Pat Morita Was Allegedly the Original Actor Tapped to Voice ‘King of the Hill’s Kahn Souphanousinphone
Toby Huss may have cemented King of the Hill’s Kahn Souphanousinphone as one of TV’s most iconic animated characters, but Hank Hill’s next-door neighbor almost sounded a whole lot different, according to a new rumor.
On Wednesday, Redditor nogodsnomasters_666 headed to the King of the Hill subreddit with an alleged piece of behind-the-scenes KOTH lore, claiming that late Karate Kid legend Pat Morita was originally tapped to take on the role of Arlen’s resident systems analyst.
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“Originally Kahn was going to be voiced by Pat Morita (Mr. Myagi),” they recalled of the story they’d heard from “another uncle” during a recent family get-together. “He had auditioned and (a) contract was signed.”
These efforts to bring Morita to Rainey Street were ultimately short-lived, though. After signing, Morita’s agent reached out to King of the Hill’s production team letting them know that his client was now “unavailable” to take on the part due to complications with Kahn’s signature Laotian accent.
“He had to be extremely drunk in order to do the Asian accent he was known for in Karate Kid,” nogodsnomasters_666 continued of Morita, who reportedly struggled with alcoholism. “Morita was born in California and had an American accent.”
With Morita out of the running, Huss was next in line to try out for the role. “They called up Toby, and he auditioned his now well-known Kahn voice,” nogodsnomasters_666 continued, “and the rest is history.”
The jury, of course, is still out on whether this early King of the Hill tidbit is legit. Even nogodsnomasters_666 admitted the anecdote was “hearsay,” and Kayvon Derak-Shanian, who directed the 2021 documentary More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story, says he has “no clue” if the story is true.
Either way, Khan is set to undergo yet another major transformation ahead of the show’s 14th season. Instead of Huss, who is white, the role will now be played by The Daily Show’s Ronny Chieng, who is of Malaysian-Chinese descent.
“If we were casting today, we wouldn’t have cast (Huss),” King of the Hill co-creator Greg Daniels has admitted, citing budget concerns for their initial decision. “It’s different now.”