Happy Sad Confused - Ralph Macchio

Episode Date: November 8, 2022

Ralph Macchio has been on quite the journey with THE KARATE KID and he's ready to spill all the stories. Enjoy this career chat with Ralph as hedives into his career, from THE OUTSIDERS to COBRA KAI, on the occasion of his new book, WAXING ON! To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to Josh's youtube channel here! Check out the Happy Sad Confused patreon here! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes of GAME NIGHT, video versions of the podcast, and more! Come see Josh tape LIVE Happy Sad Confused conversations in New York City! November 11th with Sylvester Stallone! Tickets available here! November 29th with Adam Sandler! Tickets available here! For all of your media headlines remember to subscribe to The Wakeup newsletter here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the Volvo Fall Experience event, discover exceptional offers and thoughtful design that leaves plenty of room for autumn adventures. And see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety brings peace of mind to every crisp morning commute. This September, lease a 2026 XE90 plug-in hybrid from $599 bi-weekly at 3.99% during the Volvo Fall Experience event. Conditions apply, visit your local Volvo retailer or go to explorevolvo.com. DC high volume Batman The Dark Knight's definitive DC comic stories adapted directly for audio

for the very first time Fear I have to make them afraid He's got a motorcycle Get after him or have you shot You mean blow up the building From this moment on None of you are safe

New episodes every Wednesday Wherever you get your podcasts Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. Today on Happy, Say It Confused, Ralph Machio looks back at nearly 40 years of being the karate kid. Hey guys, I'm Josh Horowitz, and welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Well, this week we've got an actor who is very much a part of my movie-going upbringing. I vividly remember seeing the karate kid, I think I was about eight years old,

probably saw it a half dozen times that summer of 84, and since then, I don't even know how many times. So suffice it to say, very surreal and wonderful to get to know Ralph Machio all these years later for this happy, sad, confused episode. This was a live event at Symphony Space in New York City on the upper west side of Manhattan, very close to where I grew up, so that made it all the more fun, too. I always loved doing events with Symphony Space. We've done some fun stuff over the years, Sam Hewann, et cetera, and it's a beautiful theater.

Guys check out their programming there. They do great work, and this was a really fun night, guys. This is Ralph Machio talking about his life and career, from working with Francis Ford Coppola in The Outsiders to Karate Kid, to the Legacy of the Karate Kid, which, of course, course continues to this day with the phenomenally successful Cobra Kai. It's a crazy story, a crazy journey for Ralph, and it's really cool to see what that initial film, directed by the great late John Adelson of Rocky Fame, has born, how it's given inspiration and passion to new generations. You know, my nieces and nephews watch COBRA Kai. I'm sure if you're

listening and you grew up with Karate Kid, maybe your nieces, nephews, and kids watch Cobra Kai, and it's just fun to see this is a franchise. Yes, sometimes that's a dirty word, but in the case of this, it's kind of a beautiful thing to see how it's evolved and become something that different generations embrace. So anyway, this was a great chat. Ralph has a fantastic new book called Waxing On that recounts all of these stories and many more. And he is as advertised, super nice, crazily, seemingly well-adjusted, family guy who just happens to have portrayed some of the iconic characters of the 80s, and even 90s. Let's talk to my cousin Vinnie, right? Come on. Anyway, that's the main event today. Other things to mention, well, as always,

it's busyness around here. We're getting prepped for our next big live event. I encourage you guys, there are tickets available to my event with Sylvester Stallone. next week, November 11th at 92 NY. That's a big one, guys. Talk about 80s icons. Sly Stallone? I'm kind of nervous. Very excited.

I'm just starting to do my prep now. I mean, what do you even talk about with Sylvester Stallone? Where do you even go? Big choices ahead for me to figure that out. That's on me. But I promise a great night. November 11th at 92 NY. Tickets NY. Tickets are available if you can't be there in person.

and virtual tickets are available as well. All the information is in the show notes. If you want to watch the video version of this conversation with Ralph, it's very easy. Just go to YouTube.com slash Josh Horowitz. Give us a subscribe. And you can watch that and the Henry Cavill conversation, the Tom Felton conversation, virtually every conversation that I do on the podcast is available in video form on YouTube. Plus, of course, my last plug for my own shenanigans.

Patreon. For the diehard Josh Harowitz, Happy, Say, I Confused Lovers, that's where you get your discount codes to the live events. That's where you get the early announcements on the guests. That's where you get the merch. That's where you have the opportunity to ask guests questions. That's where you get the early access to the podcast and the video version of the podcast and much, much more. Patreon.com slash happy, say I confused. That link is in my, in the show notes here. It starts at $5 a month. You can go on up. you'll, if you're so interested, but it's a fun place to be. It's a nice little community we've created. Check it out if you're so inclined. Okay, let's get to the main event, because this is a big,

long, juicy conversation. The energy was great at Symphony Space. I hope you get a sense of that from this chat. Yes, there are some video clips in here, but I think they will translate in audio form. We have a nice little video message that you'll obviously hear in this from a close friend and co-star of Ralph later on in the show that caught him off guard in the best possible way. He was very touched by that. Look forward to that. And yeah, let me take you back

about a week, 10 days ago, to a great night in New York City, me and Ralph Machio. Enjoy. Hello, symphony space. Hello, Upper West Side. How are you guys doing tonight? I am indeed, Josh Horowitz.

