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Golden Globes viewers have a lot of feelings about Gillian Anderson’s real accent

Gillian Anderson 2021 Golden Globes.
Gillian Anderson spoke with her American accent overnight and the people want answers (Picture: Getty Images North America)

Once again Gillian Anderson has thrown us an absolute curveball by selecting her American accent in which to accept her Golden Globes win for The Crown on Sunday night.

You see, it seems many people were left quite incredulously flummoxed by the icon’s real accent and it seems everyone thought she either sounded just like Margaret Thatcher in real life, or spoke with the plummy delight of her Sex Education character Dr Jean Milburn or The Fall’s Stella Gibson.

As you can well see, Gillian can rock that UK twang and, thus, many forgot she was born in and has spent a lot of time in the US, according to those who are yet to hear the star’s usual accent.

Yeah, sorry to disappoint anyone who was busy sewing their ‘Gillian Anderson is my favourite Brit’ cross stitch today – while she spent a lot of time in the UK growing up, she’s pretty dang American.

Viewers who tuned into the tech-challenged awards ceremony last night – hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler – were left screeching into their trackie bottoms upon Gillian’s acceptance speech, after she won best performance by an actress in a television supporting role.

She was clearly the only one to be shocked for winning, after her amazing turn as the Iron Lady Thatcher in season four of Netflix’s The Crown, saying via video: ‘You can be so relaxed…then all of a sudden you start to freak out.’

You know who was freaking out? The general public, judging by the swift reaction on Twitter from very confused punters.

One had definitely grown tired of such a reaction to her accent – seeing as it’s not the first time we’ve been puzzled by it – as they wrote: ‘One day Gillian Anderson will speak publicly without people being confused by the fact she has always spoken with both an English and American accent.’

Others were, dare we say, annoyed that Gillian didn’t have an English accent?

‘Hearing Gillian Anderson speak in her Native American accent bothers me more than it should,’ one disgruntled customer mused online, as another chimed in: ‘Gillian anderson just shouldn’t have an american accent based on vibes.’

And many, many others were just happy to be along for the ride.

For those wanting the hardcore facts, Gillian was born in Chicago, but shortly afterwards moved to London with her parents and lived in North London until she was 11 years old.

She and her family then moved back to the US, where she lived in Michigan and later moved to New York when she was 22.

While Gillian is American, she has German, English and Irish heritage, and is said to be bi-dialectal, as she adopts both the British and American accent and can easily switch between the two – hence why her British accent is so convincing.

Speaking about where she identifies with most, Gillian has previously admitted she is as baffled as we are when it comes to her real accent.

‘I’ve been asked whether I feel more like a Brit than an American and I don’t know what the answer to that question is. I know that I feel that London is home and I’m very happy with that as my home – I love London as a city and I feel very comfortable there. In terms of identity, I’m still a bit baffled,’ she told Blog Talk Radio in 2013.

Further addressing her accent, she told The Telegraph: ‘Even on the phone my accent will change. Part of me wishes I could control it, but I can’t.

‘I just slip into one or the other. When I moved to the States I tried hard to cling on to my British accent because it made me different.’

The Crown is available on Netflix.



Golden Globes 2021 winners and nominees

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy

  • The Flight Attendant
  • The Great
  • Emily in Paris
  • Ted Lasso
  • WINNER: Schitt’s Creek

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

  • Jason Bateman, Ozark
  • Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
  • Al Pacino, Hunters
  • Matthew Rhys, Perry Mason
  • WINNER: Josh O’Connor, The Crown

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television 

  • Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
  • Shira Haas, Unorthodox
  • Nicole Kidman, The Undoing
  • Daisy Edgar-Jones, Normal People
  • WINNER: Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit

Best Director – Motion Picture

  • Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
  • David Fincher, Mank
  • Regina King, One Night in Miami 
  • Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7 
  • WINNER: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy 

  • Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm 
  • Michelle Pfeiffer, French Exit
  • Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma
  • Kate Hudson, Music
  • WINNER: Rosamund Pike, I Care a Lot

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

  • Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
  • Anthony Hopkins, The Father 
  • Gary Oldman, Mank
  • Tahar Rahim, The Mauritanian
  • WINNER: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best Television Series – Drama 

  • Lovecraft Country
  • The Mandalorian
  • Ozark
  • Ratched
  • WINNER: The Crown

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama 

  • Olivia Colman, The Crown
  • Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
  • Laura Linney, Ozark
  • Sarah Paulson, Ratched
  • WINNER: Emma Corrin, The Crown

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television 

  • Bryan Cranston, Your Honor
  • Jeff Daniels, The Comey Rule
  • Hugh Grant, The Undoing 
  • Ethan Hawke, The Good Lord Bird 
  • WINNER: Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True 

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

  • James Corden, The Prom
  • Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
  • Dev Patel, The Personal History of David Copperfield
  • Andy Samberg, Palm Springs
  • WINNER: Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm 

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

  • Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom 
  • Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
  • Frances McDormand, Nomadland
  • Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
  • WINNER: Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday 

Best Motion Picture – Drama 

  • The Father
  • Mank
  • Promising Young Woman
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7
  • WINNER: Nomadland 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

  • Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7 
  • Jared Leto, The Little Things
  • Bill Murray, On the Rocks
  • Leslie Odom, Jr., One Night in Miami
  • WINNER: Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah

Best Original Score – Motion Picture 

  • The Midnight Sky, Alexandre Desplat 
  • Tenet, Ludwig Göransson 
  • News of the World, James Newton Howard 
  • Mank, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross 
  • WINNER: Soul, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy 

  • Lily Collins, Emily in Paris
  • Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
  • Elle Fanning, The Great 
  • Jane Levy, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist
  • WINNER: Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television 

  • Normal People
  • Small Axe 
  • The Undoing
  • Unorthodox
  • WINNER: The Queen’s Gambit

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television 

  • Brendan Gleeson, The Comey Rule
  • Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek
  • Jim Parsons, Hollywood
  • Donald Sutherland, The Undoing
  • WINNER: John Boyega, Small Axe

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy 

  • Hamilton
  • Palm Springs 
  • Music
  • The Prom
  • WINNER: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture 

  • Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy 
  • Olivia Colman, The Father
  • Amanda Seyfried, Mank 
  • Helena Zengel, News of the World
  • WINNER: Jodie Foster, The Mauritanian

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language 

  • Another Round
  • La Llorona
  • The Life Ahead 
  • Two of Us
  • WINNER: Minari

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture 

  • Promising Young Woman
  • Mank
  • The Father
  • Nomadland
  • WINNER: The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy 

  • Don Cheadle, Black Monday
  • Nicholas Hoult, The Great 
  • Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek 
  • Ramy Youssef, Ramy
  • WINNER: Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television 

  • Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown 
  • Julia Garner, Ozark
  • Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek 
  • Cynthia Nixon, Ratched
  • WINNER: Gillian Anderson, The Crown 

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

  • Fight for You from Judas and the Black Messiah – H.E.R., Dernst Emile II, Tiara Thomas 
  • Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Daniel Pemberton, Celeste
  • Speak Now from One Night in Miami – Leslie Odom Jr, Sam Ashworth 
  • Tigress & Tweed from The United States vs. Billie Holliday
  • WINNER: Io Si (Seen) from The Life Ahead – Diane Warren, Laura Pausini, Niccolò Agliardi 

Best Motion Picture – Animated 

  • The Croods: A New Age
  • Onward
  • Over the Moon
  • Wolfwalkers
  • WINNER: Soul


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