10 Actors Who Sound NOTHING Like You Would Imagine
1. Pat Morita
Mr Miyagi from The Karate Kid is one of the most iconic mentor characters in cinema. Even though the actor who portrayed him, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, has starred in over a hundred films, he will immortalised forever as Daniel-san's sensei.
Since a lot of people have never seen Morita in anything besides the Karate Kid films, they are under the impression that Miyagi's Japanese accent was natural. This misconception is compounded by the fact Morita was cast in many Japanese roles after The Karate Kid's success. After hearing him speak in this tone in Baywatch, Mulan, and ugh... The Next Karate Kid, viewers assumed that was Morita's natural speaking voice.
In reality, the Californian-born Morita spoke in a very thick American dialect. During his time as a stand-up comedian, Morita developed a talent for impressions and putting on accents and incorporated this skill when conveying the character of Mr Miyagi.
Impersonations are so second-nature to him, he constantly switches accents in interviews with little effort. When you hear the Oscar-nominated actor speaking naturally, it's hard to believe Morita and Mr Miyagi are one and the same.
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