Thanks so much for coming out tonight, guys. I am a born and bred Upper West Sider. This is my home base. So it means a lot to be at Symphony Space with you guys in this beautiful theater. We have an amazing guest tonight, guys, for this live, happy, sad, confused. There is a lot of history to cover tonight. Wow, from Coppola and the outsiders to the Karate Kid, from Cobra Kai to

beyond. This guy is the ageless wonder that is Mr. Ralph Machio, of course, and his new, yes, his new book, I should mention, which is excellent if you've not picked it up, you need to, is waxing on, the Karate Kid and Me. We're going to

divulge all the secrets. Nearly 40 years of secrets for the Karate Kid in this book. I think it's safe to say that nobody, as big, you know, I remember when the movie came out initially, as I'm sure many of you do, it was a phenomenon, but who could imagine it would have the long legs it has? It's bigger than ever in some ways. So this is a thrill to get to meet Ralph tonight in this context. Please give a big

symphony space welcome to the one and only Mr. Ralph Machio. Hey, hey, how's everybody doing? Well, someone's tearing up already. It's not me yet. Discuss amongst yourselves, we're going to be fine. We're going to all get through this together, guys. Awesome to be here in my biggest city in the world. Thank you, guys.

Just a couple born and bred New Yorkers talking movies for an hour. This is going to be fun tonight, man. Thanks for taking the time out, and congratulations on this book. This is quite an accomplishment. Thank you. Thank you. It's 38 years in the making and two years in the writing process, and you give birth, and it's out there in the world,

and the response has been awesome, and it's great to see everyone sort of rallying behind these stories that are such a big part of my life and sort of walking in the shoes of a character that has become a big part of the story. so many people's lives so it's really kind of unique in that way and it's amazing to read not only the stories

but your journey with this character and the ups and downs of any career but first I want to talk about the fact that you are a New Yorker and this is home for you talk to me a little bit about your upbringing you're a Long Island kid you're still in Long Island kid

still in Long Island Capital G yeah I grew up in in the Huntington, town of Huntington area. My parents are still there. God bless, in their 80s. They're married and wonderful,

and they created this thing. And it was mom, dad, my younger brother, Steve. Kind of working-classish family, but my dad was a self-made man, you know, found his, started out as my uncle, his uncle had a laundromat and then my dad had a laundromat and then that was sort of like the cash flow in the early business and then the cesspools would overflow from the soapy water and then he bought a pump truck and then he built that into a pump truck business and then some real estate and other things and so I worked at the laundromat that was the first job that's where the segue was I worked at the laundromat giving change and and fortunately there was a mere

movie theater at the end of the shopping center, so I would sneak into the movie. Now, I'd pay for tickets and go to the movies. Although one time I realized, if you climb across from the top of the laundry room, like you go up in the attic thing and you could walk across the other stores, I was able to see the screen from the corner. But then I said, this is not really moving. No, you know, that's my 14-year-old, like, adventurous self. But, so, and movies was where, you know, as a, you know, in between the Saturdays at the laundromat and working in Little League baseball and wanting to be Tom Seaver or whatever at that time.

Any Mets fans in the house? All right. Any Yankee fans in the house? Well, they're both playing golf tomorrow. But anyway, so. So I would, when I was, you know, coming home from school as a little kid, and I write to this in the early part of the book, my mom would have on what was the 430 movie, Channel 11, I'd watch, you know, it would be Casablanck, it would be singing in the rain, it would be Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and that was, you know, so that was the early stages of me becoming infatuated with storytelling. And I wanted to be Gene Kelly as a kid. I will say reading the book, nothing connected me more to you than reading about WPI and Entemans Donuts.

I just felt like I shared genetic material with this man in some way. So yeah, so a lover of movies, a lover of musicals, but as you just talked about, your family was not clearly in the business. No. So what did they make of young Ralph's interest in the arts? I think my mom, she had such a, I remember hearing about it. Betty Grable all the time. She loved Betty Grable, right? So, you know, for the youngsters out there, you gotta look it up. But, so I think there was a piece of my mom, because she could sing

and she could sing well. I think there was a piece of her that she never did that, but it was not crushing on. It was not like she, you know, didn't fulfill her dream or anything like that. So when I asked to take, oh no, my cousins were taking tap dance lessons. They felt, you know, for the reason of, you know, social getting, you know, getting involved with, whether it was Little League or dance classes, you know, just social activity. So I went into that, and I didn't suck. I wasn't awesome, but I hit my mark, I smiled, and even then I looked a few years younger than I was. So I probably looked better at it than I was because, like, this kid's five, he's amazing. I was 16. No, no, not true, not true.

Not true. It's a miracle. That's a bit of a spread. Exaggeration for effect, folks. But so, you know... And you found early success? I mean, did you find, like, one job immediately led to another? No, no, at that point it was just fun, you know, and I enjoy the thrill of the footlights.

Like I still do, even right now. I was back there waiting for the announcement, and I was getting all excited because this is, this feels like home being on stage, you know. So, and I realized I was never going to be Tom Zever. You know, I did not have a 95-mile-hour fastball. So what my parents thought, I mean, I think my dad was a bit like, okay, this is a phase, you know. But it wasn't until high school, really. I was in the plays in high school and such, but always like, you know, third guy in the back on the left. Never, you know, never Skymasterson or Nathan Detroit.

I was like, I actually played Harry the Horse in Guys and Dolls in high school. And Harry the West was Sheldon Leonard, like his big mass. He was a big TV producer, but he's totally miscast. And then I had a tap number in the middle of Luck be a lady or something. But so it was part of me, and sports as well. I really enjoyed sports and my sports teams in New York. So, you know, it was high school time when I went in for an audition and got this bubble yum commercial. I wound up doing two of them.

