
In 2010 I posted that foreign (English-speaking) actors increasingly dominate Hollywood. I thought I would be more thorough and analyse all the best TV series of the last 20 years and see what proportion of the main roles were taken by non-American actors and actresses. I have listed them by IMDB rating. I will first have a look at series where the story takes place in the United States, as the presence of foreign actors is least expected there. It's obvious that British series have mostly British actors, French series have French actors, and so on. So in all logic American series should be dominated by American actors.
Series set in the USA (including period drama)
I was surprised to see that even when a story is set in the US, the lead actor(s) are often British or Canadian rather than American. Here are some examples.
- House M.D. (IMDB : 8.7/10) : The lead actor, Hugh Laurie (Dr. Gregory House), is British


- Deadwood (IMDB : 8.6/10) : A mostly American cast for this Western period drama set in Dakota. However three of the main actors are not American: Ian McShane (Al Swearengen) is British



- Silicon Valley (IMDB : 8.5/10) : Of the 11 main actors, 5 are not American, including the lead actor, Thomas Middleditch (Richard Hendricks), who is is Canadian



- The Queen's Gambit (IMDB : 8.5/10) : Out of the 10 main actors, only 3 of them are American, while 5 are British (including the lead actress): Anya Taylor-Joy (Beth Harmon), Isla Johnston (Young Beth Harmon), Chloe Pirrie (Alice Harmon), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Benny Watts) and Harry Melling (Harry Beltik) are all British


- 24 (IMDB : 8.4/10) : the lead actor Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer) is Canadian

- The Good Wife (IMDB : 8.4/10) : Of the 18 main actors, 4 of them are British


- Homeland (IMDB : 8.3/10) : Damian Lewis (Nicholas Brody), Rupert Friend (Peter Quinn), and David Harewood (David Estes) are all British



- Prison Break (IMDB : 8.3/10) : Neither of the two lead actors is American: Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield) is British


- Californication (IMDB : 8.3/10) : The second main role is played by Natascha McElhone (Karen), who is British

- White Collar (IMDB : 8.2/10) : A mostly American cast, but FBI agent Diana Berringan (present in most episodes) is played by Marsha Thomason, who is British.

- Chuck (IMDB : 8.2/10) : A very American series with an almost completely American cast. However, the second main character, CIA agent Sarah Walker, is played by Yvonne Strahovski, who is Australian.

- The Mentalist (IMDB : 8.2/10) : The lead actor, Simon Baker (Patrick Jane), is Australian.


- Castle (IMDB : 8.1/10) : The two lead actors are Canadian (Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic).

- Damages (IMDB : 8.1/10) : The lead actress Rose Byrne (Ellen Parsons) is Australian.




- Lie to me (IMDB : 8.0/10) : The lead actor, Tim Roth (Dr Cal Lightman), is British.

- The Blacklist (IMDB : 8.0/10) : Diego Klattenhoff (Donald Ressler) is Canadian.

- The Good Doctor (IMDB : 8.0/10) : The lead actor Freddie Highmore (Dr. Shaun Murphy) is English

- Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (IMDB : 8.0/10) : The main actor is American, but most of the recurring characters are not. Abbie Cornish (Cathy Mueller) is Australian






- Revenge (IMDB : 7.9/10) : The lead actress Emily VanCamp (Emily Thorne) is Canadian, as are Henry Czerny (Conrad Grayson), James Tupper (David Clarke) and Karine Vanasse (Margaux LeMarchal).


- The Alienist (IMDB : 7.7/10) : The two lead actors are not American. Daniel Brühl (Laszlo Kreizler) is German-Spanish




- NCIS (IMDB : 7.7/10) : The lead actor, David McCallum (Donald Mallard) is British.

- The Lincoln Lawyer (IMDB : 7.7/10) : The lead actor, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (Mickey Haller), is Mexican



- You (IMDB : 7.7/10) : The central character is played by Penn Badgley who is American, but there are three British actresses among the main characters: Charlotte Ritchie (Kate Galvin), Saffron Burrows (Dottie Quinn), and Tilly Keeper (Lady Phoebe).

