Ralph Macchio: Legacy, Identity & The Karate Kid Journey

The audition for the karate kid came up and I heard the title the karate kid and I said this is gotta be the worst title of anything I've ever heard in my life. When someone pitched that Rocky Balboa and Daniel Russo would have two kids that would meet and both be in trouble and they would fight crime between Newark and Philadelphia. Cash, kid you're asked you if you bullied me in all these ways. In that movie it's become a piece of everybody's childhood or life or inspiration. In a way I just watched the end of that and I'm saying where are these movies now? I was saying this back in the green room that I couldn't be more honored to have every speaker here and we explain the unique significance of Cassie from earlier today. And we had a conversation about Hollywood celebrities and sports figures and so many of these people that are gonna be here have such an impact on everyone and certainly on me as well. But there is no one coming here that Mr. Ralph Machia that has a bigger impact. When the karate kid came out and we are clear that your career is certainly more than simply the karate kid. And there's a litany of films not the least of which my cousin Vinny and all these beautiful wonderful things of impact. Let's hear it again for that. That your work transcends so we are very clear that it's not like okay the karate kid is here like Ralph Machia was here and we're clear. And what we want to do today is to make sure that we acknowledge and honor just the incredible impact you've had on the people in the room. I've explained to our partners in a lead a long time unblinded people mastery. The place to karate kid holds and our legend are training the video clips that we watch and endure and by the way for all of my lawyer friends out there there is fair use fair comments of what you'll have to use clips for so I'm very clear what we can and cannot use all good. And what I am like incredibly present to is the impact you had on my life their lives and I feel like a little kid with such a massive space of identity impacts sitting with you and it really is truly a dream come true and honor for me and I thank you for being here. Thank you Sean. Thank you so much. Thank you. So from that place would you mind just sharing a little bit about growing up I know you're a northeast guy what was life like and you know prior to the acting world please. Well I grew up a long island which is on the other side of the two rivers. Many people say you grew up in New Jersey didn't you and they don't that you know because it kind of morphs art and life but recita but I am mom dad my dad self made man still both my parents still with us 88 now slowing down a bit thank you. That's you know tough at this chapter of life because it's you know it's changed but but but I have both of them and my brother my younger brother about two and a half years and it was just the four of us in kind of you know middle of law island Dix Hills Huntington area my dad owned a bunch of like one or two laundromats that was sort of his he that was the onset of his business and. And then what came from there is the cesspools would overflow from the soapy water so we had a by a pump truck and then from that pump truck came the largest long island liquid waste removal. So we did it all of it would never went to college right at a high school grew up in Brooklyn that sort of the quick cliff notes version of my my dad so I was brought up and a working class environment my mom worked. At the at the office I would have to do my time at the laundromat on Saturdays you know giving change to the customers dreaming about maybe being on Broadway or movies or because I grew up watching what was the 4 30 movie or the channel 11 movie the million dollar movie in New York maybe some of the Jersey books W.I.X. WPI X you got it and so I come on from school I know I'm jumping around but I'm trying to give you like this little pieces of what life was like for me and and my mom would have all the old musicals on my dad would be working out during the mom would have the MGM musicals and I watched those and that's what I was first bitten by the bug of of that you know that the that story telling and that Gene Kelly was I wanted to be Gene Kelly from the from day one. I just loved Gene Kelly his masculinity his smoothness his you know those were bigger than life movie stars so I started tap dancing lessons at age 3 because my my dad thought it would be good for me it wasn't and his playbook initially he wanted but he didn't want me to be bashful and so like he was or he explained that he was as he as a kid in my mom wanted to be Betty Grable if you know Betty Grable is I'm dating myself but these are great movies movie stars of that that era so that's kind of how I was bitten by the entertainment bug and I would you know I always look younger for my age than I am I'm still trying I'm still trying if you think this mail it's amazing say yes now I am blind but I'll go with what they said so anyway so to to bring this this portion in for a landing I that that's what that's you know what got what lit my fire I enjoyed being on stage I enjoyed telling stories whether it was dance and I wasn't even that great but I knew it a land and I knew how to smile and I I got by on that for a bit and and in between I was dreaming I could also be Tom Seaver and and and throughout you know via 20 game winner and major league baseball but that was not going to happen so I had all those kind of aspirations but it came from a very functional loving family both my parents were very supportive of anything through my my schooling although they didn't always agree on things I was given the the the opportunity to to explore I understood the value of a of a dollar my dad would still be like you know you see those two aluminum cans over there put those you bring them you get ten cents you put that in the bank you know it's like little little little little he's done that with my my kids so so that's the long rambling story of what got me bit from the entertainment bug and then I got as it happens to off and I got lucky I was in the right place at the right time and what was that that was the movie I called up the academy it's not at the top of the resume but but and and a bubble yum commercial that's probably more famous I did a bubble yum commercial that you could watch on YouTube and at my expense just rip me to shreds but it was it placed Saturday mornings and that was sort of I went in and I got the part and then I went in for the movie up the academy I got the part and then at that point I was I was I hadn't