‘Karate Kid: Legends' Star Ben Wang Praises The Moviegoing Experience
Jackie Chan, Ben Wang and Ralph Macchio in "Karate Kid: Legends"
On Thursday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, Karate Kid: Legends actor Ben Wang was honored with the CinemaCon 'Star of Tomorrow' award for his much-anticipated performance in the latest movie within the longtime franchise.
Wang plays newcomer Li Fong in the Sony/Columbia Pictures movie, which arrives exclusively in theaters on May 30, a struggling young man who ultimately finds his purpose with the help of Mr. Han (played by Jackie Chan) and the original Karate Kid himself, a grown Daniel LaRusso (played by Ralph Macchio).
Following the success of several previous Karate Kid movies, as well as the Cobra Kai spinoff series on Netflix, when speaking with Wang at CinemaCon, I wondered how he was able to get over the pressures of joining such a beloved movie franchise and focus on his artistic craft.
Wang initially joked, 'Oh! I mean, I was plenty worried. I was losing sleep and hair and regular bowel movements.'
He then added: 'In the beginning, there was a lot of pressure, but the good news is we had such a great team that I trusted, that they wouldn't let me go out in the world, looking bad. They are so good at their jobs and they were really great at getting me to the place where I felt confident about the work that we were doing, and that's when you start to have fun and that's when you start to do really good work. Jackie and Ralph are some of the kindest people that you can work with and some of the best scene partners that you can have.'
Ben Wang and Ralph Macchio at the Sony presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 31, ... More 2025.
CinemaCon, which is a gathering of international movie theater owners, exhibitors, vendors and more - all focused on working together to keep the moviegoing experience alive and well, I wondered what the theater-watching experience means to Wang, even with the growing popularity and demand for movie viewing on video streaming within our society today.
'I only watch movies in a theater," Wang said. "I have a giant TV at home and I hardly ever turn it on. I'm a big fan of the theater. I grew up in the rural Midwest and there was not a theater in my town when I was growing up. My journey of falling in love with movies and falling in love with cinema was playing VCR tapes that I rented. There's something to be said about that format that makes it really accessible for kids, like me, but then I moved to New York where there are theaters galore. I was like – I don't want to go back! This feels like the best and only way to watch a movie. The communal experience of watching it with people.'
Ben Wang, Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio in "Karate Kid: Legends"
Also briefly speaking with Michael O'Leary, President and CEO of Cinema United, which is the largest exhibition trade organization in the world, representing more than 31,000 movie screens in all 50 states, he said of the movie industry's ongoing efforts, 'Look, one thing we learned during the pandemic – I think there was a lot of supposition that perhaps it was the end of theater-going. One of the positives – and there weren't many that came out of Covid – one of the positives was it proved that wasn't accurate. And so, as we come out of that period – that difficult period of time for so many people – we find ourselves in a situation where we want to upgrade and rebuild the theaters and really make them into something grand. The truth of the matter is - consumers today are more demanding than ever. They want real value for their money and they want experiences – and so, we are working very, very hard to make those experiences.'
Beyond Karate Kid: Legends, moviegoers will also get to see Wang soon on the big screen in Lionsgate's The Long Walk, a chilling and thought-provoking story of survival from Stephen King. Wang said of The Long Walk, 'I'm very excited about that movie, too. I shot that and Karate Kid, back-to-back. Both were [filmed] in Canada, funny enough – Montreal for Karate Kid and Winnipeg for The Long Walk.'
As I concluded my conversation with Wang about his new Karate Kid: Legends movie, I was curious what he would say to his character Li, after embodying him on-screen and understanding his journey.
Ben Wang in "Karate Kid: Legends"
Wang said, 'That arm is going to heal. Give it a few months – you'll be alright! He's probably stronger and smarter than I am in real life anyway, so he probably has more advice for me than I have for him.'
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