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Ralph Macchio is an actor, producer, and director obviously most well known for his portrayal of Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid films and now the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai. He has also appeared on both stage and screen in notable credits including The Outsiders, Crossroads, and My Cousin Vinny. Most recently, he has also added ‘NYT bestselling author’ to his credits after releasing Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me which I can not recommend enough (it probably comes as no surprise I read the entire book in one sitting).
In one of the few rare occurrences where Ralph has made himself available for a long form conversation (as opposed to doing the rounds on the talk shows for a few minutes at a time), Ralph and I dive deep into his life, his successes, and his failures along the way far beyond just his role as Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai (but for all you diehard fans don’t worry…we definitely discuss that too). Ralph shares his challenges with maintaining authenticity in both his performances but also who he is as a person, father, and husband. Given his personal relationship with Pat Morita offscreen that translated to his relationship with Mr. Miyagi onscreen, we discuss mentorship and how it has shaped him. We honestly discuss how Ralph has managed the challenge of being pigeonholed as a single character his entire acting career. And most importantly, this wouldn’t be a proper conversation without discussing how to live a life defined by balance.
Whether The Karate Kid was your Star Wars or you’re literally hearing of Ralph Macchio for the first time, there’s no better way to say it: Today’s conversation will inspire the shit out of you.
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Here’s What You’ll Learn:
- How we can define work-life balance in a day & age where the lines are so blurred between the two, they feel like the same thing
- How we can manage and face our deepest fears when we know they’re standing between us and the best version of ourselves
- The real reason Ralph says Cobra Kai has been such a success (and it’s not just The Karate Kid)
- How remaining authentic paves the way for success both in your career and personal life
- How Ralph Macchio defines what a “Miyagi mentor” is in real life
- Understanding the difference between when you can avoid being pigeonholed, and when it’s time to embrace the mark you’ve made
- The importance of knowing when to strive for balance, and when to fully commit
- How fully committing to the present moment allows for a more successful and fulfilling personal life and career
- How to maintain healthy relationships when you are forced to go through periods of work that require your absence
- What Ralph is planning next after Cobra Kai…
Useful Resources Mentioned:
Waxing On: The Karate Kid
Wax On, F*ck Off with Ralph Macchio
How to Find the Right Type of Mentor For You (and When You Should Seek the Best)
Continue to Listen & Learn
Ep128: How to Have a Successful Career Without Sacrificing Family | with Farrel Levy
Ep173: How to Reinvent Yourself at Any Age (And Become Badass) | with Scott Morgan
Ep11: Making It In Hollywood as a “Creative” (What They Don’t Teach You In Film School) | with Norman Hollyn
Ep106: On the Vital Importance of “Being Nice” | with Jesse Averna, ACE
Ep80: How to Avoid Getting Pigeonholed, The ‘Concentric Circles of Networking’ & More | with Doc Crotzer, ACE
The power of finding the right mentor (and how to make it happen)
How to Go From Cold Contact to Your Ideal Mentor In Seven Simple Steps
Episode Transcript
Optimize Yourself Podcast
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Zack Arnold
I cannot imagine a guest more appropriate to represent the 200th episode of The Optimize Yourself podcast and all that we stand for than Ralph Macchio, a conversation, which is frankly 38 years in the making. Well, Ralph clearly requires no introduction. The following is an honor of his illustrious career and his positive impact on both the world and me personally. Ralph Macchio is an actor, a producer and a director, obviously most well known for his portrayal of Daniel Larusso in the Karate Kid films, and now the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai. He has also appeared on both stage and screen in notable credits, including The Outsiders, Crossroads and My Cousin Vinnie, and most recently, he has also added New York Times bestselling author to his credits after releasing Waxing On: The Karate Kid & Me, which by the way, I cannot recommend enough probably comes as no surprise that I read the entire book in a single sitting. In one of the few rare occurrences where Ralph has made himself available for a long form conversation, as opposed to doing the rounds on the talk shows for just a few minutes at a time, Ralph and I dive deep today into his life story, his successes and his failures along the way, far beyond just his role as Daniel Larusso in the Karate Kid and Cobra Kai. But for all of you diehard fans, don't worry. Yeah, we definitely discuss all of that too. Ralph shares his challenges with maintaining authenticity in both his performances but also who he is as a person, a father and a husband. Given his personal relationship with Pat Morita off screen that then translated to his relationship with Mr. Miyagi on screen. We also discussed mentorship and how it has shaped him. We honestly discuss how Ralph has managed the challenge of being pigeon holed as a single character, his entire acting career. And most importantly, I'm not sure this would be a proper conversation without discussing how to live a life that is defined by balance. Whether the Karate Kid was your Star Wars, or you are literally hearing of Ralph Macchio for the very first time. There's no better way to say it, today's conversation is going to inspire the shit out of you. All right. Without further ado, my conversation with Ralph Macchio. To access the show notes for this episode with all of the bonus links and resources discussed today, as well as to subscribe, leave a review and more, simply visit optimizeyourself.me/episode200. I am here today with none other than Ralph Macchio. And let's be honest, you frankly require no introduction. I'm gonna give it a shot anyways. You sir, are an actor, a producer, a director and you are obviously most well known for your portrayal of Daniel Larusso in the Karate Kid films. And now of course, the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai, you've also appeared on both stage and screen and many other projects over the years. A few notable credits include The Outsiders, Crossroads, My Cousin Vinnie, and a favorite of mine that is much lesser known. Wax On, Fuck Off from Funny or Die, which we might talk about a little bit later. You've also done the rounds on pretty much every major talk show known to mankind as the author of by the way, congratulations, a now instant New York Times best seller Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me. And I'm also very proud to say that I can call you both a colleague and a collaborator, even though you and I may not get to work together in person on a day to day basis has spent the pleasure of the last four years working with you if between myself in a computer monitor. So Ralph, this interview was 38 years in the making, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you being here and sharing your time and your inspiration and your expertise.
Ralph Macchio
Oh, man, it is my pleasure. And looking forward to it. And and thank you, you know, for having me. And thank you for the incredible work that you do in bringing Cobra Kai to life and sort of defining the spine of sometimes episodes that must feel. I don't want to say spineless because the scripts are great. But there is a lot to suss out and it's no easy task. So, you know, I really appreciate your hand and all of that.
