The term Hollywood English refers to a general American misconception of a British accent. It is the Australian-sounding accent you hear in many American TV shows, with an English character being played by an American actor.

Awkwardly, British actors on an American TV show may have to emulate this expected Hollywood English accent. For example Jane Leeves, in the sitcom series Frasier, who is English, puts on this artificial accent for the American viewing audience.

To be more precise, the Cockney accent of Londoners, now rarely heard in London where estuary English or Sarf London is the rule, was reproduced with odd distortions by Dick Van Dyke in the film Mary Poppins. At around the same time, in the mid-1960s, the Beatles' Scouse accent became familiar internationally, also in a toned-down form in Davey Jones in The Monkees. These accents are a small sampling of English regional or working-class accents (i.e. anything that is not received pronunciation or so-called BBC English). Hollywood English, to English ears, typically sounds like a strange mixture of Cockney, some Scouse or northern influence, and Australian.

Traits of Hollywood English include:

• Unusually clear speech
• Absence of abbreviations (Do not replaces Don't)
• Distinct Australian undertone
• Tension on vowels.

As a contrast, Renée Zellweger's accent in Bridget Jones is generally considered to be very authentic.