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- Ralph Macchio talked to Business Insider about taking over his character from "The Karate Kid," Daniel LaRusso, in the "Cobra Kai" show on YouTube after years of refusing to play the role.
- Macchio shared the worst pitch he had ever had for a sequel to "Karate Kid".
- He remembers being part of one of the best young Hollywood movies of all time, "The Outsiders", which also featured Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe and Diane Lane before becoming big stars.
- Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.
Ralph Macchio says that he is at peace with being forever known as the face of one of the movies that defined the 1980s: "The Karate Kid". But that does not mean that he will accept every new idea of pursuing the franchise.
Macchio felt that the character of Daniel LaRusso had finished his career after playing in "Karate Kid" (parts 2 and 3). But he realized that the craving for the franchise would never go away, as he continued to receive offers over the decades. These went from a story to the story in which the children of LaRusso and Rocky Balboa would team up (more on this later), at a moment of glory when Jackie restarted. Chan / Jaden Smith 2010.
Macchio has always politely refused the offers, but that changed when Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald and Hayden Schlossberg came to him with the idea of a show called "Cobra Kai".
In the current context, "Cobra Kai" shifts LaRusso's attention to Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), the tyrant LaRusso defeated at the karate tournament at the end of the first film. The first season of the series became an instant hit for YouTube by mixing a dark and comical tone about the anxieties of life with nostalgic glimpses of the original movie. We follow Lawrence who brings back the Cobra Kai dojo while LaRusso, who is now the owner of a successful car dealership, understands what Lawrence is doing and is trying to stop it.
There is now a big wait for the launch of Season 2 (from Wednesday on YouTube) while a familiar face enters Cobai Kai's dojo, John Kreese (Martin Love), the man which resulted in Lawrence in the first film. Meanwhile, LaRusso has decided to launch the Miyagi dojo, named after his sensei Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), to fight against what he sees as a negative way of doing karate promoted by the Cobra Kai dojo.
Business Insider spoke with Macchio about what was finally sold to him to return to play the role of LaRusso, the worst sequence of "The Karate Kid" that he ever had, to which he spent the most time during from the series "The Outsiders" and "why all those who wrote" The Karate Kid "found the title horrible.
Jason Guerrasio: For years, people have been telling you how to continue the franchise "The Karate Kid". Why did you say yes to "Cobra Kai"?
Ralph Macchio: Well, the credit goes to Jon, Josh and Hayden, the creators. These guys really had a very well thought out tone coming in through Johnny Lawrence's eyes – basically turning the prism view into the universe.
And they had such a pbadion. It was an instinct that they wanted to make a show that the fans wanted to see. I said "no" for 30 years. I was definitely the last guy to come to the party. I was the room, no doubt, that they had to get.
Guerrasio: Do not be humble.
Macchio: [[[[Laughs.]But it was a combination of their pbadion, the belief that they wanted to pay respect and honor the franchise, and they never wanted to trivialize it. They listened to the importance of the Miyagi element of the series and LaRusso's life and explained how it had to be there so that I could even start having a conversation about it.
Also the timing. It's only now that we have these platforms where you can take a five-hour movie and cut it into half-hour parties. Because that's what we did. We make these movies by five o'clock, that is how we approach it. I do not think "The Karate Kid" would have been made like a movie today, I think it would have been a series on one of these platforms.
Guerrasio: So, of all the land you have occupied over the years, which has been the worst?
Macchio: It's my favorite. Everyone said, "You have a child and you become the Miyagi for your child." Everyone thought that it was the brilliant sequel. But a leader once came to me and John Avildsen, the director of "Karate Kid", and went one step further. It was very spontaneous, but he said, "Hey, what would happen if Rocky Balboa and LaRusso had children and they were related? Because Avildsen realized" Rocky "So that 's the connection – this guy wanted to combine" Rocky "and" Karate Kid "in some way.Taking these two big hits, this guy thought it would be a huge movie. So the concept was to go back to the Balboa and LaRusso lineage in Italy and see that we were related and our children would now team up.
Guerrasio: Oh my God.
Macchio: This was never fully realized, but just the concept of someone who proposed that was crazy.
Guerrasio: Did you even have the idea?
Macchio: No. Avildsen and I just looked at each other and went to see the guy, "Well, you're coming back to us." But inside, you say, "How is this possible?"
Guerrasio: You've lived most of your life in the band "The Karate Kid", but were you shocked when YouTube told you that over 50 million people had seen the first episode of Season 1?