paid my dues but stuff was coming to me I want to pay my dues a little bit later after all that the big success and then it was about how to had a sustain and not be at the top of the way you know and that's that's really a lot of lessons that I've learned over the years are are are from and and so so that's kind of how I got into it the outsiders was a big I love that movie seen the outsiders yes we're going to do it for Johnny all night long so the outsiders was a book I read when I was 12 years old which was you know somewhere between falling love with Gene Kelly and tap dance shows and wanting to be you know Robert De Niro or or Dustin Hoffman who are kind of my Puccino all those guys growing up so so I read that book was written by a 16 year old girl Essie Hinton who is still with us and I just I wanted to be in that movie I can it was the first book I read without my parents saying you have to keep reading and so when they auditioned for that I just I had to have that part I just had to and I said it to Francis Ford Coppola I said I have to have this party so I wanted you to read for this part I said no I want this part and somehow through it all that was the first super dream come true for me where I set out got exactly exactly what I wanted and it wasn't and I learned later that there were other actors that might have done workshops beforehand but for somehow it landed in my lap and I hold it holds a special place and what what was it about that part in the outsiders I just connected at 12 years old I connected to that kid even though I didn't have that broken family life he had an insecurity about him he was smaller he was kind of the run to the litter he was of the boy of the guys of the gang in the group he was the one they protected he felt a little bit inferior and I had some of those things from the aspect of looking young for my age not being you know probably going to puberty last I'm still waiting on that so it was a big joke I had a swing it was like a beach ball over the middle of the plate but so you know so I connected to some of those adolescent insecurities that he was dealing with and I had and he was a sympathetic character and I felt an affinity for him and I he was also described physically I liked how I was dark hair big dark eyes kind of puppy dog elements to him and so it just I just felt like I could be this guy and I could and it was Francis Ford Coppola I've seen the Godfather like 40 times I was like I have to make this happen cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering 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cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering You don't remember when the Oscar last year, but you remember where you were when you saw ET or the Godfather or, you know. So art is defined over time, but that film, it came out and I was super proud of it and super, you know, it was beyond for me because it was, I was in that dream come true section of the onset of my career and the karate, the audition for the karate kid came up and I heard the title, the karate kid and I said this is going to be the worst title of anything I've ever heard in my life. And maybe, maybe inside my head, I wrote this in a book that I wrote my more-called waxing on because you have to call it waxing on. Where I said to myself subconsciously, maybe I hate this title so much because if I ever get the part, I'd have to carry it for the rest of my life. Wow. You know, but how old were you? I was 19 when I auditioned. So I call it the machio curve. I played 16 for 47 years. It's my own little thing. So I was 19, I auditioned and I read the script and I found it inspiring though corny was my initial reaction. Some of the high school stuff I found corny, but the Miyagi character was written and this is, I think this is, these are great points to make in this setting. The Miyagi character was written. There was some humor peppered throughout, but he was, you know, this wise master and you, that's the kind of what he is, but it was probably a little less of what Pat Morita brought to it and his brilliant, brilliant performance as Mr. Miyagi. But that mentor student, father, son relationship was just beautiful on the page. I went and I read for John Avelson who had directed Rocky. I spent my childhood running up and down, library steps pretending to be a Stallone at the time. So I was, you know, this was another, how is this happening to me experience? And it was my first reading with him where you could watch on YouTube. You honestly go to YouTube and watch Ralph Monster and Pat Morita's first reading. You can see my audition. And it's interesting. I didn't recall it at the time because when you're in it, you don't know it. But I look back years later and even today, if I watch that audition right now, that's the kid. That's Daniel Russo like it wasn't, it wasn't, it didn't take, you know, months and months of work to find it. It was, it seemed like, you know, I was just meant to, I had the kind of East Coast bravado that he had, but yet he was kind of a, you know, he thought he was a tough guy, but he wasn't, which is part of what makes him interesting. And then, and then that project, you know, just happened for me. They flew me out to California on an option deal, which is, you know, when, but it was, it wasn't until we found Mr. Miyagi that they were going to sign off. And, and Pat Morita, this is my favorite story and it feels so right for this, this setting. Nobody wanted Arnold from Happy Days as Mr. Miyagi. Myself included on the onset because I grew up Tuesday nights on ABC, if you remember, LeVernays Shirley, Happy Days, Mork and Mindy. I mean, this was our, you know, and I just remember Arnold is like, Baa, Fancy, we go. You know, and he's, and then I'm reading this. That's why I alluded to Miyagi being this, you know, this grounded wise master of martial arts and philosophy. And I was just like, how is that guy going to do this? And it's interesting when I look forward. I went through my share of pigeonholing for a while of, you know, you kind of get boxed in. And I was at that time boxing in who Pat Morita was as an actor because I only knew what I had seen. And when I walked in to John Avels in the director, as office, I was in LA to have me out there. And Pat Morita was over there and we had our scenes and we had one scene and we just started reading it and John was just videotaping this. As soon as he started speaking, like all of Arnold's from Happy Days, like I didn't even know that was the same actor. And he had these beats and these comedic rhythms, but yet this earnest kind of what you want, when