The Australian accent has tested many famous actors, and Welshman Taron Egerton is no exception.

The Emmy-nominated star of films such as Rocketman and Kingsman had to master it for his role opposite Charlize Theron in the new Netflix survivalist thriller Apex, which is set in the Australian wilderness.

“It’s an actual nightmare. It’s so hard,” Egerton told nine.com.au while attending the recent Tropfest in Sydney.

“It’s all very back-placed, so it sits kind of further back than my accent is naturally placed.”

The actor, who portrays a serial killer playing a deadly cat and mouse game with a grieving adrenaline junkie named Sasha (Theron) in Apex, said actors were often advised against doing an Australian accent because “it’s a tricky one”. But he was committed.

“I really wanted to do it and they let me give it my best shot,” he said.

“I’ve watched it and I’m quite pleased with it, but we’ll see how audiences feel.”

A Reddit threat following the release of the trailer for the movie, which will be available on Netflix from April 24, suggested opinions will be divided.

One user suggested that if the producer wanted an authentic accent they should have used an Australian actor, while another thought Egerton’s attempt sounded “kind of Queenslandish”.

“It’s a hell of a lot better than poor Meryl’s ‘a dingo stole my baby’ attempt,” they said.

Meryl Streep’s performance as Lindy Chamberlain in A Cry in the Dark (originally Evil Angels) is a regular inclusion in lists of “the worst Australian accents on screen”, but more sympathetic appraisals point out that as a New Zealand-born Australian, Chamberlain’s accent was always going to be a challenge.

Sometimes, however, viewers could be forgiven for thinking that American and British actors have simply spent too much time watching re-runs of Crocodile Dundee rather than undertaking serious tuition with a dialect coach.

Particularly risible attempts include Robert Downey jr’s performance in 1994’s Natural Born Killers, Quentin Tarantino in 2012’s Django Unchained, and Jude Law as blogger Alan Krumwiede in the 2011 film Contagion.

Law’s attempt was described by Clem Bastow in The Guardian as “so baffling it took years for me to realise, despite having watched Contagion roughly 45 times, that he was meant to be Australian”.

The Australian accents in the third season of Netflix comedy The Good Place were also much mocked, with writer and theatremaker Maeve Marsden writing on X: “Petition to ban Americans from ever attempting Australian accents. #TheGoodPlace”.

Yet some stars do manage to adopt a convincing twang, with Kate Winslet in The Dressmaker and Dev Patel in Lion two frequently cited examples.

Another is American actor Kaitlyn Dever, who played conwoman Belle Gibson in the Netflix series Apple Cider Vinegar – but she admitted it wasn’t easy.

“This accent is really hard, it’s so hard,” the 28-year-old told the Skip Intro podcast last year, explaining that she had worked full time with a Melbourne dialect coach.

The word that posed the biggest challenge was “No”.

“My mouth just wasn’t used to it,” Dever said, explaining that she basically learned Australian pronunciation word by word.

“Thinking back on it, I think I memorised it almost like I would a song.”

The global success of Australian productions has fuelled Americans’ fascination with Australian accents, including our pronunciation of the word “No”, which is mocked in myriad social media clips for sounding more like “naur”.

TikTok users also became obsessed in 2021 with how the cast of the Australian show H20: Just Add Water said the name “Cleo”, which they thought sounded more like “Cleourrrr”.

@paul_ferrante his reaction at the end lol #australia #couplestok #accentchallenge ♬ Hood Rats – Sexyy Red & Sukihana

The huge success of children’s show Bluey in the US has led to some American kids saying certain words with an Australian accent, with a character’s pronunciation of “airport” – or “ehpowt” – sparking much bemusement and more than 100,000 TikToks.

The fact that Australians grow up watching so much American television and film may explain why the accent fascination isn’t reciprocated.

Jacob Elordi – who had to adopt a southern American accent when playing Elvis in Priscilla and, more recently, a Yorkshire accent as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights – suggested in a 2024 interview with talkshow host Jimmy Fallon that there is a reason Australian actors can switch accents more smoothly.

“We’re just lucky in Australia because we copy every other country, so all of our media is either English or American,” he said. “So I kind of have a leg up in that regard.”

@fallontonight Jacob Elordi has a hard time saying the name ‘Rory’ because of his Australian accent 😂 #FallonTonight #TonightShow #JacobElordi #Priscilla #Saltburn #Euphoria ♬ original sound – FallonTonight