Why is "Hollywood" turning to foreign actors to play Americans?

[Retrograde]

77. A few possible reasons

1) Hollywood and its relations tend to produce movie stars rather than actors. Once the looks change, the people with real acting talent tend to get character parts if they're lucky

2) Britain has a tradition of top-notch acting schools where people are trained in many aspects of the craft, including speech and accents. I think the fact that regional accents in Britain are still more pronounced than in the US means there's more emphasis on getting the "right" accent for the role

3) Hollywood is where the big money is, and the best of the best from other countries tend to gravitate there. If we could look at the actual average actor in Britain or Canada he or she would probably be on a par with the average trained US actor, but the more mediocre ones stay home.

4) Some countries like imported films and TV to have a certain "Country Content", like our neighbors to the north. Putting actors from that country in that film helps overseas sales.

5) "The grass is always greener on the other side", snob appeal, whatever you want to call it - the lure of the exotic

Why this extends to NPR I don't know, but I agree with the other poster who pointed out that the US is not hurting for journalists.