You could see them on YouTube. Totally embarrassing, but fun. Singing dance, it was a Saturday morning, you know, big smiles, over-exaggerated, you know, animated. Sugar bubble-gum commercial. That was the first. There's a lot of sugar in that gum. Yes, yes, yes. big wads of it

and they sent me a box I had tons of bubble it's amazing I have teeth right now so that's sort of what started and I would audition here and there before the movies before I get my first movie and the first films

correct me if I'm wrong it's funny because I just saw this documentary which is excellent about Robert Downey Senior I'm dying to see that documentary I just gave them they wanted to use a clip and I had to sign off on that you're in the documentary so there's a documentary there's a documentary about the great Robert Downey

Senior for those I don't know, it was this iconoclastic filmmaker who, I believe, directed your first film. Yeah, he did. He did. He had these underground, New York underground films like Greaser's Palace and Putney Swope in the 60s. You know, did a lot of drugs in his time, was a, you know, a maverick, but really, truly a filmmaker. And his first movie, I was a studio movie called Up the Academy. It was the first, you know,

movie job I got. And I played. It was sort of right after Animal House had hit. So they were looking where Animal House was National Lampoon. This was Warner Brothers, but they were tagging in Mad Magazine for some reason. They figured when they work for National Lampoon, let's do it. You know, it's like decisions based on no merit whatsoever. But the character's name was Chooch Bambalazi. Very realistic.

So he was a son of a mobster. And there were very stereotypical characters. Each character today would be, this thing would be blasted. This was like Archie Bunker on steroids. You know, so, and it was, we went to Weinberg Military Academy, and it was just the misadventures of, you know, misguided youth. And so that, but it got me to the next one. So at this point, were you, like, were you studying acting, or was it all an instinct?

No, I started, that's a great question, because I really kind of started studying acting after I was in it for a little bit when I realized maybe I should learn how to do this I was cast for a look and like I said I looked younger than my age so I could play 16 and be 19 or 20 so and I played 16 for I think 37 years I got a million of them folks

but so so what happened was the next thing was there was a talent casting thing for ABC television right and I wound up getting seen in New York and I was put into a show called 8 is Enough and I little Oz from the crowd eight is enough is a TV show that had like canned laughter as an hour family dromedy if you will and I was nine was too many but but I got I did 21 episodes

of that show. And it was wonderful to learn and the great Dick Van Patton was sort of like a father figure and helped me to sort of understand the daily grind of doing a TV show and sort of understanding my place in the ensemble. And

so that was that and then the next one was the big break, the big movie break. So we have to talk about, yes, Francis Ford Coppola. I mean, many actors go, yes. I mean, count on one or two hands, the great American altars and Coppola is one of them. Of course, this great ensemble, the

outsiders. So when this comes around, he clearly was collecting just the best talent in this age group at the time and bringing in a lot of very talented actors, a lot of them together in the same room as I understand it. What are your recollections of the uniqueness of that process? because every aspect of the way Coppola directs and rehearses sounds very unique. Yeah, he, you know, Francis is, was very into the theater, the theater camp element of getting a group together and working with actors, especially young actors like us. I mean, the audition process, it's, you know, been documented

how unique and difficult it was because every actor was in one room watching the other actor try out, which is really unnerving because you're trying not to listen to the other actor, read a scene a certain way, and you're trying not to look at the director to see if he's responding positively, because then you're going,

then you wind up acting by number, painting by numbers, you know, and it was tough not to do that, and tough to say, boy, he really likes him, he's, you know, I'm screwed, and, you know, it gets inside your head. So, but Francis was his, his theory was to mix and match, you know, is give me a Dennis Quaid and Patrick Swayze and Mickey Rourke and Ralph Machio. Okay, wait, let's go with Helen Slater and, you know, and Tom Cruise and Scott Beo and, you know, he would just put all these pieces together.

If you can imagine, those are the names that were all in this room. Yeah. Because before they were those names that might have been recognizable. So, and I wanted to only play Johnny Cade. I just won't, I read that book when I was 12 years old in seventh grade, and I just, I just love that book. I literally four days ago, maybe five, I don't remember, because I've been on this book tour, which has been amazing and gratifying. But I was sitting with S.E. Hinton, basically right there in Tulsa, Oklahoma, doing something like this. Amazing. Years later.

So surreal, yeah. I was able, you know, to speak. It was author to author, which was really nice and quite wonderful. But so anyway, so then, you know, and I got the part of Johnny Cadam. I got, it was like my first big, huge, massive victory. It was the dream come true with one of the greatest filmmakers, like you said, of our time, American cinema, certainly. But to spin back a second to your question of when I started studying acting, it was. was when I first auditioned for the Outsiders before the group audition.

I auditioned for Fred Roos, which was Francis' producer, and he cast The Godfather and American Graffiti, if you know anything about these films, some of the greatest castes ever assembled. But I did not get a second callback. I wasn't kind of ready, is what the feedback was. And that's when I started taking acting classes in LA at the Beverly Hills Playhouse at the time. And I used one of the scenes from the outsiders as a scene.

scene study scene, the, you know, the hospital scene. Let's, if you'll indulge me, we have a clip from The Outsiders because it's worth revisiting. It's a beautiful, there you go. Well, you're going to watch it again now. On the big screen. This is a great piece of filmmaking and marriage of score and acting. Let's go back and watch a little clip from the outsiders. One morning I woke up earlier than usual, the church was colder than ever.

Yeah, golly, that was sure pretty, huh? Yeah. It's like the mist is what's pretty, you know? you know, all gold and silver. Mm-hmm. Too bad it can't stay like that all the time. Nothing gold can stay. Huh?

Nature's for screen is gold. Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaves a flower. But only so an hour. Then leaves subsides to leave. So even saying to greet. So dawn goes down today. Nothing gold can stay.