Zack Arnold
Yep. I'm sure that we'll talk more about that. And whenever people interview me about the process, I always say the simplest way to describe Cobra Kai is that it is deceptively difficult. Oh, it's just a 30 Minute Comedy. It can't be that hard. Hardest show I've ever worked on in 20 years. deceptively difficult. And you know, we could literally spend probably a three part series just talking about the complexities of Cobra Kai, which we might do a little bit. But I'm just more interested in you and your story. But where I want to start, is I've got $1 and I'm going to be donating to your retirement fund, which is the I was Daniel Russo retirement fund that you talked about in your book, because I to like countless others watch The Karate Kid and I was very, very young. And the theme that defined most if not all of my young life was bullying. I was constantly in incessantly the target of bullies. I grew up in a very, very small town in northern Wisconsin. It was the lowest income County and community in the entire state of Wisconsin and was Johnson is not necessarily known for being high income and metropolitan, so it was the lowest income of the lowest income. And being very creative and highly intellectual, let's just say that I was a punching bag for years and years. And it was essentially through incessantly watching the Karate Kid over and over in crane kicking the mattress that was attached to my wall, and then getting myself into martial arts to essentially stop the bullying, that I would say the most formative film of my entire youth was not Star Wars, The Karate Kid was my Star Wars. So I know that you hear that story all the time. But since I have the opportunity, and I own the microphone, right now, I want to make sure to hear that story, too. Because this really is a 38 years in the making interviewer and the impression that that film and those ideas and your performance and everything else, it really led to a large portion of who I am as a human being and the work that I do on this program today. And I know that you hear that all the time. And I'm gonna do my best to shy away from all the things you talked about over and over. But at least I had to, I had to whittle that into to get us started and tee us off.
Ralph Macchio
That's important. I mean, that's important. Because you know, and credit, the guys, you know, who create Cobra Kai and bringing together folks like yourself that have the reason that show works, besides the talent and writing and everything else in the acting and all that stuff is because everyone cares so much. They treat it like the Bible, like, like it is the Scripture, even from the cast on from the OG casts from Billy and I, and the Oh, geez, on down to the new kids in the next generation, there is that you step on the set, or you step in the editing room, or you step in the, you know, this is, you know, to, to do the music score, and what Zach and Leo do, there is such great care and from a perspective of it, meaning something beyond just hey, I was a cool movie, when I was a kid, I remember I saw my brother, it's not that, you know, goes deeper than that. And, and so it's, it's, you know, it's I hear it all the time. But maybe not all at that level, and certainly was beautiful about it, as you get to work on this show. I mean, your pin telling the continued story of these, these characters, and the inspiration of that, to me is spectacular. And that's unique to who gets to do what you do have something that was so important to you. And as partially, you know, it's a big part of what I wrote the book, I have this unique experience that only I these are stories only I can tell, and for the and that was pretty enlightening for me to dive into some of the you know, never before told behind the scenes stuff and then realize things about myself or, you know, on how I not just the nostalgia part, but how I navigated some of the pitfalls that happened in the 80s. And how, why I didn't slide down that slippery stroke, slope of drugs and alcohol and partying and all the stuff that was just right there. So it's like self discovery in writing. And that's what I loved about writing the book and telling your unique story as we're both nostalgic and contemporary relevance at the same time, doesn't happen too often.
Zack Arnold
And I can just give a you know, a very quick shameless plug to the book and tell everybody that is listening for the love of everything that is holy by it and read it not because I just want to you know, be nice and help you promote it, it is one of the easiest funnest, most inspirational reads I've had in a long time I get sent a lot of books, and I have a lot of authors on the podcast and obviously you know, I had a vested interest in making this work. But at the end of the day, your book still could have sucked it just could have right and I just was instantly sat down and I said read the entire thing pretty much in one reading. And you know, it could have just been here's some fun anecdotal stories about being the Karate Kid but it just it goes so much deeper into the deeper themes and the challenges that you went through just kind of what it means to you what it means to the the the world at large. And it says it's a very honest portrayal of you know what it means to be one of the most iconic characters from both it being your superpower and also sort of being your kryptonite in a way right?
Ralph Macchio
For sure. It's your it's a you know, it's a blessing and curse at times and but understanding that through that journey, there's been such richness not just with with with with what has happened in recent times with the success of Cobra Kai and all that stuff. But you know, I have the stories to tell the um the anti Ito True Hollywood Story right it's like where's the crash and burn come to redemption memoir was a salacious whatever. Robert came in who wrote the original film. First thing he said to me is some Where is where is this guy? Where is this salacious? Where is that? Then he says in what's Butte To fool about this is that it's honest. And that was the kindest thing he could have said to me, because that was the gold going in. I don't know how to write the I only know how to tell the truth for myself. And there was discovery, certainly. And that was and there were many times where I would well up at the computer, one because a lot of the people I was writing about are no longer here to sort of carrying the baton forward. And three, you know, you look at things and do overs and stuff you would have done differently if you were a little bit wiser at the time, although I always felt I stuck the landing. And it's sort of where you wind up. You know, and I think in that respect, it's been, it's been positive, but thank you for that. And I hope everyone gets out and reads it. And it's, I'm really proud of it because there was no ghost writer.
Zack Arnold
Yeah, that was very clear to me. And of course, I have the benefit that few of probably no other interviewers have, is that I get to watch you for 12 hours a day. I get to see every little mannerism I can see the real person that shows up between action and cut. And when you said that Robert came in use the word honest the word that I would use his authentic, because I know I, I watch you in your head all day long. I've seen the mannerisms. And I can see when you constantly are stopping yourself because you're like, Nope, this was not authentic. I need to give this another try. And one of my I get asked the same question that I'm sure you do a lot, which is why does Cobra Kai work? Cobra Kai has no business working. It has no business being successful. When I first saw the trailer for when it came out right after Season One, I'm like, How dare they are you kidding me? This is going to be garbage. Don't destroy my childhood. And then I watched the trailer. Right?
Ralph Macchio
You have low expectations.
Zack Arnold
And then of course, I got sucked in. And after watching all of season one in an afternoon, I said, Oh, I'm cutting the show, whatever it takes, I will find the right people and I will cut it. But what I've learned about you is how important it is to be authentic. And the reason the show works is because everybody feels that way. Nobody's taking the show for granted. Nobody takes his legacy for granted. You show up every day and you're prepared. Billy shows up every day. And he's prepared like the switch that I see between Ralph and Daniel or Billy and Johnny, like Johnny is the most unprepared kind of fly by the seat of his pants. But then you see the switch to switch to Billy you're like, Well, this guy is dialed in. Same thing happens with you. Right? Where like the one of my favorites. And I have a lot of favorite things we could talk about, but just like the most recent in 510 Watching you switch between I've kind of pseudo kind of drunk all over the place back to Ralph and was like, holy shit. Like, it's just, it's amazing. The the process that you've developed to maintain that authenticity, I think above and beyond. That's really why the show works, because it's just so important to maintain that authenticity.