Macchio: Uh, I'll say it, it was not impossible. Did he exceed expectations? Absolutely. Look, I've been in these shoes for 35 years, everywhere I go, there is a great love for this film and its franchise. Daniel LaRusso was that kind of character who represented everyone. He had no business to win so we all felt that we could be him. I knew then that there was love for the film and that its element of pop culture raised it – "Sweep the leg". "Put it in a body bag." But the question was: would they come to the party? Would they come to the well to drink water? And they did not just drink water, they came back with buckets and buckets. That's what was beyond expectations.
Guerrasio: What was interesting to watch with the character of LaRusso, and which was deepened during the second season, are the motivations of Daniel. Does he want to be the Miyagi for a younger generation or is it just a guy who's going through a midlife crisis? Have diapers like this been fun to explore?
Macchio: This is part of what we discussed entering season 2 and, hopefully, many seasons to come. We want to keep this ball in the air and evolve the characters, as opposed to a quick punctual game. It was important that LaRusso be a little unbalanced and fill this void in her life. But by doing this, you are exploiting what was important to him as a teenager. He's not his father, and his father's figure is dead, so what seems simple is not so easy. He has knowledge, but can he teach it? And then, there is work / family balance, it creates interesting obstacles for the character.
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Guerrasio: Has all this been a really strange moment in your life? A few years ago, you had to push back LaRusso and be ready to move on. Is it wild to be back in your life?
Macchio: It's crazy.[[[[Laughs.]If you asked me 10 years ago, I would say "no question". And it's not that I buried the character, I live with him all the time. But the concept of going back, I was always "no, no, no." Why retouch that? He has a blessed light on her. Everything went well. Pat Morita's performance is precious. Why would you go back and do that when everyone tries to do it? And for the most part failing. Like when they did the movie again, I told them, "Go make your movie, I will not be involved." I let that be his own thing.
Guerrasio: So you were asked to appear in the 2010 version of "The Karate Kid" by Jackie Chan / Jaden Smith?
Macchio: They wanted me to make a brief appearance or something and I pbaded it on.
Guerrasio: But then you get a job like "The Deuce" from HBO, where you're a stage thief and nothing like Daniel LaRusso. With something like that, you must have felt: "All right, I moved on to the next chapter of my career." Because I suspect that for years, you probably have not been involved in the film because the filmmakers could only see LaRusso when you walked through the door.
Macchio: Here's how I feel about it: yes, there is this part. And I'm sure there are people in the industry who see "Cobra Kai" and say, "Okay, he does what he does." But I would say that it's the same character but a different person. You see him failing in the lessons that he should have learned now. He fights like an adult. It's really the fans show. There is so much joy and positive response from the world to say, "I will only do other things, do not think of me like that anymore," that would not have been right. He became bigger than us all. And with "The Deuce", I'm happy because my character is growing a little in season 3.
Guerrasio: What's crazy about your career is before "The Karate Kid" that you've already had a memorable role playing Johnny in "The Outsiders".
Macchio: I love this movie.
Guerrasio: The film does not just launch your career but is directed by Francis Ford Coppola with a cast including Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe and Diane Lane before they are all famous. . It's one of the best young casting of all time. How was this experience?
Macchio: It was the dream come true. I read this book when I was 12 years old and it was the first book that I finished all alone. It was not my parents who forced me to read it. This one was just a page editor. And with Johnny's character, I could tell. I was the runner of the litter, I was playing sports but I've never been the guy you chose first, so I connected with him. So I went in, I wanted that role more than anything and I had to go through a few laps to get it. But it's still one of my most valuable roles. It's the one I will never forget. I still have children aged 13 and 14 coming to see me and asking me to sign the book.
Guerrasio: Who did you have the most contacts with on the set?
Macchio: At first, I worked a lot with C. Thomas Howell. Emilio. Matt Dillon and I are really connected because we are two New Yorkers. We all stayed in touch. Rob Lowe, I did his roast a year ago and I had fun tearing it up. But everyone wanted to be close to Diane Lane because she was amazing.
Guerrasio: Did you audition for "Karate Kid" while shooting "The Outsiders" or was it after?
Macchio: Yeah, "The Outsiders" was in the theaters and the audition of "The Karate Kid" came right after.
Guerrasio: So, you have to feel really good.
Macchio: Yeah, I mean, I did not know what "The Karate Kid" would be.
Guerrasio: But just be the main role in a movie.
Macchio: Yeah that's right. And on my first reading with John Avildsen, I read it cold for the first time. He turned off the camera and said, "I can not guarantee anything but I would start taking karate lessons." And I was like, "Wow." I walk the streets of New York. But I kept thinking that the title was so lame and if it worked, I should wear it for the rest of my life.[[[[Laughs.]
Guerrasio: Crazy how does it work, huh?
Macchio: Yeah. And it was not just me, a lot of people on the set did not think the title was good. Jerry Weintraub, our producer, said: "It's a terrible title that makes it an excellent title."
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