someone is teaching you to connect. He had such a connection and I just listened and reacted and it was a tango to the perfect, to the perfect music and from, from Jump Street. Like there was no finding it. It was just there. And I still think if you play a scene from that movie, it's still there. And it doesn't happen very often, but that kind of marriage and connection of those two characters. As you alluded to before, it's quite inspiring and just a privilege to be a piece of that puzzle. Amazing. Well, it's here for Ralph Masha. Yes. What I love to do for a moment is just play a quick clip and see your reaction to it. Is that cool? Okay. Tink. Ready? Yeah. So we're going to look right back here. So it's going to be, this is going to, yeah, you'll see. I think you're familiar. Depend? Or what? Lisa. How's Revenge? Karate for Defence only. That's not what these guys are taught. I can see. No such thing as a student, only a teacher. Teacher says to the student, too. Did you go with me? You know, I can. Why? You said it was a good idea, right? For you, good idea. For me, good idea, not getting involved. Oh, you're already involved. I mean, you're a bit... What? I got to carry you away, too. Thanks. Don't do many of our favors, okay, pal? Daniel, son. What? Okay. There you go. Oh, actually, ex-Mr. Miyagi is just... Miyagi. Miyagi. So like many of you, do please help. Yes, I will. And let's see how it goes from there. Coming back. So what does that bring forward for you, if, if anything? Well, instinctively, I have two things to, well, two things to start to share about that scene. One, what does he say? No get involved and everyone laughed. That on the page is not necessarily funny, but with the textures that Pat Maria had in that character, in the through line of connective tissue, he had that humor raised the bar. And obviously, JC Penney 398, what kind of belt do you have? It's, you know, but also that scene was... There was a few scenes in that movie. And it's not done as much anymore, because we just thrown into the TikTok generation, where everything's cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts. But that entire scene from the moment, Larusso wakes up and realizes he helped him out and saved him from the skeletons all the way up to JC Penney 398, is one shot, one continuous. And we spent a while on it. It was just, and that was one of the scenes, it might have been this, might have been the scene, the first scene I read with him when I audition, when I was saying that, when we read together. But that, you know, that's the setup, the setup to the perfect payoff, you know, that doing the chores and then being karate skills, the student, the aggressive student wanting the answers before asking the questions, you know. Yes. So perhaps, so please Daniel Sons in the audience? Yes, yes. If you are Daniel Sons, say yes. Tink, let's say yes, Sensei. Yes, yes, Sensei, yes. And you are now Sensei, we'll get that in a moment and beyond. But this may be more about them even than it is about you, for all of us coming up in the next, we got a Tink? Here we go. For four days I've been busted my ass, everyone got a damn thing. You're like plenty. I learned plenty, I learned how to sand your decks, maybe I've washed your car, paint your house, paint your fence, I learned plenty, right? I'm not everything is I seem. Bullshit, I'm going home, man. Daniel Sons, Daniel Sons. What? Come here. Now show me wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off. Hey, wax on, wax off. Concentrate. Hook my eye. Lock the hand. Some means they. Wax on, wax off. Show me paint the fence. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. All the side. Ditch, ditch, ditch. Ditch, ditch. Ditch. Show me sand off, right? Hatch, ditch, ditch, ditch. Hush. Hush. And if you act so, I'm gonna act so off the next two days, you can do that. Yes. So if I could ask, how do you feel about watching the clips, like being present to it? Is it like, yeah, been there done at 9 million times? Is it, yeah, I'll say something about it for the audience. Is it still resonate for you? Like what's present for you when you see those moments? When I watch that, I remember, I mean, obviously there's such a warmth in nostalgia, certainly. And I remember the day, like I remember, you know, I see the green paint that they put on my favorite. I remember, I remember, you know, John saying, I wanted to look like he's been painting all day and we were, you know, so I go into things that you're not thinking about besides just, you know, the emotional part of the scene. And I start thinking, you know, is that bittersweet because Pat is no longer here. John Avels is no longer here. So a lot of the creators that made this magic are no longer with us. So there's an nostalgia embrace for me. But there's also, I remember how often we rehearse that scene. Every scene we shot up into that point, that was probably about two thirds of the way through the filming of the movie. And anytime we were sitting around, John Avelsin would say, well, I'd work on the scene, the payoff. We need the payoff scene. You need the payoff scene, you know, that's got, it can't be fast enough, it can't be quick enough, it can't be sharp enough. And as witness to even the first time I saw this movie, that was the first, that was when the world was like, we are so into this story because we've been taken on this ride and everyone was feeling that sense of accomplishment through the kids, it's Lou Louruso's recognition. The message is Robert Mark Kamin, I need to mention his name, he wrote this screenplay. And he's still with us. And he will, if he was here right now, he'd say, how come you haven't mentioned my name a few more times? We have that sort of give and take between the two of us. And you know, a lot of credit, you know, it's in the writing, it's in the execution, certainly in the casting and the visuals and all that. But the foundation, and if you're, you know, you tell me how much you use these pieces, one of these days you should, you know, connect with him as well because he would, you know, that's where that, it came from, and for him it came from a personal experience. He was picked on as a kid and he had a master, Okinaw and his own Miyagi and that's where that story came from. So when I see, when I watch that scene and I see that father's son, that mentor student, that, that Yen and Yang give and take, where both grow. And that's the beauty of that film is Miyagi gains as much in his life as Daniel does from each other. So it's a two way street of inspiration and it's really quite beautiful. Amen. Let's hear for that. So, so maybe