Ralph Macchio
Yeah, yeah, no, I agree. I agree. And that's, and I look at, you know, to me, that's, that's a life lesson, you know, as well. I mean, every every day, you know, listen, we all have our armor, we all have our game face. You know, I can't I am what I am, I can't get out of it. I can't I'm not a good enough actor to hide it. Maybe, you know, and listen, we all have our selves behind closed doors and what we are out in the world, but but for the most part, the true colors show, I believe. And I've always lived my life that way. And that's so in speaking to your earlier point, this is the type of conversation I don't get to always have. You know, what it's, I mean, when you asked me, okay, what's the thing you don't want to talk about that you have to talk about all the time? And it's interesting at first I said, Well, I guess I don't feel like spending 45 minutes talking about why do you look so young for your age, you know, and all that stuff. But I'll delete that section from my No, no, no, no, no, but I'm gonna put it in. I'm gonna put it in. So now, in looking back at it, someone asked me a question. It was in a longer interview for print thing, and I don't know if it ever ever made it in but it was. We spoke about a little bit about defending our youthful appearance through middle school and high school. And then I started thinking more about that and I thought that would be an interesting thing to talk about, because that was sort of developed and I write I write about this a little bit in the book and the early in the becoming the kid chapter where that sort of Larusso bravado, that sort of East Coast toughness that I had nothing to back it up with, which is kind of, you know, a blurred line between Ralph and Larusso. The difference between Ralph and Larusso, if I got my ass kicked by five you know karate guys on that motorcycle I probably would have left well enough alone. I would have found another way to walk to school. Larusso walks straight back in and obviously that's a better protagonist a better a better, you know, a better movie. But there was there's a similarity in kind of, you know, I realized I didn't realize this at the time, but I realized this as I as I'm older, that you know, my The thing was, I always look five years younger than I was. So when you're 15, you know, we're 16 years 1211 I don't think I look 10 But I look like 12 And you treat it that way. It becomes a you build up a defense to that, you know, is sort of, you know, an armor is a word I used before. And sort of, you know, and it would be with quick witted sarcasm, sarcasm and, and irreverence in that, you know, so I developed that, and a little bit of self deprecation, I talked about that in some chapters to like, even when I was on Letterman, I went straight to, you know, as a as he was coming at me with the with the jabs and the punches, then I, you know, I took a shot back, and then I poke fun at myself. And so that's sort of how I tap danced through through that. But you know, there were those times, you know, where, during those those years, those adolescent years, he looked at, you know, the guy who gets the girl and the guy who's the quarterback, or whatever, and I wasn't that guy, how I made up for that in the street cred, you know, which is not all that important, but at that age, that's kind of where you fit, right. And so, it's interesting in thinking that, through that a lot of that energy that might have gotten me, the role in the Karate Kid came from this, you know, kind of cockiness and, you know, humor, whatever it takes to, like, pay no attention to it might be really bothering me, you know, that might be tough for me. And it's just something I realized, years, years later. And there's a video out, I think it's still out. But there was a video where I was auditioning and said audition, and I was really young. And they were kind of bringing drawing attention to how young I looked. And it was, it was bothered, it was bothersome to me to watch because it kind of felt like a little like bullying in a way. You know, do you Did you ever have a girlfriend, would you ever ever grew up with the girls even interesting, you know, because I look so young. And I was like 17. And so it just just interesting to look to have that footage as an actor, you get to, you have this footage that I get to see years later, when I was in it, I couldn't see it. But now looking back as a parent or having gone through life, you know, that was something that that was part of my struggle, that I figured out a way to fall forward, if you will join those those tougher times growing up, and it's a parallels with Larusso you know,
Zack Arnold
Yeah, well, certainly the idea of falling forwards is one that's apparent very much in Cobra Kai and also the idea of embracing fear. And there's a line that you have in your book, that you essentially say that the biggest the biggest mistakes in my life have come when I surrender to fear. Yep. And, and that reminds me of, you know, oddly enough a scene in Cobra Kai, and you have this conversation. This is an episode 307. And I know it well, because I edited that episode. We have this conversation with Samantha about this idea of overcoming your fears and facing them and you're not alone. And it sounds like a lot of the reason that you were able to embrace some of this and overcome it was like, You know what, I can let the fear define me or I can just embrace it and power through and embrace discomfort, which is one of the things you say you love about acting is, yeah, I'm in this world and this culture, or whatever it is, and I do immerse myself in it, man. Is it uncomfortable? It's scary.
Ralph Macchio
Yeah. No, it is it is in that scene. That section that episode, which, you know, I really enjoy, I spent a Mary and I had lunch together. And we spoke about just anxieties, anxiety she had, as an anxieties I had spoke about, and I wrote to this in the book spoke about my daughter at the time when there was a, something was sort of a misstep. From my perspective, as a parent, where I didn't see something my wife saw that she was way ahead of me on it, and I kind of miss that. And, you know, because parenting is constantly failing, and I've done it pretty well if too proud to say, well adjusted kids, but I'm still failing, like, you know, even like two days ago, and I'm good at it, you know, is a tough job, you know, you want to, and when I say failing, it's just like, couldn't, you know, maybe I could have handled this like that. But anyway, back to the story. With Mary we shared some, you know, personal experiences of being either either bullying or or anxieties and more anxieties. There's more anxieties, and, and I recall something with my own daughter that I brought to that scene. because I had been there, and I remember putting myself on her sharing an experience of mine with my daughter, which all of a sudden put us on the same plane, if you will. And so that's an essence, what was kind of written in the Cobra Kai scene a little bit different. But you know, and that's where you can take those life experiences, and bring them bring them forth. And it feel I mean, working with Mary, she's, you know, we have since day one, there's been just a really sweet chemistry between her and I, and it's, you know, they write to it, but it's there. And so, so and she's, you know, friends with my daughter, which is just mind blowing. Like, the coolest thing is my kids now, who are, you know, not little kids, they're adults, but this show and a champion it and when there's a trailer, they're like, you know, blowing it out there, and it's watch parties. And, and so, you know, they get to share in something, it was such a huge part of my young life. And now it's a big part of their life. And it's, it's just, you know, pretty unique, you know, to have that,
Zack Arnold
Well, when it comes to this idea of talking about parenting and you know, just like any other good parents, you know, a little bit of self flagellation about all the things you could do better. But I think this really comes to what to me, like I said, I could have this conversation for eight hours, and I still wouldn't cover my entire prep sheet. But if there's one conversation that I want to have with Ralph Macchio, it's about the idea of balance. Because as you say, and yet another episode that I worked on, balance is my thing. And that's where I really believe from what I've read, the line is really blurred between Daniel Russo and Ralph Maggio. And I'll there's so many things that I could talk about in this book, where like, I literally, I've destroyed your book, like there are earmarks, there are dog ears, there's writing everywhere, I can literally read the writing, because I've destroyed it. But there have been so many areas where I saw either you talking about a scene in the show that resonated with you. And I'm like, yep, that's one of my favorites. But I think the biggest area when I was reading it, I literally almost broke into tears, was when you were talking about the most important or influential Miyagi ism to you, which is the one that my father used on me to teach me about the idea of both balance in life and commitment. And that's about left side road, right side road, if there's ever it's hard for me to even talk about this. I'm like, I'm getting emotional just thinking about it. But when I was reading, that to you, that was the most important one like, that defines me more than anything else. So talk to me about this idea of being a parent trying to balance you know, first being this icon, and then not being the icon, and then being the icon again, with some form of balance, because it's really challenging to define what work life balance is, in today's society where there's there is none.
