‘King of the Hill’s Toby Huss Reveals How He Plans on Living Up to Johnny Hardwick’s Dale Gribble
We may all be familiar with King of the Hill’s Dale Gribble, but embodying the pocket-sand-throwing, Manitoba-smoking spirit of Arlen’s most famous conspiracy theorist is no easy task.
During the King of the Hill panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, voice actor Toby Huss got candid about the challenge of taking on the late Johnny Hardwick’s iconic role in the show’s upcoming revival, revealing that no one did it quite like his former co-star. “I’m not going to improve on what Johnny did,” Huss explained when asked about his approach to Dale, per IGN. “But I hope he approves of it.”
Ahead of the show’s 14th season, which is set to hit Hulu on August 4th, it was announced that Huss, who voiced several characters, including Cotton Hill and Kahn Souphanousinphone during the show’s original run, would continue the role of Dale after Hardwick died during production back in 2023. (Hardwick was able to work on six of the season’s 10 episodes before his death.)
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In finishing out the revival, Huss made it clear that he was intent on respecting his longtime colleague’s legacy, telling Entertainment Weekly’s EW Studio just how much he misses his “old friend.” “His Dale is one-of-a-kind,” Huss said of Hardwick, who he remembered as a “super sweet fellow.” “I’m not taking over anything, I’m just trying to do some justice to his voice.”
Hardwick isn’t the only recent loss Arlen is facing amid King of the Hill’s return. Back in June, John Redcorn actor Jonathan Joss was shot and killed in what his husband said was a homophobic hate crime. The late star was able to complete work on the season ahead of his death, a sentiment that means a lot to showrunner Saladin K. Patterson.
“Thankfully, (he was) able to join us because he’s part of the family as well,” he explained of Joss’ legacy.
It’s still unclear who will voice Redcorn if the King of the Hill revival extends beyond this upcoming season.
