The First Time: Ralph Macchio

Ralph Macchio has spent the past two years reprising his famous Daniel LaRusso character on the Karate Kid spinoff series Cobra Kai, which is slated to return for a third season on Netflix in 2021. The critically-acclaimed series mixes old characters like Johnny Lawrence and John Kreese with a new generations of teenage karate students. Exact plot details of the third season have been kept under wraps, but it involves LaRusso returning to Japan to confront more ghosts from his past.

Macchio recently sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss milestone moments from his life, including the time that he auditioned for the original Karate Kid with director John Avildsen. “He said to me at the end of it, ‘I would maybe take up some martial arts lessons or start taking karate,’” Macchio recalls. “‘I can’t answer for sure, but unless I run into Spencer Tracy on the way back from L.A., you’re probably going to be hearing from us.’ You couldn’t have written it better.”

He also spoke about the first time he appeared with original Karate Kid actor William Zabka on the set of Cobra Kai. “We got into the skin of those guys and just added the time,” Macchio says. “A little more wrinkles, a little less hair, but it was like comfort food.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Macchio discusses playing himself on Entourage, learning the crane kick, appearing on Broadway alongside Robert De Niro and reading The Outsiders as a child.