Ralph Macchio
Yeah, that's it. It certainly is. It certainly is beyond beyond challenging. And, you know, and I didn't have you know, the technology when I was going through the difficult part of it, it wasn't everybody with the phone was in a paparazzi and it wasn't all of that. I mean, yeah, that's, uh, you know, broke down the middle get squished, like, great, you know, and then I alluded to his story where in my career, I was scrambling waffling, not being defined, even in my marriage at that point, and, and my, in my work, you know, I might I was, I always talk about one foot in and one foot out, right, that's how I write to that. That's how I've done it. And I've lost opportunities in work, and I've lost, you know, you sacrifice certain things by not going all in, and sometimes to go all in will yield a better and richer end result as opposed to toe in the water and making sure I'm not going to tip over and drown and swallow too much chlorine, if you will, you know, but but that's been those have been my that's been my sensibilities and I'll, I'll gladly at my age now what's enabled what I've been able to do and obviously with the blessings of everything with the series and, and my family, it's it's what it I think I wrote that it was close to an embarrassment of riches in a weird way. But i i Wait, I'm losing my train of thought, which happens at my young age. Just give me a half second.
Zack Arnold
Happens to all of us 37 year olds. Don't worry about it.
Ralph Macchio
Love ya. That's right. I'm stuck at that 37 Mark. Those finding, navigating through it and landing on your feet, which I've been able to do. There were days that were not pleasant. 100% There were moments that I didn't know how I was going to provide for my family. I mean, it wasn't like electric company was, you know, they weren't turning the lights off. I never, I was very conservative with, with whatever money I made, I was very careful. You know, I did not, you know, overspend when I had it, and then when it all went away, I couldn't make ends meet and I was in debt never happened. There were some chunks of time that that was jumping from one stone to the next not knowing if I'd slip. But, but I had, you know, my family, my parents, my wife, was great amount of credit goes to my wife, who is a nurse practitioner has been on the frontlines with everything. Last couple of years. And, you know, she both and I write this in the acknowledgments, she grounds and elevates me at the same time, and my kids as well. But there's no magic, if there's no real, specific reason that I've been able to not get in trouble or not go down a super dark path and not completely lose everything. I think it's I've been blessed with being surrounded by the right. Team, if you will, but the knowing that owning your decision, right? It's almost like there's no if the the only bad choice is no choice, that I guess that I use that and I probably wrote to that. But there is a there is a flip side, yes, there are some choices that are bad choices. Okay, extreme choices. So. So it's not the greatest piece of much of your wisdom. But it's certainly if you make a choice and you own that choice, for better for worse, if you succeed or fail. It is at least yours. And you can navigate through as long as you keep your your head clear, and your eyes on the on the prize, which is how I've kind of done it even when it hasn't been as successful. You know, I joke I joke I did this joke on a couple of, I don't know if it was Trevor Noah one of these shows. But it was it was it was pretty interesting to think that me when I had some dry times during the late 80s or whatever. And but my my baseball like the New York Mets were in the World Series. And islanders were winning Stanley Cups. So I was in LA. And I wasn't working, I was running back to New York to go to the games and be with my family. Now maybe if my team sucked, that would have been aimlessly walking down Sunset with a bottle of scotch in my hand, you know, stumbling into the Viper Room. And we'd have another story, I don't think so because that's not I was never really that interested. You know, I was always too cautious. To too much, maybe, Zach, maybe too much of a control freak. And I as an actor, I find myself still battling this, because I want to, I want to, I want to act it, I want to shoot it, I want to edit it, and I want to trust it. But I know if I do that, and you can't and at the end of the day, it's still gonna get into your hard drive. And you're gonna figure it out with what the writers wanted. But that's, that's a part of who I am, I like to be prepared may be in control. But I know now it's better to be prepared and let go with it. If you're prepared, then you can deal with the lack of control. And when I was younger, I wanted to control it all. So, so part of that I know I'm zigzagging all over the place, but it is all to the same point of how I balanced it, you know, and did not, you know, tip over too far. You know, that chapter. I really liked that chapter because I start out with me on the balance boat in the Miyagi scene. And then, and I talked about those three areas of balance from the film and then and then go into three areas of balancing in life. And yeah, that was the fun part of writing the book, finding those things, those narratives that were visual. And so I had these movies to talk about and then sometimes I couldn't jump forward to Cobra Kai and talk about how they battle Mosh was paid and how I got to play it from the perspective of the the sensei instead of the student. That was fun. I hope somewhere in there is a good answer, sir.
Zack Arnold
They're very much isn't I'm gonna dig even deeper into this. But one of the things that I want to point out that you've said in a somewhat circuitous way, and I really want to put a fine point on this. What many would probably assume is that this is Ralph's memoir of which it is but what you already did, what you may even realize that you may not realize it, maybe it was intentional. Maybe it wasn't. You've also written a very strong and very rich personal development book. And it's very difficult to do both. Most people can write memoirs and tell the stories. And most people can talk about here are the key mindsets and the theories and ideas to be successful, et cetera, et cetera. But what you've been able to do is you use both the story of your life and the story and sag of the Karate Kid to make it very much a personal development book, which to me, I mean, this is like my cornucopia of Christmas and all the holidays meld it together. Because I'm a personal development junkie and the Karate Kid and Cobra Kai junkie and like, oh my god, this is all of it in one book. Right, awesome. So the it's funny that you said exactly what I highlighted in my notes that I wanted to say that essentially, I'm going to steal from you. And I'm going to be teaching in my program, which is that the only bad choice is no choice. And this is a lesson that I've learned very painfully physically over the last five years. Not to go too deep into the story, most of my audience knows that you may know it. For anybody that is listening for the first time, I set the very audacious goal about five years ago, of transforming from having an award winning DadBod to becoming an American Ninja Warrior. And one of the most important lessons I've learned is that when you're going to do something you have to commit. And there's a saying in American Ninja Warrior for anybody that's seen it, you know that you're swinging from bars, 15 feet above water, like all of my greatest fears wrapped into one sport, and I decided to do it. But there's a saying that's called Send it. If you're going to swing 10 feet from one bar to another 15 feet in the air, you can't kind of sort of do it? Well, I'll give it a try. It's like you're either totally sending it or you're wet. Yeah. And that's a lesson that I've really taken into life. And I really think the best way to codify that is that the only bad choice is no choice. Either you're swinging or you're not swinging, there is no middle ground.
