Ralph Macchio and William Zabka were 'Karate Kid' rivals. Then 'Cobra Kai' made them pals.

USA Today

13-02-2025

Ralph Macchio and William Zabka were 'Karate Kid' rivals. Then 'Cobra Kai' made them pals.
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Ralph Macchio reflects on Pat Morita, 'Cobra Kai,' 'Karate Kid'
Ralph Macchio opens up to USA TODAY's Brian Truitt about playing Daniel LaRusso in "Cobra Kai" and the legacy of "The Karate Kid."
Even wise Mr. Miyagi couldn't have seen the surprising path taken by 'The Karate Kid' stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka.
The first day of filming the 1984 movie found Macchio face down in a face full of sand on a Southern California beach when his New Jersey transplant Daniel LaRusso is beaten up by Cobra Kai teen bad boy Johnny Lawrence (Zabka) and his goons. Cut to 41 years later on the last day of filming the Netflix spinoff series 'Cobra Kai' and another beach scene, where Macchio and Zabka are running and playing in the surf, grinning mightily.
Macchio, 63, calls it a 'full circle' moment for a pair of martial arts rivals. 'There's a silent conversation we're able to have by having gone through all this together, both as actors and as characters,' he says.
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The original film ended with Daniel crane-kicking bully Johnny in the face and winning the All Valley Karate Tournament. Six seasons of 'Cobra Kai' have centered on Johnny's redemption story, becoming co-sensei with frenemy Daniel at his Miyagi-Do dojo and teaching karate to a new generation of youngsters. The final five episodes (streaming now on Netflix) find the duo more together than ever when, in the wake of tragedy, they lead their pupils into the finals of the international Sekai Taikai tourney.
'Iron sharpens iron and these two individual, unique characters from opposite sides of the country need each other,' Zabka says. 'And throughout the show, they better each other. They bump heads, but they always come back to the middle.'
William Zabka finds a 'Wicked' redemption story for his 'Cobra Kai' antihero
Zabka, 59, sees 'Cobra Kai' as like 'Wicked' in a way, though instead of the Wicked Witch of the West enjoying a fresh perspective it's a seminal '80s movie villain. Zabka became known for playing teen antagonists back in the day, but he recalls deciding to play Johnny because he saw 'the heart in him.' It's glimpsed just at the end of Daniel's win in the original "Karate Kid," when Johnny hands his opponent the championship trophy and tells him, 'You're all right, LaRusso.'
'That little spark of redemption possibilities in him is the seed that grew this tree,' Zabka says of 'Cobra Kai,' though at the beginning of the show, he still worried that Johnny would 'be the biggest douche of all time at the end of this thing.' Instead, Johnny has become the best version of himself, a needed father figure for Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and a better dad for his own son Robby (Tanner Buchanan), yet still very much himself (and still loving Coors beer and '80s hair metal).
'There are second chances and there's a great human story in there,' Zabka says.
Ralph Macchio is a 'lucky guy' to still be playing Daniel LaRusso
Daniel has also needed to evolve. He used his local sports stardom to launch a successful auto dealership, yet he has had issues. Daniel has had a hard time juggling being dad and teacher to karate wunderkind daughter Sam (Mary Mouser). And at the same time, he's a sensei forced to deal with old foes and soapy martial arts drama as well as mysterious new information about his beloved Mr. Miyagi (played by Pat Morita, who died in 2005).
'He is trying to honor his mentor, his own family values and put positivity forward,' Macchio says. 'He's learned to navigate things better. He'll still be the knee-jerk LaRusso, who acts first, thinks second, because those flaws make for interesting storytelling.'
The actor points to one dream sequence near the end of the series that throws back to 'Karate Kid,' in which Daniel has an emotional conversation with Miyagi (resurrected via Hollywood magic) while 'coming to grips with his own internal struggles." Daniel's new clarity comes through in "those moments that he hands down to the next generation (and) pays that legacy forward.'
Macchio says he's 'really proud and happy' with where Daniel lands at the close of 'Cobra Kai,' though he's not hanging up the gi yet: He stars in the upcoming movie 'Karate Kid: Legends' (in theaters May 30), where Daniel and Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) team up to teach a kung fu prodigy (Ben Wang).
'It's a new story on the big screen, kind of where I started,' Macchio says. Roles are 'few and far between with the impact that Daniel LaRusso has had in pop culture, cinema and television, and I'm the lucky guy who got to play the part.'
'Karate Kid' foes have grown to be 'the best of friends'
The OG 'Karate Kid' star frequently jokes about how at the end of filming the '84 movie, he walked away from Zabka thinking, 'Well, thank God I never have to see that guy again.'
'It kind of hurt getting my ass kicked,' Macchio says with a laugh. 'And here we are on this day, the best of friends. He's my brother in arms. I never would've imagined that.'
Zabka concurs. They've grown close after filming several "Cobra Kai" seasons, and Zabka was on hand to honor his buddy when Macchio received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in November. There's a lot of art imitating life, too, with Daniel learning from Johnny's aggressive style and Johnny getting a crash course in Daniel's balance and defense.
'They both stay true to themselves and find their way together at the end,' Zabka says. 'There's a common ground. That gives us all a little bit of hope.'