let's jump forward a bit and we'll come back to something maybe, you know, towards the end of our time together. But so this happens when did you realize the impact, how transformational was the karate kid for your life and when did you become present to, if that transformation occurred to it and what it was going to mean forever? Yeah, that's, I mean, that happened in phases. I mean, as early as the exit of the first sneak preview of that movie, which is the first time I had seen it, that's, I did the introduction in the waxing on book is all about my experience scene. That movie is the first time not having seen anything and seeing it with an audience of about, you know, about six, seven hundred people in New York City and I walked in that theater, you know, kind of the average kid that maybe two or three people said, hey, I think I saw you in the outside, it's really cool. And I came out of that movie like I won the Super Bowl with Stanley Cup in the World Series. You know, I, you know, I had to be ushered to the car and everyone on the street was doing the crane pose and the producer Jerry Wyntrop, he turned to me, goes, listen, we're going to be making a couple of these. And he said it. And I couldn't, I couldn't process any of that. I just think I just knew I was in something special. People were, you know, jumping, hugging, high-fiving, you don't see that too often anymore in a movie theater. First of all, you don't see anyone in a movie theater because everyone's on their phone. But, um, so it was, um, so that's what's the onset. And then it snowballed from there, but it was. Hey, hey, good question. Good question. If you saw the karate kid and all of a sudden wanted to take up karate and be the karate kid, say yes. Yes, thank you. I know, or open a bone-side kiosk at a mall. I always say, I, why didn't I come up with the bone-side tree kiosk? Um, it's, it's amazing. It's amazing. And, but it then became pop culture. That's what started to happen, you know. Um, um, and obviously it was sequel. So there was, uh, part two was in 86 and, and part three, uh, which is, you know, not my favorite of, of all the karate kids, though people, it gave, uh, kobra kai such, such, uh, uh, seeds to grow more fruit. It's amazing. Even the, even the shortcomings in the karate kid, uh, trajectory, uh, bare fruit in the end. It's really quite, quite unique and amazing. And I think what started happening, and interestingly, um, I think a lot of the writers that grew up on that movie that would write sitcoms and movies would reference the movie. This is years later. So maybe 10 years after, it started to be popping up on every, you know, talk shows, sitcoms, late night. Um, then there was the, the Comic Con started getting really popular. People would be dressing up in the shower costume or the skeletons and, and then it started to become, um, then there, uh, a, a, a, a theory where Johnny Lawrence might have been the good guy and Laruso is the bully, which is how, sort of onslaught of co-operative. How does that land with me? Yes. Uh, initially it was like WTF, man, no way. You'd be messing with Miyagi, though. Um, initially that's how I was and I took it because I, uh, that characters become such a part of me and, and not only from a part of me, but a part of how people view me, they, they feel like this was a kid they grew up with. Daniel Laruso had no business winning anything. And that's the beauty of that character because he's a piece of all of us, you know, he wasn't like, he was a ninja on page two. He had to discover and learn and be the novice and, and, and, and, and be given these gifts of, of knowledge and, and, uh, and legacy and, and pay that forward. And if I could, and that's, you know, this is not, I mean, we don't know each other, obviously, uh, very well, but that's what these folks are doing here. This is these are lawyers, accounts, financial service providers, doctors, holistic healthcare providers, real estate professionals. These are people who are training. And we talk about the deep practice. We use the framework of the karate kid all the time in terms of deep practice, the rise of their influence, what they do with the how they emotionally get themselves to use it. We have deep practice every morning 8 a.m. that people in these programs come into to increase their influence and their integrity, how they cause yes. And again, it's this journey of the karate kid is what these folks are literally experiencing. And if you feel that way about what you're doing here, say yes. Yes. It's amazing. It's amazing. It's, um, I mean, that's, that's kind of the evolution of, of, of what it was like for me. And certainly the whole, the whole, uh, Johnny's the real karate kid videos that came out about that, the how I met your mother, the Barney Stinson, say, and we actually did an episode of how I met your mother Williams, apka, uh, who is awesome as Johnny Lawrence, both in the movie and co-work I got a shout out to him. We, uh, it became like this groundswell of, of a discussion. And then I looked at that instead of saying, oh, wait, they're not seeing it the right way. To me, it was like, this is 20 years later. And these people are still arguing about the theories of this movie. That's probably, that means we have a real footprint in society in the world in a good way. Um, so it became, um, you know, it had a, a, a, a, co-work I was just, um, I was like, just another angle into that universe. And in the end, if you've watched that entire series, it kind of lands like a really good karate kid movie. It's just the, you know, everyone, uh, got to, to wear a different, uh, a different jacket here or there, you know, you meant, if you've seen the co-work I say yes. Yeah. It's like incredible, right? I like, incredible. Imagine, imagine you work just walking into like any random room in the world and like, you know, you can't, the people plus have seen the things that you do. Like how many people in here have never seen Ralph Macho ever on screen if you have not ever seen him in anything ever for seeing him today, never, ever raise your hand. How crazy is that? It's crazy. 