Ralph Macchio
Yeah, it's commitment. It really is. The same thing in relationships. Same thing. I mean, people ask me, I've been married 35 years, what's the secret? You get that non you talk show? And you have four minutes? And then you have to answer that that question. But it's, you know, it is it is commitment, it is work. So it's more than just stick to itiveness. It's certainly that gets so easy. In the Now Generation is like not my job, not my thing, don't you tell me I'm out of here. You know, the I came from, you know, my parents stuck it through and they're still married at age 85. There'll be 85 this year. And so I saw that and not it's not always, you know, roses. And, you know, I with my wife and I just believe that we it's just so clear that we're were soulmates is such an overstated thing, but we are meant it's meant to be. And even those times that it feels less than easy, over 35 plus years, it's still all worth working for. Because when it's cohesive, and together, that's it's the richest of rich, and it's so easy to take all the shrapnel that comes out of life, every day will be at society, be at politics, be at work, be it bullying, and I'm not just talking kid bullying, bullying in the office place in the in the streets. And, you know, it's you, it takes it almost takes to to get through it if you can, but then you also still, and I'm probably rambling, you still need to love yourself. And it's got to be, you know, it can't, it's not the other person that makes that work. It's the both of you. And that's, that's been a strength for me. And especially in what I do, where I'm away for X amount of months of time, and or I'm working in have a nice salary one year, and the next year, it looks like you know, it's I'm just trying to string it together. And it's, you know, it was the nursing salary that got us through that year. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks for that, you know, so
Zack Arnold
Well, the this idea that you need to surround yourself with others, I think, goes into another theme that I want to talk about next. I don't want to put a pin in because I want to finish up this work life balance conversation. But sure, it's that of surrounding yourself with mentors, which clearly mentorship is, if it's not the theme, it's one of the main themes of this entire Sega. But the one thing that I want to point out very quickly that you just said that I think is so important is that especially with the the height of Cobra Kai success, and how rigorous the shooting schedule is, like, what you guys are put through on a daily basis when I see these call sheets, like mostly I look at a call sheet and like, yeah, right, like they're getting all these pages today. Like it's insane. What you guys are asked to do. I don't believe that today, especially with the kind of schedule you have where it's four or five months in Atlanta, and then you go home, but then you're on publicity. I just don't think it's possible for work life balance to even be a thing anymore. I think it's more about this idea of strategic imbalance where you've committed to the family you've committed to the wife and the kids. But you know, there's going to be a strategic imbalance for a period of time where right now, I'm in Daniel Russo mode. My focus is on this. I haven't forgotten about you. You're equally important to me, but at least right now, my presence is with the show, but my guess is that when you're not working on the show, it's family first. It's kids first it's why first, right? So I believe it's much more poured in I'm kind of workshopping this with you, because I'm trying to really find a better way to define it. Work life balance is outdated. And I think it's the idea of working towards more work life presents, and that idea of commitment committing to this thing. Now, this is still a priority, but I've built the relationship such that I'm sure that after, you know, three or four months being in Atlanta, it's not like, Screw this, it's like, you know, that the relationship is there, and it's gonna come back to and everybody's gonna work it out. But you have to be present with each of those things in order to make it work.
Ralph Macchio
Yeah, I agree. And it's interesting, because you, you know, after, you know, I think it was season two, was, when I came home, this, this happened, you know, you get used to four months, four and a half months of what it is, click that remote, put the TV on, and whatever you want stays, and you change it again, and they change it back, or you make your coffee now, or you leave your pajamas out on the bed or your toothpaste thing off and the cap on the thing, and you sort of have this single man's life, single person's life, and then you get home. It was interesting, if season two, you know, just just not having that freedom. I was not so pleasant for a few weeks, you know, having to be back in the team game. And it just it was a real wake up. And every time I come back from a season or publicity tour, or the book tour, which I'm still in now, you just become self absorbed. It's very hard not to what have I been doing for the last four weeks talking about me? You know, on camera, hotel rooms and cars and planes in first class and all this stuff. And everybody cheers. And you walk into a book signing is 1000 people with their books and is screaming like, I'm in Beatlemania. And it's just, and then you come home, and there's a you know, it's a it's a, you know, it's an odd thing to have to detox yourself from that. You're not always the most pleasant to be with, and I'm conscientious but still, I'm tired. You're caught up, you're trying to keep all these balls in the air at this point. Because six years ago, there was one balloon sort of floating now I have 10 of them full of helium, and I'm just trying to keep them all, you know, in my in my hand. And so I mean, it's constantly Listen, um, you know, I'm, I'm learning every day, learning every day, as soon as you say you have it all figured out. I mean, there's things I feel I've processed through. And I feel confident. And my decision making is, I mean, certainly with the Karate Kid, I mean, you look at the decisions I've made in these 38 years, it seems like I've almost done everything, right. A lot of that is luck. And being surrounded by extremely talented people. But writing the book was, this is the time why is this the time we were going into a pandemic I had the time, the show was relevant. I had now two I could speak of yesterday and today and tomorrow. That that was an open up the book, it was just like me talking about, you want to write about a movie that turned out to be an iconic thing. That's one thing. But I There are actually times I would not want to hand it in because I said wait and was shooting something this week, I may have a new story, you know, that might pertain to something that I already wrote about in chapter two. That would make sense. And that was kind of interesting how it lives in breeds. I know I'm segwaying in and out of things. So you can reel me back in. But, um, hopefully I'm offering see because it's unique, you know, it's unique.
Zack Arnold
But the thing is, I have some experience editing you. So to be perfectly honest, I'm not gonna edit any of it because I just I love all this conversation. But if I ever needed to I have a, you know, four years of experience together, Ralph Macchio. But I think what, what always tends to happen when I'm doing these conversations, and I don't do interviews, I don't like having a list of here are the questions. Here's the agenda, because I like to see where they evolve. And where this has evolved for me is a very interesting place. And where I think it's evolved for you is kind of in a relatively, whether subconscious or not similar matter, which is why is it that it's the anti E True Hollywood Story instead of the E True Hollywood Story. And I think you're really dissecting given the all of the opportunities, you've had to be derailed by the book tours by the red carpets by the money by the success. I mean, for a period of time, you were probably the most recognizable if not one of the most recognizable stars in the world. In an iconic film, you very easily could have gone down a deep dark hole. Which brings me back to when I one of the most important themes of both these movies and the show but also your book is mentorship. And it seems to me that you have a lot of positive influences and voices in your head, whether fictional or otherwise or fictional voices that have become nonfiction on the voice of Mr. Mr. Miyagi or others were really The longevity of your career and the fact that you didn't have the E True Hollywood Story, you surround yourself with the right people in the right voices.
Ralph Macchio
Yeah, yeah, I, you know, and some of that, you know, some of that's not completely by design, you know, I'd love to say that was my plan. And I, you know, even, I mean, just in how I've been able to, you know, be a family, man dad has been, and, and really close with my kids and my wife, the four of us, I mean, I call us the core four, you know, for me, that's, that's paramount. Everything else is awesome. But that's, you know, there's one focus, it's just like this, this image, the core four is me, and the background back there is everybody else, and I'll bring them into focus when I need it. But it's really about, you know, this, you know, as a, as a visual for those of you who are on watching this instead of just listening, but I have my background blurred. So you're not confused anymore.
Zack Arnold
But it's a great metaphor for anybody watching the video version for sure. That's right.
Ralph Macchio
That's right. So where was I? Where was I, Doctor?
