These Brits were sent packing! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at instances of British celebrities moving across the pond to broaden their careers, only to ultimately be rejected by American audiences - sometimes after some initial success.
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00:00 "You'll be back like before."
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at instances of British celebrities moving
00:09 across the pond to broaden their careers, only to ultimately be rejected by American
00:14 audiences - sometimes after some initial success.
00:17 "Breaking America one American at a time."
00:22 10.
00:23 Lenny Henry
00:24 As a legend in the UK comedy scene, it's a surprise for the British audience that Lenny
00:29 Henry didn't get big over in the States.
00:31 "I did this thing and what was wonderful was my family, my cousins, my brothers and sisters
00:35 gave me a round of applause and it was the first time they acknowledged that I was this
00:40 other person."
00:41 But he tried to get in there in 1991 by starring in the film True Identity.
00:46 Henry played a guy who pretended to be white to escape the mob.
00:50 Unsurprisingly, it was a box office flop.
00:53 "This is not gonna work.
00:54 Nobody is gonna believe that I am a white guy."
00:56 Yet behind the scenes, Henry, who lost weight for the role, was regularly demanded to lose
01:01 more by producers.
01:03 As such, this wrecked his confidence, and he hasn't starred in a live-action cinematic
01:07 film since.
01:08 "This is the TV.
01:09 Don't catch you watching now.
01:10 Kids don't be watching now.
01:11 They all watching YouTube now."
01:16 There were rumors that Henry had signed a multi-picture deal before True Identity was
01:21 released.
01:22 If true, the mediocre response to the movie seemingly destroyed that deal.
01:25 "I gotta get my life back, man.
01:27 One day I'm gonna go home and say, 'Mammy, don't you know me?'"
01:30 3.
01:31 Jeremy Kyle
01:32 "How much of this has sneaked up on the population, and how much of it do you think is down to
01:36 personal responsibility as well?"
01:38 "I think there always has to be personal responsibility."
01:40 For years, the UK audience couldn't escape Jeremy Kyle, as his self-titled talk show
01:45 dominated daytime TV.
01:47 With The Oprah Winfrey Show coming to an end in 2011,
01:51 "Until we meet again."
01:53 the US was looking for a new, similar program to take over.
01:57 Kyle's show was syndicated nationwide as a hopeful replacement, yet by the end of 2012,
02:03 Deb Maher Mercury released a statement that Kyle's US attempt was cancelled due to low
02:08 ratings.
02:09 "Because you're a joke, and you're a joke, and you shouldn't be together."
02:12 The final episode of The Jeremy Kyle Show aired in 2013.
02:16 From there, the host returned to Blighty and picked up where he left off with his original
02:21 show.
02:22 "We always do this in a certain way, which is to try and give everybody a chance to tell
02:26 their side."
02:27 Well, until 2019, that is, when a scandal involving the passing of a guest caused the
02:32 show to be cancelled.
02:34 "I would question the amount of help and support that actually comes out of appearing on a
02:40 show like The Jeremy Kyle Show."
02:42 8.
02:43 Martine McCutcheon
02:44 "This is Natalie.
02:45 She's new, like you."
02:46 "Hello Natalie."
02:47 "Hello David.
02:48 I mean, sir."
02:50 When she was 12 years old, Martine McCutcheon appeared in a Kool-Aid commercial in the US.
02:55 "Oh yeah!"
02:56 It would be years before she gave America another shot.
02:59 In the meantime, McCutcheon made her name as a soap star in EastEnders, as a theater
03:03 actor, and as a musician.
03:05 "Tell me you love me when you leave."
03:10 But it was the success from 2003's Love Actually which catapulted her back into American consideration.
03:16 "These have just come through from the treasury, and these are for you."
03:22 She arrived in Los Angeles to audition for roles and get a record deal.
03:26 McCutcheon stated that she was told she was "England's answer to Jennifer Lopez."
03:30 Instead, she was dropped by her agency after reportedly causing a scene at Elton John's
03:36 post-Oscars party.
03:37 "I'll be going then."
03:39 McCutcheon claimed it was due to the cutthroat business in Hollywood.
03:42 "I had never been in this league of actors for movies, and I act out like an impostor."
03:51 7.
03:52 Adele Silver
03:53 With several spells at Emmerdale that began in 1993, Adele Silver was one of the UK's
03:58 biggest soap stars.
