The Karate Kid
Ralph Macchio advantageously known for his role as Daniel Laruso in theKarate Kidfranchise , has always been working since he received his first role . He has worked in many grown films likeThe Outsiders , CrossroadsandMy Cousin Vinny . Not to name many Edgar Albert Guest appearances on many TV show . He has address unretentive film and is now reprising his role of Daniel in the new YouTube Red series , Cobra Kai .
In this interview , we discussedThe Karate Kid’s35th day of remembrance , the movie ’s enduring legacy in pa culture , and much more .
Ralph Macchio : How are you ?
I ’m doing good . Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me .
Ralph Macchio : I know it ’s unspoilt . It ’s dependable . It ’s fun . It ’s a subject that keeps reach back . So I ’ll talk about it as long as people want to learn it .
Thank you . Congrats on the success ofCobra Kaiand the 35th anniversary ofKarate Kid . First off , explain to me how you felt when you realized that it ’s been 35 years and this story in enfranchisement is still going unattackable .
Ralph Macchio : Well , you eff , it never ceases to flummox me that , first of all that it ’s getting that long . That ’s a whole other thing that ’ll take up the whole audience . The fact that that many years , how many year is gone and I ’m trying , I ’m in self-abnegation . The clock continue retick , but when the clock keeps ticking and you could have something that still resonates for decades on end and now we ’re talk into second and third generations it ’s a pretty , it ’s a pretty wonderful affair , you love , and to see the success of the Cobra Kai serial off the source material , which was the original Karate Kid film , that you may still take characters from that time and combine it within the nostalgia yet create a brisk , a relevant take in 2019 and it ’d be appealing all the path around is you fuck , that ’s , that ’s the cherry tree on top . You know what I have in mind ? It ’s really extra .
Yeah . For me personally , I wish , I ’ve dish out with bullying and getting picked on a flock in school . So when I first meet the celluloid it really did avail me . What does it mean to you to have a film that like really resonates with a lot of audiences and really drive them to a stand up for themselves and really look retiring , you know , all these , all these situations that Daniel went through in the movie .
Ralph Macchio : Yeah . That ’s a great , big question . And one that I bonk to dive into . Yeah . That ’s the beauty of what occur with the release of The Karate Kid back in 1984 and still to this day is that people link up . It connects on a point . It ’s relatable . Daniel Russo was the every kid next doorway . And and I think that ’s one of the thing I ’m most proud of with that character is he was relatable in a way that he kind of had no business advance anything . Yeah . So we all felt that we walked in those shoes and we felt the foreigner or the Pisces out of water or the bantam one and a social environment . And yet , obviously with the magic of of the Han Yoda , as I call them , Mister Miyagi character , which is part of the wishing fulfilment and the aspirational constituent of the film and the story there is that , that intimate confidence that he gains .
And having those lesson and jump those hurdling , I think us as the witness to finger like , well , we could be this kid and I ’ve been in that situation . So it ’s inspiring in that fashion . And I have people to this day , I ’m up into their forties , 50s and LX , that let alone the younger contemporaries that are go by this film and tell me storey of how it begin them through a difficult time or if they had an ailment and it was the movie that they just kept on the eyelet and , you know , because it made them feel practiced . And that ’s part of how , you know , stories can link up and how film can connect in a way , you know , where the graphics can turn over the poignant . And in this case this is the popcorn movie that had been , still has those han elements . And that ’s I think why we get to talk about it in 2019 with such relevance .
Yeah , now speaking on Mr Miyagi and Pat Morita . The dynamic between you guys was very interesting because Daniel grew up without a father and Mr Miyagi , misplace his son . Describe to me how it was working with with Pat and were there any interesting stories that you Guy had or did you guys keep in contact after filming the third motion-picture show ?
Ralph Macchio : Yeah . Well , heed , we had something that was really exceptional on screen and off screen as well . He know it before I did . Well , he ’s , you know , he was wiser and more experienced than I was at the meter . He feel that he was play a function of a lifetime , which he was . And he really took a great deal of tending . And I ’m in representing the Japanese American residential district . And you know , The Karate Kid is the first mainstream movie studio motion-picture show at the time that ever mete out with the impounding camps . So billet during World War II and that wonderful scene when we call the drunk scene , or as he used to call my Academy Award nominating vista . So he took great pride and care and responsibility and being true to that character . And also you know , not make a toon of him you cognise , so and that as it years later I realized that more and more as I look back because now , you know , as I ’ve gotten old at that became clearer in my mind and solidified in my judgment .
We had a great relationship and after the moving picture he was better at staying in touch then I was at first , and then we both always stay in mite up until , you know , manifestly he passed away over 10 years ago now . And so he ’s sorely missed . And he would have loved to see Cobra Kai and what happened , what has hap with this and all that . Boy , I , you have sex , I could have used them , you lie with , that problematical adversaries . But it ’s one of those particular things that only add up around sometimes once in a career , if that , to have the ability to , to have a kind of , kind of soulful magic that that we had together on screen . And you know , you ca n’t learn that either that ’s going to happen then click or it is n’t . And he was a comic at essence too , so he ’s a funny in between takes is cracking jokes for chokes . There ’s penury stoop to every stratum just to get a laugh and between , you know , and that , that was that was unsound .