Where'd you learn that? That's what I meant. Robert Frost wrote it. Piles remembered it because I never quite knew what he meant by it. You know, I never noticed colors and clouds and stuff to you can't remind me about. Kind of like you were never there before. Yeah. I don't think I could ever tell Steve her too big

or even dairy about the clouds and sunset. Just you and soda pop. Maybe cherry balance. Yes, we're different, huh? shoot you maybe they are you're right it's like

it's like magic hour like any actor would kill to just be photographed that beautifully it's amazing it was interesting because we um I mean, the long shot was practical. So it was real sunset. Every day we were shooting out at that church in Wintericksville, if you will,

and we'd be, it would be too cloudy. We'd be like, as soon as it was Magic Hour, we'd run out to shoot that part of it. And so we wound up doing that for about three or four days whenever, and finally we got the sunset to look beautiful. But we actually shot the scene out there as well. When they cut it together, you know, the Magic Hour, it goes so fast. and Francis had this, you know, since there's so many Gone with the Wind metaphors

and reading of Gone with the Wind, which had that rear screen projection style where you have the background as sort of the process. So any of the close-up shots, the medium shots, were in a sound stage with the projection. So we weren't really outside, and they just put the barbed wire. And it always was odd. I didn't know how it was going to come together. And it's, you know, I mean, when you look at it, it does have a little bit of a theatrical element to it. But, you know, so did this book that was written by a 16-year-old girl in 1967 or whenever it was, you know.

I mean, it works. It gives it a, as heightened as it is, a timeless quality. And, I mean, I love, you know, that was the time when he was shooting, what was it, the one from the heart? One from the heart before. Completely on a soundstage. Yeah, the whole thing was on a sound. But he was experimenting with, you know, Francis Coppola was way ahead of all the digital stuff.

He was saying someday, you shoot the whole movie in one room, you know. And he's about to start another film right now, self-financed big megalopolis. Exactly. So God bless him. You know, that was just such a special time. And it's such a special role for me. I'll never forget.

And you guys don't let me forget it because I'll see teenagers and kids come out with a book and I'll sign, stay gold and they scream and they squeal and I'm like, I'm probably older than your grandfather, but it's cool. It's cool. There's nothing but love in the air for my young greasers. Well, luckily you wouldn't have another iconic film just around the corner that people would be quoting to you for four decades, would you do? No. That brings us, of course, to the Karate Kid. So, like I said, the stories in this book are fascinating, and let's just get right to it. The funny thing is, the story of your involvement in this film actually begins pretty close by,

across the park on the Upper East Side. Yes, yes, 80-something Street, I always say. I think that's, you know, I have to go back there to see if I can remember which building is John's building. John Avelson, the great director of Rocky and the Karate Kid. Just another audition at the time? What was it? Give me some context. No, we got to, I mean, I write to this in the book.

I got a call, you know, that they were making a movie called The Karate Kid, and I was like, is it a cartoon? After School Special? It's such a cheeseball title. It shows you what I knew. Maybe I knew I'd be carrying it for the rest of my life. That's what I probably. But, and it was John Appleton, and Rocky was a big part of my, childhood and I saw that movie

like eight times in a row in the movie theater ran anytime I saw steps I'd run up to the top of them and do my rocky imitation and it was to read with the director and so which was awesome and I felt like well maybe because the outsiders you know I had some nice reviews in that I'm meeting with the director

I don't have to go through all the hoop jumping I write insert record scratch here because I walk into John's apartment building and I get up to the floor where his apartment is and it's packed with every possible teenage guy you could imagine. I was like, okay, I guess I'm going to be waiting online like the rest of them.

And he was reading with, he had a big video camera and you could see this on YouTube. He actually posted my first reading of Daniel Laruso and you can find it on YouTube as well as Pat Maritas and my first meeting with Elizabeth Shue, these videotapes. he posted them so it's really fun and I like to brag that my book

comes with visual aids we have the visual aid here shall we take a look? Oh sure I didn't even know that. He just led me down the road. This is a remarkable piece of tape to look at it so this is just for context what John did the late great John Ableton is he spliced

together you weren't at this point I had not met Pat Marita at this point he had read both of us one on one as he did and he was cutting the tape together to prove to the studio that these are his two choices. And the studio didn't, wasn't too open to Pat Marita, nor was the producer Jerry Weintraub. They just felt he was Arnold on Happy Days and he was a stand-up comedian and he's not Mr. Miyagi.

I mean, who else is Mr. Miyagi? It's so, it's only one. Let's take a look. The evidence is on the screen. Now, what's happened before this is that you've been at a, I'll, Halloween dance with Allie and everything was going terrific and these kids have jumped you and chased you and they beat you up in just before he's explaining the script up to this point setting me up for the scene wipes them off and you weren't quite sure who

it was yeah oh yeah and now you've come to it his place and he's bringing you around It stinks. It's no bad, he'll good. Where's that other guy who was... You? No, no. Why no? Oh, because, because...

Why didn't you tell me? What? That you knew karate? I never ask. Where'd you learn it from? From father. I thought you said he was a fisherman. In Okinawa, all Miyagi know two things.

We know fishing, we know Karate. In fact, Karate come from Okinawa. You see, matter of fact, Miyagi ancestor, about the 16th century bring to Okinawa from China was called Te. And then some fancy parents, uncle, call it

Karate empty hand I always thought it came from Buddhist temples and stuff like that's what I thought You watch too much television That's awesome It's a long time ago Amazing that that exists

I mean and you said it yourself I mean like for context This is like the wacky neighbor In a sitcom being cast in what became an Oscar-nominated role. Like, this was a huge leap. That is not the voice of Pat Marita. That is a full-on performance.

