Celebs Who Sound Much Different In Real Life

Many actors excel at changing voices for roles, but some are so convincing that when their natural tone emerges, you may think your ears are deceiving you. Listen up because the following celebs sound much different in the real world.

Most of us know Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid (1984), so you may assume his real-life voice is 100 percent sensei—wise and stoic with an Asian accent: "Wax on...wax off." Brace yourself, because the Morita talking about kids in this '80s Pizza Hut commercial sounds just like any other American dad. 

In the video above, Morita talks about how he landed the part of Miyagi, despite Producer Jerry Weintraub's insistence that he didn't want a known comedian taking on the serious role. As he recalls the audition process, Morita even impersonates Weintraub's gruff voice, a female secretary's mousy tone, and others.  

Megan Mullally is most famous for playing the heavy-drinking, shrill socialite Karen Walker from Will and Grace (1998-), so one might expect the actress to be just as loud and squeaky on the streets as she is on the hit series. As it turns out, the actress is worlds apart in pitch and personality.

In the clip above for the Megan Mullally Show, Walker attempts to take over the show, only to wind up in a catfight with Mullally. The differences in voice are evident. According to Entertainment Weekly, "Her real voice is a cool and calming alto, her manner surprisingly low-key, her office styled in West Elm Zen. Mullally, it soon becomes clear, is nothing like Karen whatsoever." And for her liver's sake, that's probably a good thing.

Whenever a cartoon character needs a grating shriek of a voice, casting crews call Gilbert Gottfried. Whether you know him as Iago the parrot from Aladdin (1992), the Aflac duck, or from his R-rated stand-up comedy, Gilbert's signature sound is unmistakable.

Many don't realize Gottfried doesn't screech like that off-camera. In fact, as shown in the clip above from the Howard Stern Show, his authentic voice is pretty chill. In fact, when he got his first big break on Saturday Night Live in 1980, Gottfried performed with his natural voice. A couple years later, he began appearing on shows such as David Letterman with what would become his iconic, squinty-eyed squawk. He quickly became so synonymous with that voice, it's virtually all anyone knows today. We're guessing his home is stocked with plenty of throat lozenges.

Andrew Lincoln is best known as sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead (2010-). His cool and calculating Southern accent on the show is so distinct it's spawned memes aplenty. He's like the Wolverine of the South. How much cooler can you get?

Way cooler: when he's not battling zombies, Lincoln is delightfully British. In the video clip above, from 2013's Walker Stalker Con (which is a thing), Lincoln discusses the development of his "Rick voice," revealing that his dialect coach would write words for him phonetically, which "looks like gibberish." Lincoln says it was important for him to master his character's accent "before I even saw a Zombie." He also revealed that he would intentionally "wreck his voice" to stay true to the turmoil that Grimes endures. 

It's near-impossible to think of Larry the Cable Guy without talking like him. His loud, Southern twang, punctuated with catchphrases like "git 'er dun," has become cemented in audiences' ears to the point that even his beloved Cars (2006) character, Mater, is basically a Larry the Cable Guy with wheels.

Larry's voice, much like every other part of his character, is the fictional creation of comic Dan Whitney. In the above video, Whitney describes himself as a "linguist chameleon" who can easily adopt just about any accent. As a kid living in Florida, Whitney says he was enamored with, as he called them, "the horse people, all the livestock people." He says they talked like Larry, and when he started using that voice in his series of prank phone call radio bits, it proved so popular that he began performing stand-up solely as that character. 

Hugh Laurie is best known as Dr. Gregory House from House (2004-12). His character's droll, often-angry American accent is perfect for sneering "everybody lies" or declaring that his latest patient has a rare disease that has baffled everyone in the hospital but him. You may be shocked to learn the truth: Laurie is as British as they come.

You can hear him speak normally in the above clip from Ellen, where he and host Ellen DeGeneres quiz each other on their respective countries' slang. If you love Laurie's natural British accent, check out material from his old BBC comedy show, A Bit of Fry and Laurie (1987-95), where he enjoys the kind of nonsense of which Dr. House would certainly not approve. Case in point: interviewing actor Stephen Fry, who is pretending to be Michael Jackson despite not looking, acting, talking, or dancing like the King of Pop at all.

The late Michael Jackson seemed to possess a very distinctive voice when he wasn't reigning supreme as the King of Pop. His speaking voice was soft, gentle, and sometimes seemingly shy, but guess what? That quiet voice may not be his real one either. Jackson's authentic speaking voice may have been just as powerful as his "Bad" attitude. 

The video compilation above depicts Jackson speaking with a strong, deep voice, and while that tone is no secret, its consistently overshadowed by his much quieter, higher-pitched conversations. 

Daniel Day-Lewis gets so into his roles that you'd be forgiven for thinking he doesn't have a real voice—that he simply stays mute until it's time to research a character. Truth is, the man behind such iconic American characters as Daniel Plainview in There Will be Blood (2007) and Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (2012), has British and Irish citizenship.

The video above is from a 2013 BBC interview with Lewis—something rarer than a unicorn because the actor is obsessively private about his personal life. In the clip, Lewis' natural voice sounds like a warm, light, easy-to-understand Irish brogue. He comes off as a fellow who presumably acts so can afford to pursue his true passions: woodworking and shoe-making.

Lil' Jon is known for two voices: screaming...and screaming louder. As a major player in the crunk movement, his sound is 100 percent party, so not many people realize that he does have an indoor voice. WHATTTTTT????!!! It's true.

In the interview above with George Lopez, Jon speaks casually and clearly about a variety of topics. He does admit that his reputation precedes him, prompting people to shout his signature lines at awkward moments, like in church or while he's moving through security at the airport. Jon even fears folks will be shouting, "YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!" at his funeral, but it's "OKAYYYYYYYY!!!!" 

YouTubers know Lucas Cruikshank as "Fred," an angry, screeching, squealing 6-year-old trapped in a teenager's body. He sports a voice that sounds like a film playing on fast-forward, but when he's not portraying Fred, Cruikshank sounds very much like a regular dude.

In the video above, Cruikshank re-watches his first Fred video, providing the perfect opportunity to compare and contrast. Though he claims Fred is authentic and "this whole Lucas thing" is "an act," it's pretty clear Cruikshank is pulling our leg, or so we hope.

Andrew Garfield is well known for his superhero role in The Amazing Spider-Man films. In the movies, he's Peter Parker, an average kid from New York City, but in real life, Garfield is another actor from across the pond. Born in California, Garfield was reportedly raised outside London. 

In the video above, he talks about what it feels like to play the wall-crawler. Despite plenty of interviews like this, Garfield's natural speaking voice still sounds like an alter ego to many fans. During the 2017 Academy Awards, Twitter went bonkers when Garfield spoke, so perhaps now would be a good time to warn you that the latest Spidey, Tom Holland, is also a Brit.