- Grey's Anatomy (IMDB : 7.6/10) : Of the 14 main actors who played in over 200 episodes, 5 are not American. Kevin McKidd (Dr. Owen Hunt) and Camilla Luddington (Dr. Jo Wilson) are British



- Designated Survivor (IMDB : 7.5/10) : Hard to find a more American series than one centred on the POTUS and the White House, and yet the lead actor Kiefer Sutherland (President Tom Kirkman) is Canadian




- Chesapeake Shores (IMDB : 7.5/10) : Although the story is supposedly set in Virginia, it was actually shot near Vancouver in Canada. Of the 9 main actors, only two are American. Six of them are Canadian



- Ginny & Georgia (IMDB : 7.5/10) : Even though the story takes places in a small town in Massachussetts, of the 14 main actors, 12 are not American! Felix Mallard (Marcus Baker) and Diesel La Torraca (Austin Miller) are Australian


- The O.C. (IMDB : 7.5/10) : Of the 10 main actors, 3 are not American, including the lead actress Mischa Barton (Marissa Cooper), who is British



- Brothers & Sisters (IMDB : 7.4/10) : Rachel Griffiths (Sarah Walker) is Australian



- The Recruit (IMDB : 7.4/10) : Of the 12 main actors, 5 are not American. Laura Haddock (Max Meladze) and Daniel Quincy Annoh (Terence) are British


American Sitcoms
American sitcoms typically have a limited set of characters, usually between 5 and 8. Yet, most of them have at least one non-American actor among them.
- Friends (IMDB : 8.9/10) : Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) is Canadian.

- Arrested Development : (IMDB : 8.7/10) : Of the four main actors, three are not American: Portia de Rossi (Lindsay Bluth Fünke) is Australian


- Modern Family (IMDB : 8.5/10) : Sofía Vergara (Gloria Delgado-Pritchett) is Colombian.
- How I Met Your Mother (IMDB : 8.4/10) : Cobie Smulders (Robin Scherbatsky) is Canadian

- The Big Bang Theory (IMDB : 8.2/10) : Kunal Nayyar (Raj Koothrappali) is British



- Young Sheldon (IMDB : 7.6/10) : The story is set in rural Texas in the 1980s and yet the main actor, Iain Armitage, is half-Scottish, half-American.


Historical series
In historical series most of the time there are practically no American actors. I first thought that maybe it was because of their accent, which would clash with those of British actors. But there are plenty of Canadians who speak with a North American accent, so that must not be it. There are also plenty of non-native speakers of English, so I am really at a loss as to why Americans hardly ever feature in this genre.
- Pride and Prejudice (IMDB : 8.8/10) :

- Rome (IMDB : 8.7/10) : All British cast.

- Downton Abbey (IMDB : 8.7/10) : All British cast



- The Crown (IMDB : 8.6/10) : All British cast.

- Spartacus (IMDB : 8.5/10) : International cast. Andy Whitfield (Spartacus), Peter Mensah (Doctore), and Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Naevia) are British



- The Last Kingdom (IMDB : 8.5/10) : The whole cast is European. Alexander Dreymon (Uhtred, the main character) is German




- Vikings (IMDB : 8.5/10) : Very international cast, but no Americans. Travis Fimmel (Ragnar Lothbrok) and Alyssa Sutherland (Queen Aslaug) are Australian









- Outlander (IMDB : 8.4/10) : The story is set in Britain and in the USA during the Revolutionary War, yet most of the cast is British (mostly Scottish)



- Poldark (IMDB : 8.3/10) : The story is set in the USA during the American Revolution, then in Britain. Most of the cast is British


- Black Sails (IMDB : 8.2/10) : Even though the story is set in the Americas (mostly Bahamas) and the cast is very international, there is only one American actor (Zach McGowan playing Captain Charles Vane)





- The Tudors (IMDB : 8.1/10) : Mixed British and Irish cast


- Marco Polo (IMDB : 8.0/10) : International cast. The lead actor Lorenzo Richelmy (Marco Polo) is Italian







- The Borgias (IMDB : 7.9/10) : Mostly British cast




- Medici (IMDB : 7.9/10) : Mixed European cast. Most actors are British




- Versailles (IMDB : 7.9/10) : Mostly British cast





- Reign (IMDB : 7.5/10) : International cast. Adelaide Kane (Mary Stuart) and Caitlin Stasey (Kenna de Poitiers) are Australian




Other British series
- Game of Thrones (IMDB : 9.2/10) : Almost completely British cast




- Sherlock (IMDB : 9.2/10) : All the main actors are British


- Doctor Who (IMDB : 8.6/10) : All British cast.