03:59 "It's been so difficult since your dad died."
04:02 "You think I don't know that?"
04:04 In 2007, she left the Dales to pursue other projects.
04:07 This eventually took her to the States to see what work she could get there.
04:11 But it wasn't the work Silver was probably hoping for.
04:14 She was photographed working as a shop assistant for a Ted Baker store in Los Angeles, and
04:19 she'd reportedly set up a dog-walking business too.
04:22 "I was feeling so... inadequate."
04:26 However, in 2015, Silver claimed she didn't go to crack Hollywood, but rather to travel.
04:32 After returning to the UK, she popped up in Emmerdale briefly and appeared in a few other
04:37 projects.
04:38 In 2023, Silver announced her retirement from acting to become a teacher.
04:42 "Not quite the business opportunity she had in mind, eh?"
04:47 6.
04:48 Robbie Williams
04:49 "Please don't minimize my success."
04:51 Robbie Williams burst onto the music scene as part of Take That, then became one of the
05:01 biggest pop stars in the UK when he became a solo act.
05:04 His albums and singles regularly topped the charts.
05:08 With that popularity, in 1999, Williams attempted to launch an American career by appearing
05:13 on talk shows and performing stateside.
05:15 "Was that actually part of a plan to wait to kind of hit the US?"
05:19 "No, actually what happened was this.
05:21 You know like when Britney got the umbrella and shaved her hair off and whacked the car?"
05:26 "Yes, yes, I do."
05:27 "Well at the time of me promoting in America, that's where I was at."
05:30 But the US audience didn't latch onto his music as much as he'd hoped, so he focused
05:35 his energies elsewhere.
05:36 Because of constant UK press scrutiny, Williams moved to Los Angeles to live in relative anonymity
05:41 before eventually returning to the UK.
05:43 "If you live in Los Angeles long enough, you're gonna get some surgery."
05:47 However, Williams has spoken about his regrets at not making more of an effort to tackle
05:52 the American market.
05:55 5.
05:57 Ant & Dec
06:01 "From Long Beach, California, please welcome Matt Napoli."
06:06 If you were to ask Brits who the best TV presenters are, most would state Ant & Dec.
06:10 The Newcastle duo of Antony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly first jumped on the scene
06:15 as actors, then musicians as PJ and Duncan,
06:24 and finally as record-breaking hosts.
06:27 "And take the ping pong challenge."
06:29 After that success, in 2008, America came calling with a rebrand of Wannabette.
06:34 However, six episodes in, it was canned due to low ratings.
06:38 Ant & Dec blamed the lack of support from ABC on the failure.
06:42 "We're having a few wardrobe malfunctions at the moment."
06:44 "You're really gonna have to brace.
06:46 Brace more than you think."
06:47 "Ready?
06:48 1, 2, 3!"
06:50 Years later, the US was interested in their own version of Ant & Dec's Saturday Night
06:54 Takeaway.
06:55 However, NBC seemingly didn't want the duo.
06:58 Instead, they created Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris, which was canned after
07:04 one season.
07:05 "Do you know the best thing about this?
07:07 Is Dec's wife is our manager, so she would have signed all of this off."
07:12 "Ha ha ha!"
07:13 4.
07:14 Cheryl
07:15 "I'm so excited to be starting, you know, fresh and everything's new to me.
07:18 And I'm re-challenged and nobody knows who I am."
07:22 Cheryl rose to fame in the UK pop scene as a member of Girls Aloud,
07:30 which had one Top 10 hit after another.
07:32 With that popularity, she juggled a solo career alongside being a judge on The X Factor.
07:37 "Simon even brought in one of the English judges.
07:39 It's a singer, her name is Cheryl Cole, to be a judge in the American version."
07:44 In 2011, Simon Cowell took his show stateside and brought Cheryl to reprise her judging
07:50 role.
07:51 However, after filming one episode, she was dropped.
07:54 Reportedly, Cheryl struggled to mesh with her US co-workers, and there were concerns
07:58 her strong Newcastle accent would be tricky for the American ear.
08:02 "All you can do is make the best of it now."
08:06 To make it worse, she couldn't return to the UK version, as her role had already been filled.
08:12 Cheryl filed a $2.3 million lawsuit against the US producers for loss of earnings that
08:18 was settled in 2013.
08:20 "Cheryl has been shown the door on The X Factor.
08:23 The reason, because Fox execs are afraid you and I cannot understand her thick Newcastle
08:29 England based accent."
