Every item on this page was chosen by a Shondaland editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.
It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, the heroic crane-kicking underdog of The Karate Kid franchise. But in his new memoir, Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me, Macchio shares that he was only one of many actors in the running for the now-iconic role — had he not been cast, it might be Charlie Sheen, Robert Downey Jr., C. Thomas Howell, or Kyle Eastwood penning a memoir about the experience.
Macchio knew, however, that he was the only actor who could truly bring LaRusso’s “sweet toughness” to life. Years of being one of the smallest and youngest-looking students in his class provided the Long Island native with a deep understanding of the character. “He has this bravado that came naturally to me,” he writes. “I built up a defense to any teasing I would experience in junior high and high school. I’d act tough and confident to plow through any insecurities. That’s where LaRusso’s cockiness came from for me.”
That understanding has led to a decades-long relationship, with Macchio playing LaRusso in three film versions of The Karate Kid (from 1984 to 1989), as well as the current Cobra Kai series, which premiered in 2018. Although he admits there have been times when he was tired of hearing about the role, in recent years he has come to embrace it. “I have a very unique story to tell from walking in these shoes for close to 40 years,” he tells Shondaland. He adds that the book “became a celebratory look back [at] the film, how it resonated around the world, what it’s given back to cinema, pop culture, and my own personal life.”
Macchio recently spoke with Shondaland about his career, the intensity of “evangelical” Karate Kid fans, and the type of role he’d like to play next.
SANDRA EBEJER: What made you decide to write this book at this time?
RALPH MACCHIO: I’ve been asked in the past if I was interested in writing about the making of that film and its lasting legacy. I think Cary Elwes had a big success with his Princess Bride [book], so I think that’s what ignited publishers saying, “Hmm, let’s look at those types of movies and see what else is out there.” I worked with a ghostwriter at one point on some concept that was not that pleasant; [with] ghostwriting, you wind up rewriting the ghostwriter’s work. So, I knew I wanted to do it myself.
Then the pandemic hit. What am I going to do in March and April of 2020? I can’t leave the house. Cobra Kai is not going to be on YouTube anymore; Netflix hadn’t picked it up at that point. It seemed like the perfect time to start jotting down chapter ideas and a book proposal. I started getting excited about it. Even though I talk about other films, other things in my life, I bring it all back [to The Karate Kid] because when you look at the themes of that film and Cobra Kai, it’s bullying, it’s mentorship, it’s single parenting — these are all themes that, when well executed, will be embraced because they work on a human level. So, it seemed fertile ground for a memoir.
SE: I watched the David Letterman interview from 1992 that you reference in the book, and then I immediately watched the Jimmy Kimmel interview that you did in September 2022. And in both, the hosts seem to want to talk only about your age. It’s fascinating that these two clips are literally 30 years apart — in one, you’re 30 years old; in the other, you’re 60 — and yet the conversations are almost identical. I can’t think of anyone else who has had that experience.
RM: That’s really cool that you mention that. I like that perspective. You know, it’s just part of what I deal with a lot. I write [in the chapter] “Frozen in Time” that I’ve aged slowly, and I make fun of it. I guess there are worse subjects to have to deal with than boyishness [laughs].
SE: This book focuses primarily on The Karate Kid and Daniel LaRusso, which is the role most people think of when they hear your name. But when you look back on your career, are there other roles that you’re proud of that you wish got more recognition?
RM: That’s a good question. I mean, The Outsiders I get recognition for, My Cousin Vinny, and certainly The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai now. I think Crossroads [1986] was a cool film that gets some cult recognition. That was a performance I worked hard on, and I love lots of elements from that movie. Walter Hill, a great filmmaker, directed that film. And I did this TV movie called The Bobby Garwood Story with Martin Sheen. It was a true story about a guy who stayed in Vietnam for like 13 years past the [war], and he was one of the forgotten warriors at the time, but some people thought that he was someone who collaborated with the enemy. It was a really interesting film, and I really poured my guts into it. It was an ABC movie of the week. More recently, The Deuce on HBO. It’s a great series. These are just some off the top of my head.
Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me
Now 47% Off
$15 at Amazon
SE: I’m glad you brought up The Deuce, because I’m a huge fan of The Wire, and I love anything that David Simon and George Pelecanos do.
RM: Yeah, George is great. They both are. I auditioned, and it was a role that might have been in two episodes, maybe, and they just kept him alive for the [series]. He’s just sprinkled in there, a very small part. Number 36 on the call sheet, as opposed to No. 1 that I get on Cobra Kai. It was nice to be part of that fabric. Some of my favorite [moments] when making Cobra Kai season one and two was on Sunday nights, I would watch The Deuce with my Cobra Kai script on my lap. I was in one show that was very behavioral, gritty, earthy, and the other one that was a karate soap opera where the San Fernando Valley was treated like the Gaza Strip or something [laughs].