99.5 plus percent of people have seen your work. Like how does that feel? That's insane. You've done that. It's like I'm an exercise right now. It's great. It's really, it's, it's overwhelming. It's hard to, um, it's hard to, you know, to put into words with that is the, the good news is most, uh, thankfully, or, you know, smile about it. It's like, you know, there could be the other side. Like, you know, there are people that we've all seen a thousand times in which we hadn't. I'm, I'm glad. I've, I've sustained some form of likeability and, and inspiration throughout. So it's a privilege. I mean, I, you know, I don't take, I don't make light of what I've brought to all this, but I, at times I feel like I stepped in something and it just bloomed like roses. I'm just trying to stick the landing and pay that legacy forward to the next generation. That's how I look at it. That's a fact. And, thank you. And so you mentioned a few minutes ago that, you know, there was the, there was another side to the, like, the rise is it after the wave. And what did you mean by that, please? Well, that was, you know, there were, I call those the lean years, as far as, uh, from an acting career and, and, and, uh, what looks like success on paper. However, my, my wife and I who've been married 38 years. Right there. Wow. Thank you. Had, uh, had two children. My son is the youngest. He's going to be 30 next week. It's insane to say this out loud. I'll tear it for that. Uh, but. So a lot of my focus at that point was on my family and being a young dad and, but there were their challenges of, you know, this sort of there. When you look at, say, you look at the timeline, it was a short amount of time. When you look at the outsiders 1983, I mean, there's other credits, but I'll name the, the ones that have, we know the most, the most successful. The outsiders to the Karate Kid and I, my cousin, Vinny was about, you know, nine years time. Um, and so by, by 92, my husband, he was 92, 93, 94, um, then everything just started to get quiet as far as, um, work for me as an actor for, um, in the mainstream. Um, one I looked, I was not maturing into the leading man roles as, as, uh, as would be the, you know, the norm because I still looked, I still had a childlike energy, which I still try to have, um, which is, um, beautiful and affectionate. Yes. And then you have it too. We both have it. Yes. Oh, thank you. I said, they said, I have you met Sean. I said, my only concern. They said, would you want some coffee? I said, no, if I have coffee between Sean and I, the rooms can explode. Uh, good way. Is it good? Thank you. So, um, so those, I would say, you know, from the mid 90s to the, you know, mid 2000s, um, was, you know, uh, smaller parts here and there. I started writing. I started directing some short films. I was trying to stay creative, but I might not have always been the most pleasant guy every day to be around because it was, you know, there was such, um, um, you know, a launch for me. You know, like I mentioned, from the bubble gum bubble yum to outsiders to my, to karate get the mic as a venue, it was like, yes, yes, yes, yes. And then all of a sudden, kind of the bottom dropped out of in the mainstream for me. And it was, uh, challenging. I had my wife who's amazing and my family upbringing who I slowly introduced you to, Hathion set as the kind of safety net in the foundation of who I was and M and I think that's, um, and obviously my children, um, as a part of what, you know, kept me on my feet. Um, I've always, I get asked so many actors, so many famous kids of the 80s or whatever got, you know, went down a dark path, whether it was, you know, whether it was drugs or, or, or things like that. Um, why didn't that happen to me? And some of that is my own sensibilities. Um, um, uh, a decent amount is my upbringing. Um, and, um, and it was interesting in California. I just wanted to be back in New York watching the Mets because they were good at that time. Yes. Um, or the islanders that were winning Stanley Cups at that time. Um, so I went around the corner road. The corner road. That's it. Those are my guys. They got a game tonight. But one thing at a time. Um, so, um, so I would, I would always go back home, back to the island in between projects. So I think that that was, I didn't, I, I always kept one foot in Hollywood and one foot out and there in lies the balance for me. Um, and how I think I skirted those difficult times or that, that rabbit hole of getting sucked into when things are negative or not easy and it's not working for you. Um, so I'd like to believe, you know, it's all those components that led me to come out the other side. What happened in recent times with, uh, things happened, whether it's when I was on dancing with the stars and became really, you know, a real groundswell of popularity during that or some other, uh, roles or projects I did and then leading into Cobra Kai, that's what happened with Cobra Kai and even the Jackie Chan, the Crotic It Legends movie, just that, that's how many examples of that are there where 40 year property all of a sudden became relevant for 10 year old kids who watch the show with their parents and their grandparents. And that's really unique and that's, I don't know, I don't know how that happened. So I got to believe, but can I, can I just like offer you a slight challenge and one thing you're so incredibly humble and you're so just such a kind human. Like if you feel that resonance, say yes. Yeah. And, but dude, like it's you. I mean, yes, it's the movie to care all those things, but it's you and people love you. Like if you just like love Ralph Macho, like you say yes, yeah. That's right. Dude, and she will kill me. She will kill me for saying this, right? I've been doing this for really long time and you just met Ty's mom. She never comes to anything. This is my first wife. She's in the building because you're here. That's why she's here. So I'm going to thank you for that because I'm not bad at what I do too. Thank you. That's the power you have. Like it's, it's so incredible, the influence that you have. And so yeah, please, like, Cobra Kai, like it's amazing, extraordinary mind blowing. And how did it happen? What is that about for you? Well, I mean, first of all, thank you. Sometimes it takes these kind of scenarios for me to even get clarity. And that way, because when you're inside the bubble, you know, we see clearly, right? But Cobra Kai, the three creators of that show came and they had heard, and it was truthful, that I had no real desire to go back to play Daniela Russo again, partially because I heard so many bad ideas over the years. And you know what you should do? You know what I mean? Especially in those lean years, I'd be, hey, funny. I need, listen, you got to do this. You got a kid who's got a problem. And then you're going to give him Miyagi to the kid and then you're going to, and everyone had their idea. The funniest, the craziest idea was when someone pitched that Rocky Balboa and Daniela Russo would have two kids that would meet and both be in trouble. And they would fight crime between Newark and