Right, right. So, like, I guess first memories of working with him on set. I mean, like, are the cliches true? Like, do you feel like, oh, there's a connection there? Oh, there's something special? Or was this another job at that point? No. What I can say, and I do write to this as well, is when I first met,

Pat there was I was standing outside the you know the door to head in and I had my script under my arm and I knew the scene

we were going to read so I felt pretty good about it but I just kept thinking that you know it was Tuesday nights on ABC and I was going to walk in there and he was going to go Fonzie bah ha ha ha ha ha I thought that it was going to be

you know like I was actually typecasting him which the irony and I write to this is that I was you know, on the on-deck circle of having to deal with some typecasting in my own in years to

come, not too many years to come after that. And when I walked in there and Arnold from Happy Days was nowhere to be found, his articulation, his diction was letter-perfect. He was very serious

about talking about Japanese heritage and culture and the meanings behind the words and his own family and then we started reading the scene and it was just as easy as anything I'd ever done and I didn't know it at that point

what I just knew it was easy I didn't know that necessarily was great chemistry or all that other stuff I was probably too young to understand that or to I don't all I remember is how effortless and simple and easy I didn't have to work it just

it was like the give and take like a perfect tango and it was beautifully written script so that needs to be said if you don't it's not on the page ain't on the stage as they say but it was elevated by what was clearly the two actors

that were meant to be together in these roles and it was right after that that we did a quick screen test for the studio and it was that was it and that's all everyone talked about was how oh you guys are amazing together you're and I was like okay cool you know

I'm reading my part, he's reading his part. But there was such a genuine affinity for each other. And that is, you know, that you feel in the performance, that you see in those scenes, that, you know, I write about the line, you're the best friend I ever had, being my favorite line in the original Karate Kid movie. It's probably not the coolest line or the best piece of dialogue, but it was just the perfectly placed.

in the script and delivered. I'll give myself credit for that. And then his response, even more so, when he says, you pretty okay too. And that's kind of Ralph and Pat and Daniel and Miyagi, the blurred lines of that, what still resonates to this day. It's funny, yeah.

Someone said in an interview recently, like, films are either A's or Bs. Like, they either clearly, they just work or they don't work. And Karate Kid just, it's one of those films that just works on every conceivable level. It's emotional, it's funny, it just draws you in, and it's a marriage of everything. It's the acting, it's the score,

and it's just impossible not to embrace it. Yeah, and it does start with the script, but it's all the components, and especially that film, and to this day, it resonates. And because it works on a human, level as well. The themes and the karate kid are the themes as much as the tone is different

in Cobra Kai, and I'm sure we're going to get there. As much as the tone is different, the themes are the same and it's grounded in what made the karate kid something that stood the test of time. And then the pop culture of it all became something else

that get them a body bag and sweeping them legs and catching flies with chopsticks. It's insane. do embrace a lot of like the so-called controversies over the years. For instance, let's get a show of hands. Was the crane

kick legal? Do you think it was legal or not? Yes? Legal? Yeah. No illegal? It's kind of a split decision. Okay. I like it. Listen, I always say this.

If you're still debating about a movie that was made 84 in 1984, 38 years ago. I don't look that if they're still talking about it that's pretty amazing and you know

it's fun yes that's in my chapter called theories and debates and the birth of Cobra Chi before we get to Cobra Chi I don't know if you realize this was going to be this is your life Machio experience but I do want to show you one clip

and the funny thing is okay so I selected this clip before I finished the book and then I'm reading the book and then I find out that this is a scene that you actually don't love your performance in so I apologize in advance no no it's not I know what you're talking about we can talk about after but okay this is a key sequence towards the end of the film just when it gets really exciting and and emotional at the very end let's take a look at the karate kit oh mr. Miyagi you think I had a chance with winning

and lose no matter. No, it's not what I mean. I had good chance. Well, can you fix my leg? I mean, with that thing you do? No need fight anymore. You prove a point. What point?

And I can take him beating? I mean, every time I see those guys, they're going to know they got the best of me. I'll never have balance that way. Not with them, not with Allie. Now with me. You know what I'm? Closed I.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment we've been waiting for, the present. He was going to fight? Daniel Lerucco is going to fight. Now, listen this one of throw back on this huge boy. Eyes awake, son. All right, D.C. to make the final match to determine who will emerge, Victor, and champion of the all-velder be under-ranking karate championship. Well, it's interesting that you chose that clip, and then you read that story.

It's a piece, I did, it's a chapter called Do-Overs, which is really important to have it. And what I, I chose three things connected to the Karate Kid universe that I would have liked a second chance at. And there's very few scenes in this movie that I would want a second chance at. And watching that scene, it absolutely. works. It's just a moment before Miyagi brings his hands together when

Avelson was trying to get me, when rehearsals we had it, I had the tears going and the whole I was really consumed with the emotion of like I let everyone down you know like a few weeks before then and when we went back to shoot it

that day for whatever the reason the emotion was not coming up you know that way so I was was manufacturing more of the frustration than actually a kid that actually loses control. And he's really, he's crying because he feels alone and he's let everyone down. So it was a piece of a performance that I wanted to infuse into that that never sort of got there organically. The worst thing to do is pretend to cry and then is bad acting. So at least I did that right.

But I always, and John was also, he was, I think he wanted it to get there. And I always wondered that camera shots stayed on Pat across me on Pat the whole time. And maybe if I had some of that other beats, he would have cut the other way. These are pet peeves. These are not, this not change the success of the movie. But it's just the reason why I wrote to that specifically is because in Cobra Kai, there was a scene with Robbie, played by Tanner Buchanan, where I was the sort of Miyagi to him

where he was in a broken point. And so I got to play that side of it over again. It was almost without being a second chance, it was another way to play the scene, and I really felt good about how that scene worked out. So it was just an exploration of picking one scene out. But then he goes, Daniel Leruso is going to fight. We're all in.

