Brit on a Wire

Did you know that the dreamy, tough, flawed, sexy, cop Jimmy McNulty on the HBO drama "The Wire" is played by a British actor? Not just British, but Eton and Trinity College educated? KerrBoom. That was the sound of my mind being blown when I picked up the copy of Telegraph Men's Style inside the newspaper today with the picture of Dominic West on the cover.

On the show, he seems totally American, all Baltimore, a hard-working cop who screws up his personal life with ease. And of course I knew he wasn't those things in real life -- except I never guessed he wasn't American. I was already impressed with his acting before, but to know that he was totally putting on that accent on top of all the other acting work is just amazing. He sounds perfect for the part, never slipping in his pronunciation. That's even more impressive than his smoldering gaze. Just barely.