Philadelphia. And what's funny about that is those are the movies they're making now. But so I always said no. I said no for 30 years. Mainly one, you know, I don't know where that magic was going to come again. I didn't have, Pat Marita was no longer here. I don't know how you enter that world and not have Miyagi. So I was not, I did not have the tools to figure that out. But so these three writers who had been known for Harold and Kumara and Hot Tub Time Machine, those are the ones that are going to bring my legacy back up to the world. And they're all from Jersey, they are. You're better. They are. Yeah. Yeah. That's John Hurwitz, Hayden Slasberg and Josh Heald. Great guys. They created the Cobra Kai series. And they knew more about the Karate Kid films than I did. They cared so much and they convinced me it was not easy. Because they had Billy's app he was in, the studio was in and they were like, you got to get Ralph and Billy's like, good luck with that. And then they had to sit and tell me they were going to make a show called Cobra Kai. And I was going to be like a car salesman who is kind of an ass. So they had a big mountain decline. And this is a great story because they had to go from hello to what? Yeah, yeah, exactly. This is what the yes. Exactly. So they pitched me the concept, which they did not have me at hello. But there was something about timing. Here's the thing and this might be an interesting point. I had just seen the movie Creed, the first movie Creed. And which was quite a good film. And if it did one thing, it did many things. But if it did one thing, it proved that you could enter a certain universe from another perspective and it seemed fresh and new. So here, how do you not make Rocky 7? You make Creed, which is about Apollo Creed's kid. And then you get into that Rocky Balboa world without making that same cookie cutter concept. So I'd seen that and I saw that work. And they were pitching Cobra Kai, the Johnny Lawrence story. And that was the entry point in. So everything was from a different prism. What was it like to be the kid that was kicked into the face as opposed to the kid who delivered that kick? And then it was really when they started talking about the kids, the next generation. If you remember the characters like Miguel and Robbie and Samantha, Johnny and Daniels, kids and how they were playing the story that I started to see the landscape and see where this could go. I still had no idea. I was on the edge of the pool and I had no idea if it was 82 degrees in warm or ice cold, but I knew I had to take this swim at that point. I just, I felt that they cared so much about the characters. Now once I got into it, it took a little bit longer than the promise to get Larusso back to where I think he would have landed. But that's what kept the show up in the air, you know, figuring out the way that every character had a little good, a little bad. Let's put it this way. The kid is very black and white. You know Miyagi, Daniel, good, Chris, Johnny Lawrence, bad. Cobra Kai, there's a lot of gray areas at the characters. So that created more length of story and certainly for a series. And then it just hit at the right time and every time it came out each season, there was another pandemic surge and everybody was home and it was the only thing to watch. And it was amazing. It was amazing. That's here for that. But in that, right? So but in that, doesn't it? Mr. Miyagi kind of cracks the door, right, for that in the karate kid when he says, and that clip we watched, no bad student, only bad teacher. Exactly. And then they end up as the true villains of the movie. And what I thought was so like, it was mind blowing how they brought like all the characters in, like from one to end three in that. And what would you say from your perspective, Ralph, is the legacy of Cobra Kai? Well, I mean, only because then you now have the karate kid legends in Jackie Chan. So, so where's it all sitting in your heart? How do you look back now at Cobra Kai and legends and where's it all go from here? Well, I think that, you know, yeah, no such thing as bad student, only bad teacher. It's, you know, and it's interesting because you think of Johnny Lawrence's character and Daniela Russo's character. That's what they did a beautiful job with. They said, if either one of them, if Johnny Lawrence had Miyagi and Daniela Russo had John Crease, where were those paths go? I mean, there were two kids in need of mentorship. And that we always stayed true to that in the storytelling. But the one thing I said to John Josh and Hayden, the Cobra Kai creators, on the day they pitched before I jumped in, is I said, I just need to have the thread of Miyagi throughout this series. I said, if that disappears, then I'm making a mistake because I don't want Daniela Russo's story. Even when he falls, he's his knee's ax, like a jerk, whatever, you know, we need, you need conflict for story. I need those elements because that's where the magic happened. You know, yeah, it's fun. Get him a body bag, sweep the leg, all those funny things. But the heart and soul and the genuine human elements that work from that initial story was always important to me to thread throughout. And the same thing with Karate Kid Legends, which was very much a studio coming up with, hey, how could we get Jackie Chan and Ralph Maggio and do this again? And I just, it was the same note I had as long as I can share a piece of that legacy in the story that what was the magic that started it all. Then I could, I could feel that I don't undercut the integrity of the character, the story, or this universe. And it's always been super important to me. And I think it's proven itself, I mean, selfishly on one hand, but I think it's proven itself. It keeps the show and all these episodes by the motion pictures or the series grounded in a way. And so going forward, it's, you know, I think there was, you know, I think it was time to land the Cobra Kai plane. It definitely felt like it was time. I always joke. I said it's amazing. I probably would have moved from the valley and taken up a different sport after six seasons. Ralph sensibilities was like, I'm tired of getting my ass kicked. Let me try. Let me try soft. But it makes our better entertainment. I think that I never say never, like say, are you going to do any more? Are you going to continue? It's, there's, it needs, it needs a little, you know, I don't want to say this karate kid fatigue because there's so many lessons you can still mine from that story in these characters. But I also don't want to overstate the welcome. It's about, I guess, I pain the legacy forward. If