3 times Hollywood actors tried to pass off as Nigerians and failed

Hollywood has produced several movies and TV shows with actors performing with a Nigerian accent.

Most of the time, the execution is less than perfect. Business Insider SSA by Pulse has compiled a list of some of the absolute worst Nigerian accents from Hollywood flicks.

Here are three times Hollywood actors tried to pass off as Nigerians:

Will Smith in "Concussion"

In 2015, popular award-winning actor Will Smith played the role of the real-life Nigerian forensic pathologist and neuropathologist Dr Bennet Omalu in the NFL drama "Concussion."

The biopic revealed how Omalu discovered a connection between brain trauma and the NFL after performing an autopsy on former professional football player Mike Webster in 2002.

It was a great movie that paid homage to this incredible doctor. But it was ruined by one thing - Will Smith's 'Nigerian' accent. It earned a lot of negative reactions from Nigerians.

Reacting, satirical writer, Elnathan John said, "Hollywood created an accent for "Africans" which they use whether the person is Liberian, Nigerian or Rwandan. Will Smith learnt it well."

ALSO READ: Idris Elba is the latest foreign actor to play a Nigerian in a movie - here is what we think about his 'Nigerianess'

Anthony Mackie in "Shelter"

Mackie is an American actor better known for being an 'Avenger'. He got cast as a Nigerian in the 2015 movie "Shelter".

Its a good story about being immigrant in the United States but it was difficult to get over Mackie's generic Nigerian accent.

Thandie Newton in "Half of a Yellow Sun"

This 2013 film was a beautiful adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel "Half of a Yellow" which is about the Nigerian Civil War in the late 1960s.

Directed by the Nigerian-born novelist and playwright Biyi Bandele, it featured actors of Nigerian descent - Chiwetel Ejiofor and Genevieve Nnaji.

It also starred Newton as a free-thinking Igbo aristocrat. While her accent was not perfect, it was also not terrible except for when she mispronounced certain Igbo words like 'Kedu'.