- Bodyguard (IMDB : 8.1/10) : All British cast.

- The Night Manager (IMDB : 7.7/10) : The story is set in Egypt, yet the two lead actors (Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie) are British, as are most of the main recurring actors



- Anatomy of a Scandal (IMDB : 7.0/10) : All British cast.

Spanish-speaking series
Over the last few years there has been a surge in high-quality series from Spain, and to a lower extent also Mexico, on Netflix and Prime Video. Here are some examples.
- Merlí (IMDB : 8.6/10) : Spanish
- Gran Hotel (IMDB : 8.3/10) : Spanish
- Money Heist (La casa de papel) (IMDB : 8.2/10) : Spanish
- Vis a vis (IMDB : 8.2/10) : Spanish
- The Boarding School (El internado) (IMDB : 8.1/10) : Spanish
- Velvet (IMDB : 8.1/10) : Spanish
- La Reina del Sur (IMDB : 7.9/10) : Mexican
- Monarca (IMDB : 7.8/10) : Mexican
- Cable Girls (IMDB : 7.5/10) : Spanish
- Cathedral of the Sea (IMDB : 7.5/10) : Spanish
- Morocco: Love in Times of War (IMDB : 7.5/10) : Spanish
- The Cook of Castamar (IMDB : 7.4/10) : Spanish
- The Five Juanas (IMDB : 6.9/10) : Mexican
- El Cid (IMDB : 6.8/10) : Spanish
- High Seas (IMDB : 6.8/10) : Spanish
100% American series
It's becoming increasingly hard to find good American series. It's getting "too much of the same". Americans are specialised in action with car chases and crashes (I only liked that genre when I was a child), crime and investigations (which I rarely find interesting), drug cartels (no interest), superheroes (no interest at all) and sitcoms. Indeed, with the hindsight I realise now that most of the series that I started watching but stopped after a few episodes or after one season were all American (e.g. Dynasty, Outer Banks, The Office, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Ozark, The Sopranos...).
Here are some of the few very good American series that do not have any non-American actors among the main cast:
- Boston Legal (IMDB : 8.5/10)
- Suits (IMDB : 8.4/10)
- Maid (IMDB : 8.4/10)
- Gilmore Girls (IMDB : 8.2/10) - note that the series was shot in Canada, though.
- Grace and Frankie (IMDB : 8.2/10)
- Weeds (IMDB : 7.9/10)
- Two and a Half Men (IMDB : 7.1/10)
Conclusion
I have listed 33 top-rated series of the last 15 years set in the USA (+ 7 sit-coms => see below). Among these 33, only six had a full American cast, which is only 18% of the total. 17 of the 33 series (51% of them) had non-American lead actors (7 British, 5 Canadians, 3 Australians, 1 Mexican and 1 German-Spanish). 18 series (54%) had at least one third of non-American actors among their main cast.
Among the seven sit-coms, only one (14%) had a full American cast, namely Two and a Half Men, which was also the worst rated of the seven shows on IMDB.
Of the 16 historical series not set predominantly in the USA, out of the hundreds of actors I listed for the top cast, there were only five American actors and none in main roles (the biggest role was Elizabeth McGovern playing Cora Crawley in Downton Abbey, but her character was American in the story). Even Outlander and Poldark, which take place in the United States and Britain, don't have a single American actor in the main cast!
It shows that the English-speaking cinema industry is not just American, but is truly international. With Netflix there is also an increasing number of non-English-speaking series, particularly in Spanish, that are dubbed into English and are just as popular as Hollywood productions, even if still less numerous.
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