Harry Potter:
There’s a moment in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Prof. McGonagall attempts to control her unruly pupils by proclaiming, “I will not have you behaving like a babbling bumbling band of baboons.” Dare I say that very few actors – particularly American ones – could pull off that line with the aplomb that Maggie Smith does. Of course, Smith is a six-time Oscar nominee, a two-time winner, and a venerated member of the pantheon of great classically-trained British actors. 
There is a fine and noble tradition of great actors picking up Hollywood paychecks for kiddie-leaning popcorn fare. And Brits tend to fare much better in this commercial compromise: Alec Guinness got plenty of criticism for playing Obi-Wan Kenobi in 1977's Star Wars, but the role also goosed his career and drew awareness of his greatness to a whole new generation of audiences. (Marlon Brando, however, did not fare nearly as well from his brief turn as Jor-El in 1978’s Superman.)