We figured this is awesome. I feel like we're all like, let's just keep watching, guys. I mean, this is great. I know. They cut right. Right before the climax. So this, okay, this sets off, and we don't obviously have time to go through every beat of the career,

but like there isn't this interesting next five or six year period coming off of Karate Kid that are extreme highs and then some frustrations that come after it, clearly. Because around what, Karate Kid 2, which is a huge hit, I mean, I remember how, I mean, that Peter Satera song, I will never get out of my brain. That was everywhere. And then you're on Broadway.

You're on probably with Robert De Niro. Yes. So it must have felt like, put me in your shoes back then. Did it feel like you were riding high that? Yeah, I mean, that was crazy, busy time. That was, you know, I had a film called Crossroads. If you're a musician, people really like Crossroads. It's got some great music and the great Steve I.

Walter Hill directed that film. He directed films like 48 hours. And so I was very excited to make that movie. It came out in the spring. of 86 and then the Karate Kid Part 2 came out in the summer of 86 I was on Broadway at the Longacre Theater

with Robert De Niro and Bert Young and it was, that was my Beatles leaving Shea Stadium summer and like every time I came out I had a security bring me into it. It was like just crazy time. Meanwhile when I left the theater I would go to Shee Stadium and watch the 86

Mets. So it was like everything was happening at that point you know. and it's an interesting time because it was moving really fast there's a great story in here I don't want to go into too much detail because I want you guys really to read it

when I was it's a great Warren Beatty story he comes in to see Kuban as Teddy Bear which is the play I did with De Niro and everyone came to see that play I was on Broadway with De Niro so it was amazing if I could turn back time

and to take things in stride at that age when everything it's tough to do as you get older you're like I should have smelled the roses a little bit more but there was a time I was frustrated at the end of that run when they were setting up Karate Kid part three and I really didn't want to make the movie

I didn't even know what the script was but there were other movies that were there and with some great directors that I might have had a chance at that I couldn't, Sidney Lomet is the one filmmaker that I was talking to. So, yeah, I was starting to get frustrated with all the, with the connection to karate kid and the sort of the typecasting that was happening and the fact that I couldn't offset it with, I mean, doing the Broadway play was awesome, but that wasn't, it was only reaching a certain

amount of people. So there's a great story where Warren Beatty was, I didn't think he was. he had any plans of mentoring me or offering advice, but he basically did about how, you know, I shouldn't downplay the commercial successes because they give you the opportunity for some of the artistic risks that you want to take. And it was just a poignant moment,

and it's really a nice story in the book. So coming off of Karate Kid 3, which, as you said, was a bit of a disappointing creative experience for you, Did you feel like there was any chance in hell you were ever going to play this character again? No way. No. But,

but coming over, if you told me that in 2022, I would be squaring off with Terry Silver. And the beauty of that is, and I write to this as well. You know, even the short, what's so amazing about the Karate Kid franchise

and the Karate Kid Universe, is that it's been blessed more than once where even the shortcomings in my view have now bear fruit and health insurance, thank you, because I'm working, going forward. So it's kind of like be careful what you think you know. And that's just a little message for, you know, through me walking in these shoes.

What, you know, youth is wasted on the young. You don't see that, you know, but it's maybe a young reader may you know look at that you know and I still and I'm getting a lot of these questions so now that Cobra Guy season 4 and 5 was so pulled off of a lot of what was

in Karate Kid Part 3 do you like the movie now and I'm like no it's still not a good movie in my view wonderful actors great people but it just my biggest problem with Karate Kid 3 is that it never forwarded the Daniel LaRousseau character and it abandoned

the two love stories from Karate Kid Part 2, meaning Miyagi's love story and Daniel and Kumiko's story, which was just sort of like, that didn't happen. Now we're going back to the valley and there's more Cobra Kai. But who knew? It's just pretty eye-opening. And one of the many reasons I dove into writing the book, because I have this uniqueness of this movie that is such a big part of so many people's lives that is now relevant today, it's never gone away, but more relevant with the explosion of COBRA Kai, that I have 12 and 13 year old kids who run up to me and they know who Mr. Miyagi is. And that's kind of wonderful that legacy carries on and they

somehow backed themselves into the original film from the series and vice versa. So in the many years between three and Cobra Kai, I know your relationship with Karate Kid must have been a complex one and had its ups and downs and wrestled with how you felt about it. It's funny because, again, as I'm reading the book, I'm like, oh, my God, he must have been offered every crazy idea for a reboot or sequel. I'm like, in my head, I'm like, I bet they had a rocky karate kid combo thing. And then I'm reading the book and someone pitched you a rocky karate. Roddy Kid thing. It's crazy. It's great. There was so many. I tap into some of the

funniest or silliest or ridiculous reboot concepts over in the late 90s. I mean, after my cousin Vinnie, which was I affectionately call the late for dinner movie, because when it's on, you're just going to be late for dinner because you

just can't leave in the middle of it. You know, I got more than lucky a handful of times when think of that, Karate Kid and Outsiders and Vinnie, it's really quite remarkable. It wasn't a large chunk of time, but So did that idea that was presented to you

and hold any interest? Is that the worst idea ever? That's just my, that's just the funniest idea because I was with John Avelson, the director and this was probably I would say is the Hillary Swank

Karate Kid, the next Karate Kid had come and gone at that point but we were having a lunch meeting of a potential idea for a project and it was pitched by a writer you know I mean you know he just had this vision like there's the guy who directed Rocky and the karate kid

I have him here and there's the karate kid guy if I could just get Stallone Stallone has a messed up kid the karate kid has a messed up kid you get Mickey and Miyagi together somewhere between Philly and Newark and this thing is going to be the biggest movie ever. Now it's so funny

is John sort of laughed it off he said you know you don't cross it's so funny now you got Superman sleeping with Batman and Wonder Woman is best friends with the Hulk and it's unbelievable you know the multiverses is three Spider-Men's at once

so it's it kind of was ahead of its time and who knows someone may pull this and they'll get both of us in you know walkers and wheelchairs in five years making But it was just a, it was everything that was right and wrong about Hollywood in that moment. You know, it was like, how can we squid a, fit a square peg in a round hole?