Zack Arnold
Yeah. So I want to take a little bit deeper into this idea of mentorship and surround yourself with the right people. Yeah, because it's a core component of what I do with the Optimize yourself program is I help people better understand how to surround themselves with the right people in the right voices, and develop mentors, and make sure that they realize whatever journey I'm on, it doesn't matter what the goal is, I don't have to do it alone. There are people that have traversed it before. And if there was one person on the planet that I need to ask this next question as you because there's nobody that can answer better than you. What I've essentially done is I've broken down mentorship into three distinct phases. So I can kind of take the, the edge off for people that are intimidated. And I talked about how a lot of people just need a meet and greet mentor, just somebody you can talk to, they can answer a few questions, fill some knowledge gaps help you along the path. Then there's the Sherpa mentor and the Sherpa mentor, somebody that's probably walked the path before and every once in a while. You just need to have them point out the pitfalls, whether it's every six months every year, hey, I've got a challenge or struggle can you help me through it? And then of course, there is what I have called the Miyagi mentor. Hopefully, you know, I've will can get your blessing and using that term. But people always ask me, how do you define what a Miyagi mentor is versus the other types? I'd like to know how you would define a Miyagi mentor.
Ralph Macchio
Um, that's an interesting question. I think, you know, you Brett, you break it down those three, those three types because one is sort of almost like a sounding board, you know, someone who's just there as you know, sometimes you need someone that just was there to listen and you know, they're listening. And then you have those ones that give you those Miyagi isms, those deep rooted philosophies and what and then the under the ability to for you to understand where it comes from, we go back to the same let's go back to the left side right side middle switch light gray, that that is a Miyagi mentor line certainly for for the you know, when using it as an example and one that that clearly comes from a place of wisdom and experience. And then you have to find your own way to apply it to your life. Okay, where it you know, in the movie say, let's I mean, since we're talking about him in the movie was about karate do Yes. Karate to know karate to get so get squished like great? In my life? At that point, it was it. It was a clear choice for television series at the time to either commit to that or not commit to that, or living in New York or living in LA and bringing my wife or leaving my wife home. And we just had our daughter at the time and all that was just, I wasn't committed in one way then everyone was losing. And so that's different than karate do. Yes. karate, judo, karate to guess so but it's the wisdom of which comes out of that that's what I would call Miyagi, mentorship, that and the self discovery and applying it to something that is happening for you. I mean, I guess that's my clearest way that I would describe the difference than just having the Big Brother or the the someone and not that that is not important. I mean, it's great to have that mentor as well. So that's the difference. I guess. It's the wisdom and and experience that the that the lessons can be applied based in philosophy and and there's so many of them, you know, in that movie, that it is so many and then we they keep pulling Morris this season after season of Cobra guys. Oh, yeah, I forgot that line. Yeah,
Zack Arnold
it's funny you say the day because it's actually a lot of wheat, right? Because that's the I've, that's one of those reasons again where people ask me, Why do you think Cobra Kai works. And I think one of the reasons that it works just to you know, be totally self promotional is because the people that work on it behind the scenes are absolutely devout fanatics of the original film. So at any moment, I can be cutting a scene in Cobra Kai and be like, Oh, this is just like that Miyagi ism from the 47 minute of the original Karate Kid, let me roll this image, or, you know, we also have the benefit of going into the original dailies, which you want to talk about one of the best days of my career, and here are the raw dailies of the entire fight with Johnny at the end of the original film. I'm like, I'm getting paid to watch this.
Ralph Macchio
Hey, I just got like Willy Wonka gave you the golden ticket. Yeah, I mean, that's, that is incredible. And, and listen, and there's what's so beautiful about that stuff. Especially that scene is, you know, by just changing the edits. You know, when I write this in the book, you know, it was always a low and wide shot that was very whole heroic, you know, it was never cut. We shot it a zillion different ways. And then in the opening of Cobra Kai, you have these tight shots of the foot and Johnny's head going back almost, and you feeling the impact of this kick, from the perspective of the person being kicked as opposed to this wide, beautiful, cinematic, burden flight bad guy gets it in to the victor. goes the spoils. It's just it's a that's the beauty of editing. I mean, editing is the best part of it all.
Zack Arnold
Yeah, well tell me why I sit in my small dark room and get to relive all my childhood memories.
Ralph Macchio
Anything I love, I love editing. It's just, you know, it's just, it's that point, the toughest part of editing is, you know, it's the fold. I guess it was George Lucas movies are never finished. They're only abandoned. And in the editing room is when you have to make that decision. And that's one tough day. And there's always another road to try. But budget usually winds up doing it for you. You're at a time and you're out of money.
Zack Arnold
Yeah, exactly. So what like you said, I consider myself a recovering perfectionist. And I will say that, in general, the most controlling creative people on the planet all become editors, because we want to control and manipulate everything. So I very much have very similar afflictions. And I think what you bring up about this idea of everyone's perspective of the Karate Kid, low and wide, Daniels, the hero, all of a sudden, we cut to the close ups perspective shifts. That's exactly what Cobra Kai was all about was the perspective shift from the anti hero to all of a sudden, the hero and the shades of grey with who Daniel Russo really is. And you never become the villain, obviously. But there's, there's a lot more nuance to it than it was in the original films. And I think when it comes to perspective, this is something that I definitely want to dig into a little bit deeper with you not so much about the films itself, but about you and your perspective. I would guess then this is a topic I talk about all the time with my students and I talk about on the podcast is that a pigeon holing? And what I generally say, and this does not apply in this instance, but in general, I believe that people don't get pigeonholed. They allow themselves to be pigeonholed because they continue to say yes to the same opportunities because they're too afraid to say, No, you, my friend, we're pigeon holed, took one opportunity, and you had a three film contract. And all of a sudden the rest of your life, you're Daniel Russo. So with a little perspective, and knowing all of the challenges that that may have caused, I would like to know kind of in a two part question number one, what did it kind of look like during the darker or the more lean years when you're like, I just need to get out of the skin because I know you have and had much larger ambitions to do much more serious acting and be you know, Pacino or De Niro are kind of going in that direction. But knowing that I'd love to know what some of the darker years or leaner yours might have looked like. But then number two, if you have the opportunity to go back and change things, would you
Ralph Macchio
Right great questions? Well, for me, the leaner years, I mean, there was, you know, there was times, here's what was amazing for me, and looking back the linear years when my kids were born. So I was there. They're all the time, the little league games, the dance recitals, the driving here, they're all that stuff, all that stuff that that's a window of time that is just like, boom, it's gone. So when I looked back at that, like I said earlier, it wasn't by design, but it almost seems like it was perfect. I just had these bookends that I'm in this book and of the liver, so of it all. I mean, there's certainly been plenty of work in between, you know, and I've had that, you know, almost come back 10 times, you know, and sometimes I would, you know, dive into writing short films and directing and and screenplays and doing theater and because the highly is sounds like it'd be creative, you know, I It feeds my soul not always the pocketbook, right? So when you get to do both, I mean, I people asked me see young actors of creative people say any tips, any tips, and I was like you always be creative. There will be that day you have to figure out whether you can make a living at it. But you can always be creative. So to never give up on that. But so the the tougher times for me was kind of when my kids were, I would say the early 2000s Yeah, it was the early 2000s I was making some I was I was shadowing some directors made a short film that went to Sundance and that was where that was my creative juice. But I was as far as acting was going it was few and far between. The toughest time for me was before that when I was in the Karate Kid option, and I write to this one story, the Sidney Lumet story with running on empty which was not a film that was