08:30 3.
08:31 Russell Brand
08:32 "When I came here to America, I was really surprised.
08:33 Everyone seems really, really cool."
08:35 After rising up in the stand-up comedy scene, Russell Brand began transitioning into films.
08:40 In 2008, he was part of the well-received Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
08:44 "And I feel terrible.
08:47 That stupid English voice, was that me?"
08:52 Yet Brand was annoyed he wasn't more popular in the States.
08:56 "Why?"
08:57 And his UK popularity wasn't helped by a controversial practical joke on Andrew Sacks'
09:01 On Brands radio show.
09:03 "A lot of negativity, a lot of sniping and snidey remarks.
09:06 People going, 'Oh yeah, he's s***.
09:07 He has been.
09:08 He's over.
09:09 He's in his greatest hits era.'"
09:10 Brand kept getting acting gigs for a while, such as 2010's Get Him to the Greek,
09:15 "They're all here to see me!"
09:17 and 2011's Arthur.
09:18 With Brand's quirky and abrasive nature, as demonstrated during his interview on Morning
09:23 Joe in 2013, and various arrests,
09:26 "Officer, which law prevents this radiant stranger from finding the magical in the mundane?"
09:33 began to grate on the US, and the high-quality roles dried up.
09:37 In recent years, Brand has become a conspiracy theorist and has been accused of assault several
09:42 times.
09:43 "Is this what you all do for a living?"
09:44 "Yes!"
09:45 "OK, but I'm here to..."
09:46 "I'm a professional."
09:47 "I'm here to help you."
09:48 2.
09:49 James Corden
09:50 "Of all of the current late night hosts, who is your least favourite?"
09:55 After hitting the big time with Gavin and Stacey in the UK, James Corden was seemingly
09:59 everywhere.
10:00 In 2015, the US came calling and offered him the Late Late Show with James Corden, but eventually
10:06 Americans began to get annoyed by him.
10:08 "I mean, this is kind of a boring conversation."
10:10 On top of criticism for singing over the musicians in carpool karaoke, interrupting guests in
10:16 interviews, and questionable film roles, Corden's career spiralled in 2022 after he was banned
10:23 by the New York restaurant Balthazar after being rude to their staff.
10:27 "I made a sarcastic, rude comment."
10:30 The controversy and the flip-flopping on an apology didn't put Corden in a good light,
10:34 "When I become president of hell, I'm gonna make super hell and put James Corden in it."
10:39 especially when other bad PR stories came out.
10:42 As such, it's no surprise Corden's stint as a US TV host ended in 2023.
10:48 "I hope I'm allowed in again one day."
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11:07 1.
11:08 Piers Morgan
11:09 "I've lived and worked in America for much of the past decade.
11:12 It's a magnificent country.
11:13 A land of true opportunity that affords anyone, even British chancers like me, the opportunity
11:19 to live the American dream."
11:20 After his success on The Celebrity Apprentice and judging on America's Got Talent, the American
11:25 career of Piers Morgan seemed to be on the up.
11:28 "Um, I didn't like it."
11:29 After all, his UK one wasn't in a good place after being fired as editor for The Daily
11:35 Mirror.
11:36 With his stock rising, Morgan took over Larry King's spot on CNN.
11:39 "I mean, you can't even pay attention for 60 seconds."
11:43 And hosted Piers Morgan Live in 2011.
11:45 While it started off well, the show began a downward spiral.
11:48 "You're a terrible interviewer."
11:50 Morgan's controversial journalistic style was even mocked several times on Saturday
11:55 Night Live.
11:56 "I'm Piers Morgan, and what I lack in journalistic integrity...tonight.
12:01 We'll talk with several public figures accused of misleading the American people."
12:07 His approach to the firearm debate also inspired a petition asking for Morgan to be deported.
12:12 In 2014, Morgan held his last show as he was dropped due to low ratings.
12:17 "I'm departing to spend more time with my cricket bat.
12:20 I'd like to thank my amazing team."
12:22 Who's the most beloved British celebrity in the United States?
12:26 Idris Elba, Tom Holland, Tracey Ullman, Hugh Laurie, John Oliver, or someone else?
12:32 Let us know below.
12:33 "It's the best of both worlds.
12:34 It's not very normal for that to happen to me, but it was pretty cool, yeah, yeah."
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12:46 [Music]