Brits impersonating Yanks

You don't have to be an American to play one on TV. Like the actors mentioned in the accompanying article, those listed below (by place of birth or where they grew up) play prominent roles on U.S. television. A few portray aliens — both the foreign and the extraterrestrial sort — but most impersonate Yanks.

England: Dominic Purcell ("Prison Break"), Lennie James ("Jericho"), Jayne Atkinson ("24"), Polly Walker ("Cane"), Paul Blackthorne ("Big Shots," NBC's forthcoming "Lipstick Jungle"), Joely Richardson ("Nip/Tuck"), Saffron Burrows ("Boston Legal"), Dominic Monaghan and Marsha Thomason ("Lost"), Dominic West ("The Wire"), Sonya Walger ("Tell Me You Love Me"), Natascha McElhone ("Californication"), Ian McShane ("Deadwood"), Jamie Bamber and James Callis ("Battlestar Galactica"), Jason Isaacs ("Brotherhood"), Gabrielle Anwar ("Burn Notice"), David Oyelowo (ABC's forthcoming "Raisin in the Sun")

Scotland: David McCallum ("NCIS"), Henry Ian Cusick ("Lost"), Brian Cox ("Deadwood"), Alan Cumming (Sci Fi's forthcoming "Tin Man")

Wales: Matthew Rhys ("Brothers & Sisters")

Ireland and Northern Ireland: Paula Malcomson ("Deadwood"), Aidan Gillen ("The Wire"), Fionnula Flanagan and Brian F. O'Byrne ("Brotherhood"), Kerry Condon (J.J. Abrams' forthcoming HBO medical drama, as yet untitled)

Australia: Rachel Griffiths ("Brothers & Sisters"), Julian McMahon and Portia de Rossi ("Nip/Tuck"), Jason Clarke ("Brotherhood"), Emilie de Ravin ("Lost")

New Zealand: Alan Dale ("Ugly Betty"), Lucy Lawless ("Battlestar Galactica")

Guyana: CCH Pounder ("The Shield")