offered to me because he always had to watch clickbait and it was not offered but there was a conversation started and then the option was picked up for part three and and River Phoenix wound up you know, playing the role beautifully and being nominated for an Oscar and obviously we know his story, which is just tragic and, and terrible, but, but those were the those were the toughest times. Coming off a Broadway with De Niro before my cousin Vinnie. Then my cousin Vinnie was sort of like, okay, we're, it's but my cousin Vinnie was not easy to get. They didn't want to see me for it. They could not get in the room. The studio was more interested in whoever was hot at that time. And it was Ben Stiller. And Will Smith. Two guys in the South that would have changed the kind that kind of the story especially since one of them was supposed to be the cousin of Joe Pesci. But those were the you know, those were the box checking that was going on at the studio at the time. So that was the most frustrating part. Even though my cousin Vinnie happened to that point, I was almost like, I wasn't even gonna go in. It was almost like, you know, I was that's how I was starting, you know, the pigeonholing was so much just beginning is the early 90s. I mean, I know I alluded to the early 2000s, that's when it was the driest. But I was spending so much time in my family at that point, this was before that. So this was like it was just a couple of years ago, and now it's gone at that level. So I was still processing how it was still new to me how difficult it was, you know, and whether it would having the outsiders and even Vinny at the time still didn't offset. That's the Karate Kid guy. I never I always talked about this because I never I never didn't talk to the press or media or embrace the Daniel Russo and the Karate Kid at all. In the industry. I was fighting it, but never on the street. Because I felt it from the earliest point that this character was so beloved. so inspirational. So many people, people remember where they saw the movie, that they would watch it with their dad every couple of weeks. They they were there, you know, they were raised by their single mom, you know, fatherless teen fish out of water moved to a new town. I get these stories all the time. I get these, you know, tears in the eyes. This character changed my life. He gave me the inspiration to he was the every kid next door who had no business winning anything, right? So he, we could all be aspire to be that. And so I knew that from an early stage, so I never poo pooed it. You know, like, I'm not going to. I'm going to do you know, I'm gonna do Zach's podcast, but I don't want to talk about the Karate Kid. Okay, just anything on that. I was on the Deuce with David Simon shows. Last night I was on Broadway to New Orleans talk about that. And I was in my cousin Vinnie, one of the greatest invest in American comedies ever made. But I'm not going to talk about the Karate Kid. That makes no sense to me. And I'm proud that I've always I never there were times I wouldn't lead with it. But I'd never because I hear you're certain actors, they won't do that. They won't do the interview, if you're gonna bring that up. That makes no sense to me, in the shoes. I've walked and I'm very proud that I've done that throughout. And now I look like, you know, a genius. Because it's, you know, it's not that it's just, you know, understanding and knowing knowing the difference, you know, when you had that it makes such a difference. But, you know, the frustration to you know, during that time where I said but this is kind of over there was a desperation when I would audition that was new for me. I'd be I'd have the you know, the heart rate would go up. I used to walk in the rooms I get the parts I'd even not try and I'd get the part in the early stage. You know, I looked young for my age. I hit my mark. I was prepared. I'm have to be prepared. I'm still that way I hate to be late. They're like, you know, check, check, check. And he's 18 already awesome. He'll play the next 13 year roll on this show, you know, so it was easier. And I paid my dues later, if you will. But then, you know, that was the toughest part is like a network test for a TV series and waiting that our when you have to sign your contract before you walk in the room and feeling that pressure, that was the toughest part for me, and then not getting it, which is more often what was happening at that time when back five years, six years ago, that's a most most all. So that was that's the answer your first the first part of the question. And so the second part of the question is, what would I would I change it now? Of course not? Of course not. I mean, look, look where look where I am what I would I have wanted that roll in my 20s That would have been, you know, the running on empty roll or say the what I did with De Niro on Broadway, would I have loved to have that role in a film? Yes. But you know, the career would be different. I would be different. I may have you know, that would be I guess you could argue that would be the perfect world if I could have all that and this again, but you know, who knows what my family life would have been? Who knows what my count my kids would have been? I mean, that that's that's an that's a, you know, a tough question, because you'd have to you need a crystal ball. But for the most part, I would, I would be foolish to say, I wish I didn't have all that difficult time in the middle. Because there's very few places. And this is part Daniel Russo. I think part of this is my sensibilities as well. I always said, I spoke I felt more the more the local hero than the celebrity in 84. And I still feel that way. And when I'm on this book tour on at a comic con or at a screening, I walk in or at a Fed football, get the jet game or the Mets game, or the islanders game when they throw me up on the Jumbotron. And, you know, it's a big, it's a big, warm roar of happiness. That's, you know, so why would I change what's in the middle?
Zack Arnold
Yeah, I love that. And being able to reframe everything in the middle as part of defining who you are, we all need that struggle and need to yet face the tough choices. And given that whether or not Cobra Kai becomes the next, you know, MCU and we have spin off after spin off after spin off, it's pretty clear that we're getting in, by the way, no insider information whatsoever saying this is a fan. That's somebody that works on the show, but we're getting towards the tail end of Cobra Kai. At some point, you're handing the baton off, which means that at this point, you're probably handing off Daniel Russo. Lisa's a main figurehead character. So given your very, very young age, having your entire career ahead of you, what do you want to do with the next phase?
Ralph Macchio
You're giving my very young age now.
Zack Arnold
Oh, yeah. Very, very young, Spry age. The lessons that I've learned from my Ninja Warrior Training, and also from you know, watching you and working with you, albeit indirectly. But when I've worked out for an NGO, I've worked out with a guy named Tony Horton, who's the creator of the p90x program. He's my Mr. Miyagi. I've worked out every week for almost five years. And what I've learned from him is that we don't choose whether or not we get older, we very much choose whether or not we get old. And it just seems to me you've made the choice that I don't want to get old, but you're gonna get older. But you've got an entire another phase of your career ahead of you. Yeah. So what do you want to do with it?
Ralph Macchio
What I do enjoy, and obviously, listen, I'd love to, you know, I was I mentioned the show the deuce right that I was on. David Simon's show is about the birth of the porn industry in New York City in the 70s. First season was 72 second season. 78 last season was 86. It was defined that way. And I played a very small part, but I was in 17 of the 23 episodes. As you know, crooked cop at that time in New York City, as they all were taking money under the table. And, you know, it was so much fun to be in this behavioral type of show, where the nuances it was the anti acting style of Cobra Kai, where Cobra Kai you know, you're, you're even though you're not telegraphing, you're kind of telegraphing where your next scene is going. When you say, you know, you tell you tell, I tell Samantha, that she should do this. And I realized by saying that, maybe I shouldn't do that. And then I get that look, and then I'm walking up to Johnny Lawrence's apartment, you know, the deuce was anytime I did anything like that they cut and they said, what are you what are you telling us that for? You know, because, and I get it and it's not too short. side, one or the other, it's just a different. There's a heightened reality to Kobrick. I mean, obviously sneaks into the dealership and the 405 and the five freeway and the 101, it all stops there. I personally would probably just move to, you know, Santa Barbara and take up a different sport, I'd be fine and not have any problem. But that's not a cool show. And that's not the greatest thing in the world, which is what Cobra Kai is. But so anyway, alluding to the deuces, like a show is like a, a world a fabric of the behavioral. That was very New York and I grew up in that time. And I remember my dad wearing those suits and those ties, and I remember what it smelled like in New York City and I, I, you know, I enjoyed doing my little little part in that show. So I would I would embrace, not necessarily that specifically, but something in that that world ensemble world. Not necessarily, although now Billy and I talked that we know we can play two detectives on a CBS show at nine o'clock. You know, like, Oh, I'd love to, I'd love to get second tusky and starch or something like that? I don't know.