Nice , nice . Tell me aboutKidpart two . Now , when I rewatched it , I kind of learn it and watched the first one and then I catch the third one and then watch part two . Was part two always go to be the second part of this franchise ? Or did you guy rope sense like , did they want to explore more of Miyagi in your account in part to , rather than going straight to part three ?
Ralph Macchio : Well , I ’m , I ’m slightly disordered . Give me that again . I just maybe not sure .
No . When I was a kidskin , when I first watched the films , for some reason I watched a part one , three , then two . And that made sense to me in in a way . But after die back and watch the story a fiddling bit more , was that always the plan to have to have it in that order ?
Ralph Macchio : Yes , we made the first flick in ' 83 and it come out in ' 84 and part two , which exit over to Okinawa and you search the , you know , Okinawan and polish and , and which I guess is a quite good sequel . ‘Cause then you set about to learn the other side . And so where Miyagi was from was always lined up and aquatic important three was , you do it , it was back at that one , went through that script , went through many incarnations and , and I was n’t totally open it ever take to the place that need to be personally . It feel a footling bit like we were going back to the well of what we did in the first time but not quite as as sorcerous . But yeah , there were always that was always the sequence and the , and the gild , you know , I consider it came at ' 84 , ' 86 and ' 89 when it , or when those films fall out .
Now were there any specific story arcs that you bid that you explored with Daniel ’s eccentric throughout the serial ?
Ralph Macchio : It ’s interesting ‘cause some of them were get to touch on and potentially revisit in Cobra Kai 30 long time subsequently and I ca n’t give away any of that stuff and nonsense . Certainly . Hopefully for seasons to come . I ’m just attend at season two right now , which is coming pretty soon . There ’ll be an announcement very semester when that launches . I ca n’t say it because I ’ll get in worry , but still there are sure character in sure storylines from the past tense that can be picked it up and as was true in time of year one . And so that ’s kind of exciting . And I think everyone always felt that the difference of the Elizabeth Shue fictitious character of the alley at the chess opening political party get to have been handled better and it did n’t seem a true or real to what would have been the cause .
So , Mrs Lorusso , Randy Heller , who has appeared in season one of Cobra Kai . It was really terrific to have her back . That was another constituent that was , you know , I think at that dot , the studio just focused on obviously Daniel and Miyagi . And because that was the core group of the film and the success of it , and some of those other characters I suppose could have been addressed in the sequels and woven back in . But that ’s the lulu of now doingCobra Kai . You have more sentence when you ’re doing a series then when you ’re just severalise one , two hour moving-picture show story .
Yeah . Now transitioning into this and being the star of your own film , were there any interesting stories or interactions you had with fans on this wild rollercoaster bait that you had after the first film ?
Ralph Macchio : Oh yeah , they were . I ’m trying to remember of what - I get to job my brain from you go back 30 something age . The Outsiders is , you mentioned as well , has a massive amount of devotee because the book is so successful and still study in schoolhouse today . shady thing about that is I still meet kids of today , they just see that cinema and actually think that I ’m still like … I have to remind them that I ’m like over 50 , you know , they think I ’m this Stegall Ponyboy and kid . You play a eccentric that ’s , for want of a expert word , my tonic or shall I say , frozen in time where he becomes a piece of everyone ’s childhood .
When you meet people , they think that you should still be a piece of their childhood . It ’s a unique existence being someone that that was arguably immobilise in time . That element where you stole the movie , what you were doing that day . There are sure film that you remember that have an wallop on you that you actually recall that day or where you examine it . And and The Karate Kid , for whatever the reason , is that character of film . So when I fulfill them , even to this day , there ’s a heightened element of inflammation because that motion picture impact them in so many ways . I was just a lucky guy . I ’ve got to act the part . I tried to be menial about it .
Yes , yes , definitely . Now with your experiences with work on onThe Karate Kid , did this help mould your calling go forward ? Did it help you decide that you want to continue act ?
Ralph Macchio : Well , listen , working with John Avildsen who was our music director on all three that I did was a great intake and teacher at the prison term . I did n’t jazz it year later , and this happens with all of us , you have a teacher that you do n’t quite tell apart how much you ’re gaining from . And by working with Avildsen on three film and seeing how he set and shot the prospect , the action scenes as well as the heart and soul and individual scenes of the film , you know , certainly they had a heavy impact on me as an actor and as a storyteller . And I went out to direct a few myopic films that I made myself as well , and I used those experience to move me ahead . You know , and certainly when you have Francis Ford Coppola and The Outsiders directing you , and then John Avildsen direct The Karate Kid , that ’s it . It ’s a somewhat respectable launchpad to to become inspired . And in a way it made it tough when I worked with directors with less power and experience because I worked with some of the best and the in the business . So you know , and I did not take that for granted and if I did , then I sure as shooting do n’t know .
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