'd be forgiven for forgetting that he was born in Jersey (old, not New) and has the middle name 'Dalgliesh'.

9. David Oyelowo – The Paperboy

Not content with just playing an American in Lee Daniels's drama, Oxford's David Oyelowo goes for the double-switch of 'US journalist pretending to be British'... and pulls it off.

10. Andrew Garfield – The Amazing Spider-Man

OK, so Andrew Garfield's dad is from the US and he was born in Los Angeles, but he grew up in exotic Epsom. And he made for yet another great Brit-as-iconic-American-superhero, whatever you thought of the films overall.

11. Idris Elba – 28 Weeks Later

Let's face it, Hackney native Idris had everyone fooled in The Wire, and he repeated the trick as Brigadier General Stone in the horror sequel (alongside Australian Rose Byrne, another actor who does a convincing American accent).

12. Lee Evans – There's Something About Mary

Bristol-born and Essex-bred comedian Lee Evans does a neat job at hamming his accent up just enough to pretend to be a posh Brit who is really a conniving Yank. He's actually playing an American pizza boy, and are you confused yet?

13. Naomi Watts – Mulholland Drive

Naomi killed it as a bright-eyed ingénue in David Lynch's film. But wait – isn't she Australian? She was actually born in Shoreham, Kent, and spent much of her childhood in England and Wales. We're totally claiming her.

14. Cary Grant – North by Northwest

…and so many others. But Hollywood's golden man was really born in Bristol with the most un-silver screen name ever: Archibald Leach.

15. Rebecca Hall – Christine

We genuinely forgot that Iron Man 3's Rebecca Hall was a Londoner. She's utterly convincing again in the true story of tragic news reporter Christine Chubbuck.

16. Vivien Leigh – Gone with the Wind

Vivien Leigh beat a lot of American contenders to become the archetypal Southern belle in Gone with the Wind. Despite being born in India, Lady Laurence Olivier was no doubt one of the most British film stars ever, which made it even more galling.

From: Digital Spy