it is my impression that a lot of times unknown non-Americans are cast for American roles because they’re cheaper. They might be really experienced and in some cases, even won awards in their home country (so, more experienced than an unknown American actor), but since they’re considered unknown internationally, the production can justify hiring them for low-ish pay. An American who is equally unknown internationally might have way fewer acting credits and knowledge of how sets work and such. Also it’s my understanding that it is more common for UK and Australian actors to have formal drama training than it is for Americans, and productions might like that.
In cases where an “American” show films in a location outside of America (I.e. Apple TV+’s Silo and Foundation film in the UK) it is often required due to tax incentives for a certain % of actors to be from the locality in which filming takes place. Generally, I see this requirement fulfilled by the actors in bit roles if it’s a production filming in a country that isn’t predominantly English-speaking. A lot of where a show is filmed is determined by where the best tax incentives are.
And, there is an element of classism to it. I don’t know if this is necessarily the case in regard to Australians, but regarding Brits, posh British accents (most of the British actors who get cast in internationally-distributed projects come from wealthy families) likely make a person seem “classier” to American producers than American accents. Even if the role is for an American. During the times I’ve met a British person irl, people around me drooled over their accent and kept asking them to say different words.
Some Black American actors have spoken out in frustration over Black British actors often getting roles as revered American historical figures, because that phenomenon might be derived from negative stereotypes toward the former group. Cynthia Erivo came under criticism about a decade ago for making negative Tweets toward Black Americans, which included calling AAVE “ghetto.” Which was very distasteful considering that she’s played Harriet Tubman and Aretha Franklin. Do I think a lot of Black British actors share her sentiments? No, but I (unfortunately) suspect a lot of white American producers do.
Yeah, it's interesting! A lot of international productions come to Australia for the tax incentives, so I do actually know quite a bit about that. You're right too that they do tend to fill talent quotas with small roles / bit parts a lot of the time, but they also massively do it with stunt performers, who count towards that percentage too. I know that a lot of the huge American blockbusters that have shot out here like Mortal Kombat, Fall Guy, Aquaman, The Matrix and that one Pirates of the Caribbean film filled a lot of their actor quota obligations through stunts, which makes sense, because Australia is pretty well known for our stunt teams/performers.
It makes sense that Australian and UK actors might be perceived as cheaper or more likely to be professionally trained (even if they're not always), and that there might be elements of class that come into play with British performers. I hesitate to say that that would be a factor with Australian actors, not just because our class system is extremely different to both the US and the UK, but I think the US' relationship to, and feelings about Australia/Australians is extremely different to its relationship to, and feelings about the UK/Brits. Americans do tend to like the Australian accent though, at least in my experience of being over there, which is kind of funny (and the opposite in the UK, where I think a lot of British people don't like the Australian accent at all, haha). Maybe interestingly too, Americans I've met overseas usually really struggle to place it in a way that I don't think they do with at the very least posh British accents? It probably speaks though to Australian media not being broadly consumed over there, maybe.
But yeah, it's interesting to think about why American productions might cast British actors over American ones though, especially when it comes to Black actors, because you're right that there feels specifically like there's a class element there and almost a bit of an - - mm, I'm trying to think of how to say this. An element of separation maybe between the performer and a character's context maybe? Particularly in a bio pic? I don't know, it's a really complex topic, and I saw a lot of that conversation when Cynthia Erivo made those comments (which were at best ignorant and in poor taste), and a bit around Kinglsey Ben-Adir when he played Malcolm X and Obama in the same year, and while they're not playing real people, I've actually seen a little bit of it in this fandom about Jacob and Delainey too. It's not one I really feel I should speak on as neither Black, nor American or British, but it's an interesting trend to note / conversation to read about when it comes up.
