As we say goodbye to the Karate Kid spinoff Cobra Kai, which begins airing its five final episodes today on Netflix, let’s look back on the origins of the Karate Kid saga with star Ralph Macchio, who was in his early 20s when he landed the role of Daniel LaRusso in the first Karate Kid.
He would go on to play Daniel-San opposite Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi in two sequels, and returns to the role later this year in Karate Kid: Legends, opposite Jackie Chan.
But today, you can enjoy his final hours on Cobra Kai, in which he and William Zabka, as Johnny Lawrence, lead an ensemble cast of Valley martial arts heroes and villains.
And now, here are five Karate Kid stories, pulled from Macchio’s publicity tour for his 2022 memoir Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me:
He Has Regrets About Elisabeth Shue
Elisabeth Shue played Daniel LaRusso’s girlfriend Ali Mills in the first film — but not the sequels. Columbia Pictures. – Credit: C/O
Ralph Macchio revealed in an interview with The Guardian that the producers of The Karate Kid II decided not to bring back Elisabeth Shue as Ali Mills, Daniel LaRusso’s girlfriend, because they wanted Daniel-san to be more of a James Bond-type, meeting new ladies in each movie. (He always seemed like an earnest, one-woman guy to us.)
Macchio says he wishes he’d at least called not called Elisabeth Shue at the time, to see how she felt about the decision, or going to the producers to express his concerns.
“I dunno. They probably would have said to me, ‘Get outside, Macchio, and start practicing your karate kicks,’” he added. “Today, I think, there would be a different conversation.”
The Rocky Crossover That Never Was
Ralph Macchio has also taken us inside an awkward pitch meeting for a movie in which Daniel LaRusso and Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) would have teamed up, somewhere on the mean streets of New Jersey, to help their kids.
It kind of makes sense, actually: John Avildsen, who directed the first Rocky, also directed the first Karate Kid, and jokingly referred to The Karate Kid as “the Ka-Rocky Kid” during filming.
And the Jersey thing makes sense when you consider than Rocky Balboa is from Philadelphia and Daniel LaRusso is from Newark. Maybe they could meet in Trenton? Here are some more details about a crossover we’d still be into.
The Creed Connection
The Rocky crossover was one of many pitches Ralph Macchio fielded over the years about potential Karate Kid sequels and spinoffs.
So why did he finally say yes to Cobra Kai? Timing is everything. Macchio told Marc Maron that it helped that he’d just seen Creed, which moved the Rocky universe into the next generation while paying homage to the original film — just like Cobra Kai does so well.
Cobra Kai was created by Josh Heald, best known at the time for Hot Tub Time Machine, and Hayden Schlossberg and Jon Hurwitz, best known at the time for the Harold & Kumar movies. Heald was able to get William Zabka on board because he had been in Hot Tub Time Machine. But he recently told MovieMaker that Macchio was a harder sell.
“We had to make that relationship, and we had to earn his trust,” Heald said. “This was a franchise that he’s forever tied to. You see him on the street, and he looks like Daniel LaRusso. And we were strangers. We’re not complete outsiders to the industry, obviously. He knew our work. But it’s one thing to know Harold & Kumar and Hot Tub Time Machine. It’s another thing to say those guys are now going to take the mantle of steering the Karate Kid franchise.”
We Think We Know What the Next Karate Kid Movie Is About
Ralph Macchio said in 2022 that he really wants a Mr. Miyagi origin story.
There’s been some good news since then: Hurwitz, Schlossberg and Heald are collaborating on a Mr. Miyagi origin story with Robert Mark Kamen, who wrote all the Karate Kid films except the fourth.
Mr. Miyagi Casting
Shockingly, Pat Morita was a relatively late addition to the original Karate Kid. Macchio notes in his book and in subsequent interviews that everyone initially hoped Toshiri Mifune, whose 16-film collaboation with Akira Kurosawa included The Seven Samurai, Rashoman, and Hidden Fortress, would play Miyagi.
Morita, a one-time comedian who was best known from Happy Days at the time, ended up charming his way into the role.
Here are Pat Morita and Ralph Machhio’s auditions.
Thanks for Reading Cobra Kai Star Ralph Macchio: 5 Confessions of Karate Kid
You might also like hearing about the time The Karate Kid defeated The Terminator.
It’s one of several Terminator stories you can read all about here.
Main image: Elisabeth Shue and Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid.
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