there's a piece that is genuinely authentic that you could make fresh, then I'm open to it. But man, it's been a one hell of a ride. And just to hear your story and what you're, and how you use these pieces and the work that you guys are all doing is, I mean, this is the gift that keeps on giving just even sitting here. Oh, thank you. And thank you. You know, so, you know, we talk about heart and integrity and you just embody it. Just feeling and hearing how Ralph Macho is speaking of Pat Morita, Mr. Miyagi and just this abiding loyalty decade after decade, tears are wailing up for me because that's just who you are. And we talk about influence and how what a heroic character is that heart and integrity are. Like you just embody it. And there's no manufacturing. You're just so authentically who you are. And I think that's at least a core part of why you're as beloved as you are. And if you guys, that resonates, yes. Yeah, yeah. So thank you. And you love the mats and you're loyal to the mats and take, if we could throw it up the picture from my dad for a minute, I'd love to just show Ralph that for a quick sec. My dad's 80th birthday just passes a quick met fan to met fan footnote. And he's in the hospital. So we brought Dwight Good and Mookie Wilson, thanks to Darren Prince, to see him in the hospital just a week ago. And he and I were in box one 13 a in the front row behind first base in 1986 when the ball rolled through Bill Buckner's. I was there. I was at that game. Where were you? Oh, I swear to God. Where are you sitting? Just behind the first base, I remember seeing Buckner's heel and seeing white behind that heel. And that's all I remember. I saw that ball roll through and my wife and I were there freezing. We in the lower level are up in the lower in the orange seats that chase us. Yes. Yes. Dude, I was sitting literally 25 feet from Bill Buckner in the front row behind first base right with a dirt and the grass met. We were like in the same part of the same. You know, why did it take you so long to call me? I don't know. That's crazy dude. That is absolutely amazing. That is amazing. All right. We're going to digress for like an hour but not they got a rescient penalized art. We'll stop there. We'll stop there. Yes. But. This is Dwight and Mookie. Dwight and Mookie, my dad and myself. That's great. God bless man. That's awesome. This is like a week ago. You just got out of hospital too. Thank you for all your prayers. Thank you. Thank you. 80th birthday in the hospital and it's out. Yep. So if you had it all your way, kind of a two-part question, you know, it's 100 years from now. I ask everybody this question. Not just folks on this stage. This is people all over the space of certainly. You know, it's 100 years from today. It's your final day. You have the blessing and privilege of knowing it is. Like from this day to that, what's there still that you'd like to accomplish? And I mean, like maybe taking up table tennis or chess, you know, maybe making 10 more movies, like whatever it is. And then when you're there, what is it that you'd like to be looking back on, that you know your heart or soul that you brought to this planet, please? Oh, so the light, easy question. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I thought I was getting out easy. No, that's a great question. Not one that I've given a tremendous amount of thought to, but I think I always, I feel I always need to be creative in some way because it drives me and I think I mean, there's something about I got to direct an episode of Coborki, the final season. And I loved working with those young actors, you know, the older actors as well. But I really enjoyed working with the younger actors and them listening to me and me believing how much they were they were taking in. And so I got such a charge and a joy out of creating with them and caring about them as well. So that's something I like to see myself do more of more behind the camera and storytelling, figuring out ways of telling stories the way I grew up with them, but yet still sort of like what Coborki did, embracing the nostalgia, but being relevant at the same time, which is a challenge when you're competing with everyone's phones and short content. But I'd like to take some, I'd like to cook, but I've never, there's more, there's more there I need to tap into. I enjoy a nice glass of wine here and there. So I mean, I think I'd like to get better at enjoying time cooking and just stopping and smelling the roses, if you will. I mean, it feels everything's just, you know, go, go, go, go, go. And I want to, my wife and I talk about it now is when we look at this chapter, I'll say it out loud. I'll be 64 in November. That's incredible. It stays in this room. Okay. And listen, I can't see, you know, you feel, you feel like you're late 20s. Like you feel that way. Like you know, and I feel people and I don't say things to just be kind. I say it's true. Your energy is just so infectious and youthful and I really acknowledge that. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I blame my parents. It's their fault. But I, you know, I look at it now at my life and what I've been able to accomplish and the blessings that I have and the work that I put into it and not taking anything away from who I am and that, you know, you put good out there. Maybe good comes back. So I'd like to believe that that's, that has been true for me. But I think of 20 years, I think 20 years back and it feels like last Tuesday. So I'm having these conversations with my wife. I think 20 years forward and I'm saying, okay, what is this chapter? You say 100 years from now, but in the same, to the same point is what I want to joy. I want to enjoy time with the people I love, of course. I want to, I want to stop and take something in that normally I have to rush past because life gets in the way. And obviously some folks don't have the, the, the luxury of that are being comfortable enough for that. But you know, when I mentioned cooking which is popped into my head, it's just, there have been times where I'll just make my, you know, Ralph's shrimp where I take it and little cayenne and mix up with the garlic and it's making that noise and in the, in the big wok and I'm getting excited. Linguini's boiling and I'm going to make the most delicious pasta and I have the time to do that. I'm happy and it feels great and I would love to share that. So it's like stopping for those moments, being creative, taking, like when I mentioned directing the kids on the show, taking what I've learned from the great Pat Marito or the Francis Ford Coppola or Walter Hill, John Avelson, and