But, and then other ones about, you know, you have a kid with a drug problem and Miyagi's a ghost and, you know. But I think, and I affectionately write about this in the book that it was less about people saying, hey I have the greatest idea and more about them saying I love this character I loved you in this character I loved Pat and his role and Lisa Elizabeth's shoe and all the I want it I want more yeah I want more it was and and fortunately you know decades later John Josh and Hayden the creators of Cobra Kai

the three biggest karate kid fans you will ever meet figured out a way to give us more and it feel fresh and contemporary and relevant and still nostalgic at the same time. It's a miracle of the series because it's like, you know, these guys, you know, John, Josh, and Hayden, like their resume didn't necessarily scream,

like, oh, they're going to be the right guys to do this, necessarily. They wrote and created a hot tub time machine and Harold and Kumar. And they were saying the guys who created, and they're fantastic writers across the board, you know, they are the reason Cobra Kai is what it is. They drive the ship.

They see it more clearly than anyone, certainly more than me and Billy Zapka, because we're so protective, you know. But they... Like, did you get it immediately, the pitch? Because you were, as I understand it, kind of the last one in. Yeah, pretty close. Yeah, I always was...

I kept the Karate Kid film on such a pedestal that it was like... It's not high art, but it's a film. I've gotten so much from you guys over the decades. on how much this is meant that to sort of soil that or toy with it

in a way that would you know take the shine off the apple it felt like I'd rather leave the painting alone instead of trying to add more colors to it but imagine me getting a call of saying the guys who created Harold and Kumar and Hot Tub Time Machine

want to pitch you the continuing story of the karate kid I was like okay rated our stoner comedies and you know coming of age stories well not to mention like you you know it's a pretty magnanimous gesture for you

who's been so protective of this character to kind of embrace what had become now like this like fun meme and fan theory over the years right that Daniel Laruso was maybe kind of a dick kind of asshole no they definitely heightened that his sort of

you know cocky kind of bravado that brought into the room when I auditioned. I mean, even when you saw that tape, and I'm just kind of sitting there like this, I had a little bit of like, you know, my crap don't stink. I'm pretty awesome. And it's kind of funny. That was just, that was me trying to be cool. You know, I have nothing to back it up.

But that element of Laruso is peppered in the character, but what also is at the foundation of Laruso is his sweet, genuine goodness. Even today in the Cobra Chi series, his intentions are always good. He just sometimes is knee jerk and he was his temper flare and obviously that makes for better entertainment. So yeah, it was sort of a leap for me

to when they said he's going to be a car salesman. I was like, really? He became a car salesman? Well, Mr. Miyagi had cars. That was their pitch. I said, all right, I get that. Okay. All right.

But I don't know if he was. would live off his one kick and rub it in the face of everybody. They said, yeah, but we're going to, that's just going to be the beginning. So they really had to you know, win me over with that stuff. My main thing

was that the Miyagi, the spirit of Miyagi would have to be woven throughout the Kobri Kai series. Otherwise, I wouldn't be interested. I really needed to have his character part of the show, be it for the next generation younger cast and the sort of Miyagi Do

element that mystical, you know, it's not even mystical, that palpable mentor to him. And so then it made sense that Laruso without Miyagi would have his midlife crisis where he would lose his balance and not see things clearly. And obviously you need conflict, otherwise you don't have a story going forward. So, and these guys, they just, they cared so much and I believed they wanted to make what the fans would love to see. And the film Creed had just come out. And so that was an example of how to enter the Rocky Balboa universe and not have to make Rocky Seven, right?

So it was through the eyes of Apollo Creed's son. So through the eyes of Johnny Lawrence, whatever happened to this bully and whatever happened to his life, and they obviously wanted to juxtapose that with the happily ever after. LaRousseau had everything, and he has money, and he's now in Encino and then the other guys in Recita down and out and so I got it and I understood it

I just didn't know how it was going to truthfully work and I would say where's the where's the funny in it where's the heart in it where's the and they say we just you know they just convinced me with their caring so much for every nook and cranny of that original film

and those movies that these were the guys to take the leap with. And now I look, you know, incredibly intelligent when I'm pretty damn lucky once again. But, you know, I mean, I did make the decision. I did. And they delivered something that was above and beyond everything. And the low expectations, too, of the YouTube of it all. And they're going to do a karate kid thing with Johnny Lawrence and Daniel Aruso. People are like, yeah, okay, this is going to be like good pain at the dentist. This thing is going to be just like a disaster, but I won't be able to look away. And all those low expectations

helped us because when it had all and everything and still embraced and respected the source material, which was the original film, then it was 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and everybody was on board. A couple billion minutes of watch time later.

And one of the relationships that this rests on just as it was you and Pat way back when is you and Billy. Let's take a look. I'm sure this audience has seen Cobra Cubs. but this is one of the very first scenes in the first season that sets up, I think it's the reintroduction of you guys getting together at the car dealership.

