Tom Ellis fans looking forward to CIA now have further cause for excitement, as the upcoming FBI spinoff could redeem one of the actor’s more divisive career decisions. The spinoff isn’t exactly new to bucking controversy, as it was initially met with skeptically sour reception due to its announcement on the heels of FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International’s cancelations.
Many fans are still hoping the new Ellis spinoff will redeem the losses of those other shows, perhaps by featuring canceled FBI characters in CIA. However, all known details currently suggest the first season of CIA will largely stand on its own, possibly not even crossing over with FBI season 8. But CIA can redeem one poorly received Lucifer decision.
Tom Ellis Has Confirmed He’s Using An American Accent In CIA
Not Many Real-World CIA Agents Come From Wales
Until recently, the only confirmed details regarding Tom Ellis’ CIA character Hart Hoxton were that he’s a bit of a flippant character who doesn’t prefer playing by the rules, unlike his more strait-laced partner. While this may evoke images of Tom Ellis’ portrayal of Lucifer Morningstar, Ellis confirms another key difference in that Hoxton will speak with an American accent:
“They don’t allow Brits in the CIA, apparently. I might go undercover as a Brit at some point in it, but yeah, I am going to be American in it.”
His first point is at least halfway correct. In most circumstances, the Welsh-born actor would indeed not pass for a realistic CIA agent. Apart from standard job requirements such as age and security evaluations, the CIA requires American citizenship before looking at an applicant’s resume. Although dual citizenship also meets their conditions for employment, making Hoxton American is simply easier.
This resolves what could have been a potential criticism. Assuming Hoxton possesses even a modicum of charm, casting Tom Ellis as a rule-breaking procedural headliner would have made CIA feel too similar to Lucifer’s earlier seasons. The new series needs to stand on its own legs, especially when its announcement has already garnered early comparisons between CIA and FBI: International.
Ellis’ suggestion that he could still utilize his natural manner of speech in CIA means fans may get to experience the best of both worlds during a future undercover assignment. But some viewers may remember that Tom Ellis already spoke in both British and American accents in the Netflix seasons of Lucifer. And, to say the least, reactions were mixed.
Tom Ellis Struggled With His American Accent Playing Michael In Lucifer Season 5
It Was Already Strange Enough That God Gave Angels Nationalities
Most fans of Lucifer likely wouldn’t be bothered if FBI’s spinoff shared an occasional similarity, especially if there’s any chance of getting Lauren German in CIA for a reunion. But Tom Ellis’ American accent as Lucifer’s twin brother Michael received a number of criticisms. In an interview with SyFy, Ellis described the type of accent he was aiming to achieve:
“I wanted to give him a standard, let’s say, East Coast American, educated dialect, I suppose. That was where I was just leading into it to start with. My main thing was I just wanted him to be really different from Lucifer. In the short space of time that we have when we’re changing between the two characters on set, I don’t have time to go back and do big prosthetic makeup things and all that sort of stuff.”
To his credit, this definitely helps to explain why his accent in Lucifer sounds so different from his American accent in USA’s Rush. On top of trying to infuse his accent with the personality of a more maladjusted character, Ellis also had to channel the presence of an angel who isn’t overly familiar with earthbound humans’ regional dialects in general.
Like he said, there was also little time to prepare when switching from one character to another. Unfortunately, the result is that Michael often speaks with the same uniformly flat vowel sounds as many British actors playing Americans, additionally peppering in slightly breathy word breaks and subtly non-rhotic accentuations aligning more with some British regional dialects than most American ones.
Ellis seems aware that there’s no such thing as a single “American” accent, just as there’s no uniform “British” accent. With advanced preparation, he’s almost guaranteed to spend time crafting the accent he uses in CIA to match Hoxton’s backstory. Although he arguably attempted the same in Lucifer, it just didn’t work for as many viewers as it could have.
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