filmmakers and actors. I've worked with Anthony Hopkins, someone I worked with only one day and he had such a profound effect on me. I want to, I remember those things that I felt I learned from him. I would love to hand that. So it's paying that legacy forward, taking a piece of the wisdom that I've learned that I feel has shaped maybe the positive that I am and giving that to the next generation who is dealing with a world that is not always so positive and often is angry and hatred is a big part of the day and I like you being the, you know, the elixir to that if I, if I can. Wow. That is a powerful, beautiful thing. So as we begin to draw the clues, would it be okay? I'm sure a lot of folks would appreciate one more clip and then just feeling how that feels for you. Would it be okay? Yeah. Okay. Tink. cheering cheering cheering isolation I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to have to go. You're always going to show up. That's his life. How does that feel? It feels great. I was just first thing I wanted to say. I got the chills and the things. I'm in it. It's like crazy. But it's just a beautiful payoff in the story and all that stuff and the crane. You know, if you could do it, you'd see it's going to work every time where it really doesn't work. I tried it. It's a little bit. It's cinema magic. Certainly it's Bill Conti's music. It's everything coming together. It's hard to even put into words. I've seen it. It kind of never gets old. I don't watch it daily. It's been a few minutes. But seeing it again and feeling all you guys, what it meant to you when you were in the theater or when you watched it with your kids. It's quite unique. It's really inspiring to me to be connected to that. I always want to talk about yesterday in life. You want to talk about tomorrow what you could be doing because you get lost in the nostalgia. Not that I'm guilty of it. I have no choice. Everybody I meet wants to talk about in 1984. I'm Coborki helped with that a little bit. But I don't look that as a negative. I get asked that question a lot of actors don't want to talk about their most famous thing or they'll say, I'll come on Sean's fireside chat. But don't ask me about that. Let's talk about other stuff. To me, the karate kid Daniel Russo, since it's all on point with this in this setting today, is that character is bigger than that story and what's happened is bigger than the actor who played the part bigger than anyone in that movie. I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. 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I think it's a big part of the story. I think it's a big part of the story. out of here from how you make your pasta to like what's on your heart. If you have like one final message for these amazing humans, please Mr. Ralph Macho, what would it be? Wow. You know, from my perspective, it's, I know I've, I've odd nauseam said, paying legacy forward, but it's finding those moments in your life at least for me. And some of them, the clarity doesn't happen till later. It doesn't, it happens in a surprising time. Even things that I learned from my own kids that, that, that I look back and see a, a small moment that I receive something positive from them, but in the moment I didn't see it. And then later it becomes, it becomes clear. I know I'm, I'm kind of tap dancing a little bit here as far as, as defining what I'm, I'm trying to say, but it's, it's finding those moments in your lives that are, that are, sometimes the quieter moments and not the loud moments, sometimes the, that, where, where the noise, the signal is clearer than all the noise. And, and, and finding the, the human side of that and, and, and, and, and paying that forward in some way. That's what I'm, that's what's, I look forward to every day is, is finding those, those, little pieces of, of something in my life that it, it's not always the loudest that I can, I can take, I'm trying to, they make a, I find a specific example. Um, I remember my daughter saying to me, I think she was, she was going through, she had her own, some bullying going on with her in school. Uh, it's back, you know, middle school time when it, it's the toughest. And I didn't see it. And you would think, oh, should be able to see this more than the karate kid guy. It wasn't, it wasn't, it was more covert, bullying less like, you know, take your lunch money, push into the wall, it was, um, you know, she was being teamed up on by some, in her circle. And I didn't see it. And my wife saw it before I did. And I didn't, and I might have, um, I wouldn't say downplayed it, but it was not on the front burner for me. And then years later, interestingly, I was doing a scene in, in a, in a, a broad small television movie that was, that, that connected to that same moment with the daughter. And it was just this real, this realization of clarity of, I saw clear what I couldn't see as, as, as the dad on the day. And I had that moment with my daughter and I spoke to her about it years later, because I, and I, it wasn't just in a, I just, I'm not saying I just apologize for it. It was just we had the conversation I wished I had at the time. But going forward, I used when I was working on Cobra Kai, sorry about the rambling, but I'm getting to the point. Uh, when I was working with, uh, the, the girl Mary Mauser, wonderful actress who plays my daughter Samantha, and we were dealing with the same subject matter. I told her about my story with my daughter, Julia. And when we played the scene decades later in Cobra Kai, there was, there was a, there was a resonance from her perspective in mind that was of a, a, a, a, next, next level. So it's finding those moments, even those missteps in your life that, that you gain clarity from later and then pay that forward. It feels good for, I won't say I, it was my, my parental fail, but it was not my brightest moment. And I, I, you know, and my daughter and I and Mary and their very close friends and it was kind of a wonderful connection. So sorry about the long road to that story. But I was finding it as I was explaining that's here for a while, right? It is an honor. It is a privilege. Um, and your legacy lives on everywhere and certainly powerfully resonates in the space and not only yours. But that of course, of Mr. Miyagi, Pat Marita and all of those that were involved in the magic of the karate kid and the magic that you Ralph Macho brings to the world. And has been an honor and a privilege, sir, and you're welcome back here anytime. Let's hear for Ralph Macho. Thank you. Thank you. And, and may I, may I bow to you? Oh, yeah, yeah. And thank you. Oh, it is.