The Untold Truth Of Mr. Miyagi From The Karate Kid

The 1984 coming-of-age classic "The Karate Kid" follows teenager Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) as he moves across the country with his mother and tries to adapt to a California social landscape where he doesn't fully understand the rules. He falls for classmate Ali (Elisabeth Shue), subsequently making an enemy of her ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and drawing the ire of the villainous Cobra Kai dojo. Fortunately, Daniel finds a martial arts mentor of his own in the form Mr. Miyagi, a soft-spoken Japanese handyman who just so happens to be highly skilled in the art of karate. The heartwarming tale went on to spawn multiple follow-up films, a quasi-remake, an animated series, and the massively popular live-action sequel show "Cobra Kai".

Played by Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita, Mr. Miyagi is one of the most iconic characters in the history of cinema. He gave a generation of kids a big-screen father figure who, by way of Daniel-san, offered wisdom on finding inner strength and staying balanced on the side of good. Here are some things you might not know about Mr. Miyagi that helped give him such an unforgettable presence on screen.

When Pat Morita, born Noriyuki, decided to get serious about his acting career, he moved to Los Angeles and eventually got booked on the TV variety show "Hollywood Palace," prompting him to make a change. "I'd been Nori Morita through high school, then I changed to Pat," Morita told the LA Times in 1986. "In show business it sounded right. Comedians are Pat: Pat Henry, Pat Buttram. Not Harold, for example. Harolds go into weather." He kept the stage name for years until he was urged to go back to his roots.

Once producer Jerry Weintraub felt convinced that Morita was the Mr. Miyagi they were looking for, there was one more thing he felt could be done better. In an appearance on the David Letterman Show, the actor recalled Weintraub wanting a "real Japanese guy" to play the part. Morita offered to be credited with his birth name of "Noriyuki" if that would make him seem "more Japanese." There are only a few projects throughout the actor's career where he's credited as Noriyuki, but the studio did end up using his birth name for "The Karate Kid."

One of Mr. Miyagi's most memorable traits in "The Karate Kid" is his particular, deliberate way of speaking, which is nothing like Pat Morita's real-life voice. In "The Way of the Karate Kid," a featurette with interviews from the cast and crew, Morita recalled how he naturally discovered the specific Mr. Miyagi persona without really thinking about it. "I don't know how, I don't know where it came from," Morita said, quickly taking on his character's affectations. "Miyagi voice, Miyagi presence, Miyagi spirit ... emerged." Even though director John G. Avildsen loved it, Morita was flummoxed after his first reading as to where the voice and mannerisms had come from. Mr. Miyagi was always meant to be lovable and slightly humorous, but Morita brought a whole new, unscripted element to the role.

The actor also found inspiration in his stunt double, Fumio Demura (per The Daily Beast). The 1961 All-Japan Karate champ, Demura had already made a name for himself in the movie industry, and the pair worked so closely together that they formed a lasting friendship.

Luckily, when casting for "The Karate Kid", it seems that the production team put acting ability and on-screen chemistry above all else. The main cast members earned their roles with their acting talents, not their karate skills. But of course, the film needed to look authentic, so the actors were given karate training. They can all thank karate instructor Pat E. Johnson for getting them up to speed. 

"Ralph [Macchio] and Pat [Morita], they were my buddies," Johnson told Black Belt Magazine in 2020. "I trained both of them until they were unable to move, and they would share their aches and pains like two little old men and they built camaraderie through the training." Johnson understood the importance of the relationship between Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. He made sure to nurture that bond in training, and fans of the film will surely agree that it paid off.

There's a heartbreaking scene in "The Karate Kid" where Mr. Miyagi becomes truly vulnerable. Daniel arrives to find him drunk dressed in his Army uniform in front of a photo of his late wife. At first, Daniel thinks this is a celebration. As the scene and the drinking go on, however, it becomes more apparent that this is a dark time for Mr. Miyagi. As he recalls getting the news that his wife died due to complications in childbirth, many layers get pulled back. On this anniversary, Mr. Miyagi allows himself to dig into his grief over the loss of his wife and unborn son — events that happened while he was away serving in World War II. Surprisingly, the scene was almost cut.

Pat Morita delivers a heartbreaking performance that gives a glimpse of Mr. Miyagi's larger life. In the "Way of the Karate Kid" featurette, director John Avildsen discusses having to fight for the scene, which he believes played a big role in Morita getting the Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor in 1985. Studio executives thought the scene was too slow, however. In the featurette, Morita calls the scene "the only real moment of Miyagi's fallibility and being human." Everyone else fully believed the scene should stay, and multiple people in the production lobbied hard for it. In 2019, Ralph Macchio told Vanity Fair how the scene was kept alive. "The studio and the editor wanted that scene cut. But they were wrong, and once they tested it, they shut up."

If you were to dress up as Daniel LaRusso for Halloween, your costume wouldn't be complete without his iconic headband. From the moment Mr. Miyagi gives it to Daniel, it symbolizes something significant for the boy, staying with Daniel through the film franchise and even returning in "Cobra Kai." Though it's nearly as iconic as the crane kick, the headband wasn't part of the original screenplay.

In an episode of "Where Are They Now?" on OWN, Ralph Macchio gives a tour of some of the "Karate Kid" memorabilia he was lucky enough to keep after filming. He proudly shows off the headband, explaining how it came to be so significant in the film. "Pat Morita had this as a handkerchief in his pocket," Macchio explains, "and he just took it out, you know, to pat his brow. And so then he just decided to put it on me, but it was never in the script."

In 2005, Hollywood lost the memorable icon that was Pat Morita to kidney failure, after years of grappling with alcoholism. Along with his family, many close friends — including Ralph Macchio — mourned his passing. Even after the cameras stopped rolling, Macchio and Morita shared a special friendship that lasted for years (per ABC News).

Decades after the release of "The Karate Kid," the franchise's story has continued through "Cobra Kai." The series follows Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence in their adult lives, complete with kids, jobs, and long-held grudges. The series isn't just a tired reboot either, as new rivals and allies are born from the re-emergence of the Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do dojos.

With most of the key players returning, Morita's absence is noticeable. Macchio was instrumental in making sure that Miyagi and Morita's legacy was honored in the show. Feeling imbalanced in Season 1, Daniel visits Mr. Miyagi's grave in search of guidance. "It was really important to me to have that in the show," Macchio told ABC News. There are small reminders of Mr. Miyagi throughout Daniel's life — bonsai trees, a serene dojo, his love of cars — that show how close Mr. Miyagi always is to his heart. In Season 3, Daniel even travels to Okinawa to learn more about his old mentor's life.