Zack Arnold
You frankly had an episode, just like Joker, that was one of my favorite. I love those moments.
Ralph Macchio
Exactly, exactly. But um, so I mean, as far as acting goes, some more theater. And certainly I would love to get back to theater. More more. So just because I love the full entity of that it's I haven't done it in a while. And there's a piece of me that wants to support it because it took such a hit over these past few years. It really devastated that that world, they didn't get to still shoot their show during a pandemic, they had to go dark. So some producing writing. I'd write another book in a total other genre. If this continues to be successful in with the holidays coming up, I'm hoping that this book will become a stocking stove might be it might be that kind of thing. You know it a Matthew Perry has a big book out now it's the antithesis of of the waxing on book and
Zack Arnold
There's the E True Hollywood Story.
Ralph Macchio
That shoot straight to the top of the list. But we might well be that Little Engine That Could it is like it's Christmas time. Let's read much here his book about surviving this. So I, one of the things I enjoy with Cobra Kai and also in writing the book is sharing the stories handy, passing on the legacy, the fact that I have 12 year old kids running up to me and know who Mr. Miyagi is, and want to know if he was cool or not, you know, and, and, and so, so sharing, so there's sort of paying it all forward. I enjoy doing that. And I don't know what that means. So as I get maybe not in the next five or 10 years, as I only get slightly older, but maybe after that, that there might be I don't know if teaching is probably the wrong thing. But maybe there's a place like with what you're doing with optimize yourself. And maybe not as being abroad as that but I have something to offer, I think in a positive way. In a world that seems very negative very often. I think, you know, that's kind of a calling for me. Even when the book is doing that, you know, the book is a celebration of something that no matter what side of the aisle as we talk on Election Day, where you sit, I think ah blue or red, you could read this book and gain something from you know, you're expecting something bigger and super deep and you'll be disappointed. But I think going in, you know, the cover and what the the synopsis says you you kind of know what you're getting. And I think that there'll be no it should be embraced from all all sides. And so maybe going forward, I get to do more of that in some way. I don't know what that is for sure.
Zack Arnold
Well, for certain that there is always an opening as a coach and mentor and the Optimize yourself program if that's what you're looking for. I can only imagine filling that slot and what we could do. So I want to be very very conscious of your time and respected the fact that you've given me even this amount of time is just beyond my wildest dreams very much appreciated. I want to make sure that everybody that's listening get the stocking stuffer get waxing on share it with friends. My wife was actually going to buy it for my birthday this year saw that I had already purchased it to prepare for this interview. She's like, well, you blew that but it would have been a gift for me would have been a great one. But I definitely want to wrap it up before we do is there anything that I haven't mentioned or we haven't talked about that's really important for you to share before we we move on?
Ralph Macchio
Um I don't think so. I don't think I mean, I liked the some of the places we went and I liked the you know, diving deeper into two areas, just some personal areas that I think would you know, it's sort of shows shows a side of me that you don't always hear And, and I think that that's, you know, there's not there's not a specific outside of the fact that I've been doing, you know, for six weeks of interviews all day almost every day, and me being a little burnt. I think that I think this feel fresh and, and original, which is nice. And thank you for that.
Zack Arnold
That was my goal, I wanted you to enjoy this and not have it be just another interview on your schedule. And it warms my heart to know that I was able to achieve that given just the endless monotony of one interview after another after another. So I was glad that I was able to to give you that breath of fresh air, I cannot thank you enough for all the knowledge that you have imparted. I'm glad that the version of you that you got to share today is one that I get to see every single day, you know, before they call action and after they call caught I get to be a part of that even if it's just through my screen, my erotic isms. You know, living in the pastels and you know, really digging into the nuances and so many without you knowing and without us being physically on set lots of lessons that I've learned through the screen, you know, working with you and directly and can't thank you enough for everything you've imparted for me and now share with our audience like this means the world to me, Canada. So I really appreciate this,
Ralph Macchio
Ralph. Oh, it was great. It was great. It's a love fest. And I'm glad that there has been you know, it's it's a two way street. It's the same thing I talked about with this character and his journey that I've had, I really get I'm inspired with what I get back. And that's it really is a two way street of inspiration. And it's awesome. And like I said I let off with thank you for your work and participation in the show. It's it's the most collaborative art form on the planet, what we do, and especially on the budget and the schedule that you are ended insane. So thank you for that. And hopefully there'll be plenty more to come
Zack Arnold
Waxing On available pretty much everywhere. anyplace you want to send people whether it's a website, social, anywhere you want to send people other than waxing on you can pretty much get any bookstore, amazon online. It's everywhere.
Ralph Macchio
Yeah. All right, brother. All right.
Zack Arnold
Thanks so much. Really.
Ralph Macchio
Thanks very much.
Zack Arnold
Take care. Yeah.
Ralph Macchio
In Los Angeles. If you if you don't get to New York first. Yeah, you will. All right. All right. Thanks.
Zack Arnold
You have a good right. Yeah, thank you. Okay, you too. Bye bye bye.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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Guest Bio:
An actor, producer, director with an extensive list of credits, Ralph Macchio is best known for his celebrated performance as Johnny in Frances Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders; the hit film My Cousin Vinny; and most notably for the title role in the popular classic The Karate Kid and its successors. Expanding further on the Karate Kid Universe, Ralph continues to reprise his iconic role of Daniel LaRusso in the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai. He lives on Long Island with his family.
Show Credits:
This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared by Debby Germino and published by Glen McNiel.
The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).
Note: I believe in 100% transparency, so please note that I receive a small commission if you purchase products from some of the links on this page (at no additional cost to you). Your support is what helps keep this program alive. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Zack Arnold (ACE) is an award-winning Hollywood film editor & producer (Cobra Kai, Empire, Burn Notice, Unsolved, Glee), a documentary director, father of 2, an American Ninja Warrior, and the creator of Optimize Yourself. He believes we all deserve to love what we do for a living...but not at the expense of our health, our relationships, or our sanity. He provides the education, motivation, and inspiration to help ambitious creative professionals DO better and BE better. “Doing” better means learning how to more effectively manage your time and creative energy so you can produce higher quality work in less time. “Being” better means doing all of the above while still prioritizing the most important people and passions in your life…all without burning out in the process. Click to download Zack’s “Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Creativity (And Avoiding Burnout).”