SE: You write in the book about the Funny or Die video you did that mocks your nice-guy persona, so I imagine you don’t get offered those gritty, dramatic roles often. Do you enjoy playing those kinds of characters?
RM: I do. And in a way, there’s more of a high gloss on Daniel LaRusso today. He’s probably written in Cobra Kai as more of the antagonist than I think he would have become, but this is a story we needed to tell, and it was through Johnny Lawrence’s eyes. So, I got to be not the nicest guy in some of Cobra Kai, actually, because the show really dives into the good and bad in people. But yeah, another version of The Deuce with a little more of a heavy lift for me would be what I’d be looking for next. I would love to do an ensemble that is built into this sort of behavioral fabric as opposed to “This guy’s not coming near my dojo, or I’m gonna rip his head off.”
SE: One of the interesting moments in the book is when you write about your dedication to your family. You write that you chose to “keep one foot in and one foot out” of the entertainment industry, which at times negatively impacted your career. I feel like this is something we hear women grapple with a lot more than men, so it was interesting to read your take on it. Do you have any regrets about how you balanced your personal and professional life?
RM: Well, I think I allude [in the book] to times where I didn’t have the balance correctly. I had all those years with my kids when they were growing up; did I want to be in movies, on a hit television series, or on Broadway? Yeah, for sure. But now [looking back], it’s like, no, this was perfect. But it was not completely by design. I got lucky with it all because there were times where I was really frustrated with the way things were going, but I was not someone who would leave my family to search in desperation for the brass ring in the late ’90s when it had disappeared. I always had the sensibility that that would not serve me or my family. If I went down that path, maybe something would have created itself, but those are just the life choices that you make.
SE: It’s pretty mind-blowing that you’re doing Cobra Kai decades after the premiere of The Karate Kid. Could you ever have envisioned that you would end up continuing this role all these years later?
RM: Absolutely not. No way in hell. Not even close. I mean, The Karate Kid Part III was not the best experience because I felt the characters were not written well, it was not moving forward, it was not evolving, and the story got a little cartoony. What’s amazing about that is the shortcomings of The Karate Kid Part III are the gifts of Cobra Kai seasons four and five. That’s what’s mind-blowing — how Jon [Hurwitz], Josh [Heald], and Hayden [Schlossberg], who write this show, have such an affinity for all of it that they know how to create nuance and refinement towards characters, and these actors are coming back, and everyone’s getting their second chance at redemption, which is a big theme in The Karate Kid from the get-go.
But when I was done with the second sequel, as I call it, I thought for sure I’d never throw that headband back on again. Not that I didn’t like it, not that I did not respect it. Someone once asked me at what point did I go from “I’m not just that” to “This is awesome.” There was a mini section of time where it was like, “This is tiring,” but when parents and kids come up to me and tell me how this movie changed their life, or “This was the movie I watched with my dad,” or “I was a teenager with a single mom,” then it’s utterly ridiculous to do anything but embrace the privilege of being lucky enough to be the guy who got to play that part. That’s how I look at it.
SE: I loved The Karate Kid when I was growing up, but I am not a Comic-Con person, and it was amazing to read in your book about the theories and the debates that exist amongst hardcore, convention-going fans. Does it ever surprise you how seriously fans take the films?
RM: It’s amazing. Around the world, there is such a passion. There is the casual Karate Kid fan, which is how I would be as a moviegoer and probably even a fan of Cobra Kai. I would probably be that guy who would not set the alarm clock and watch all 10 episodes before my friends so I could say I did it first [laughs]. I’m more like, “This is a good movie. I like these characters, and I’m interested to see where they go.” But there is what we call our evangelicals; you cannot change their thoughts and theories, and it’s so fascinating to see how the internet and Comic-Con conventions built a world where people could give their opinions about their favorite characters.
My theory is if they’re still talking about something I did 35 years ago and it’s relevant, that’s pretty amazing. Also, in this time, where the world is right now, what The Karate Kid universe represents, I hope, is a place [where] all that stuff just goes away, and it just puts a smile. It’s like comfort food. It’s like your favorite burger or whatever your grandmother used to make on the holidays that you get to taste over again. That’s kind of what we represent. And I think that’s not a horrible thing, to bring a little bit of joy in the insanity of what we deal with on a daily basis.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Sandra Ebejer is a New York-based writer who has contributed to The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Greatist, Flood Magazine, and The Girlfriend from AARP. Find her on Twitter @sebejer.
Get Shondaland directly in your inbox: SUBSCRIBE TODAY