Let's take a look. Johnny Lawrence, I knew it was you. How the hell are you? Hey, man. Oh, my God, look at you. You still got those golden locks, eh? God, this is crazy. How you've been?

Great, man, thanks. I've been great. That's great. Hey, hey, Anush. Come here. Louis, get over here. I want you to meet somebody. No, no, no, no. This is Johnny Lawrence.

He and I go way back, right, buddy? This guy was the toughest dude in my high school. When I first moved here from Jersey, he and I got into it a little bit. This guy really had it in for me. Yeah, well, you did move in on my girl. Well, she actually wasn't really a girl anymore, was she? I mean... Alright, it's all water under the bridge.

Wait, is this the karate guy, the guy from the tournament? Oh, this is the guy who's assy kicked. Listen, it was a really close match, but if you want to get technical, I kick this face. I'm just busting your chops. It was an illegal kid. Oh, illegal? Really? Come on. What about that elbow to my knee?

Yeah, I got a warning, you got the wind. Whoa. So awesome. Zapka is just so good in this show, man. We have such chemistry together, and it just really, it just really is such a joy, and I think it elevates. And every season when we have scenes together, it just goes to another level.

That one was, you know, I mean, I had to say the line, I kicked his face. Initially I read it in the script, I'm like, guys, come on. You're setting, I mean, you are setting it up. I get it, okay? We wanted to say Johnny Lawrence, tough life, what would be the worst thing that someone could say to him? So I went back and forth, and I did, because there's always a push-pull, and I write about this as well, with me and the writers with that stuff, certainly earlier in the seasons, less so now, because I would always say, you know,

I want to make sure you're thinking of the Laruso of it all that, you know, how far we're going to going to bend that to him actually being a guy that would say either something like that. So it was about me finding it, that it was like playful with his friends. It's almost like sometimes you're with someone, you say something and you regret saying it, but then at that point you might as well just go with it. So that's sort of how I, it was like one of those things that maybe that night, Lou Rousseau would be laying in bed and probably say, well, I probably shouldn't have said that. That was probably a dick thing to say.

But in the moment, he has his buddy's there. And so we're always working and collaborating through those moments. they're important because I think then the scenes work organically and then we care, you know. It must be so cool that you and Billy get to go on this journey together decades now. I reached out to Billy Zabka to see if he had something to say to you. He sent a video in. Oh, God. Okay, let's see if he's going to regret what he says.

Let's take a look. for the first time as the anticipation of the crane kick loomed around the corner the swell of excitement was palpable conti's music built abelson's edits elevated the rousseau assumes the position all right that's enough for now hey you doing there ralphi what's up everybody hey josh honor to be with you here on the stage i just finished this unbelievable book this retelling of uh amazing uh legacy and

and film. And I was a part of a lot of this, but I learned so much from it as well. Ralph, well done. I'm so excited that you're out promoting this. I was there while you were hiding away, writing this over the last year or two. And it's fantastic, buddy. So just I can't wait to read it again. I have a couple questions for you while we're here. Question number one would be, who between us would you say during the films we were doing in the 80s had better hair. That's the first question. Secondly, to follow that up, currently, we've done a couple duets on Cobra Kai singing Eye of the Tiger and an REO speed wagon song, and I'm just curious to your ear, which one of us carries a better tune. So there's the questions. I'll let you have

at it, take it from here. It's nice to drop in. I'm going to get back to my listening, reading. drawer from the baronet crowd as they left to their feet cheering and hugging and high-fiving as if at a major league sporting event. All right, that's an assessment. Great job. Awesome, awesome. I'll hit him up later for that. All right, so what were his questions?

It was funny. Hair and singing. Yeah. 80s hair, who had the better hair. Wow, you know, we had such different hair. I had an abundance of. hair there that I miss. I miss the fullness. You know, I had the best brown hair and he had the best blonde hair. That's what I would say. Very diplomatic. How's that for a politician?

And singing, I would give myself, I would give him the eye of the tiger and I would take it on the run. I would take the R.O. Speedwagon. I got the higher register. But he kicked ass in the eye of the tiger and we had fun with Yuji Okamoto who's chosen who's freaking awesome as well. That's great. That was a great surprise. That was awesome. He's a good one. Your friend. Let's see if this audience has some amazing questions for Mr. Ralph Machio.

There should be a couple mic stands on either aisle. If you guys want to scurry on up and ask a few questions before we run out of time, we'll pick Ralph Sprain. Murmur of the crowd, murmur of the crowd. All right. Go ahead. Yes.

I've had this question for before. You might answer some of it, but what was your favorite karate kid to shoot and what was your least favorite? The question, what was my favorite karate kid movie to shoot? What was my least favorite? Which one did you enjoy the most? And which was your... The first one, the original, by far the most, because

that's where all the magic. happened and that story and, you know, I mean, just the, the birth of the chores paying off as karate moves, the magic of the crane kick, all that, the cinema, just that experience. Part two was fun because we were in Hawaii for three months, but I was busier at that time, me, you know, and so I was a little homesick, and part three was not nearly as pleasant as those two. Distant third. Let's go to my left. Yes, what's your question? Yeah, go ahead. Hi, can you talk a little bit more about my cousin Vinny and specifically when you're going for the puppy slush and you say, can you fill this up? Wait, say that again. I'm going to talk about my cousin Vinnie, but what was

the end of the question? When you go for the slush puppy and And you say, can you fill this up? Can you fill this up? I love that. That's my favorite. That's total machio. That is just, that's so me to say, like, even if I'm at a movie theater now, as we're slowly but surely starting to get back, and I get it popcorn handed and it's not topped off, I'm like, seriously? Can you fill this up?

I mean, this is air. You're charging $15 for this, and it costs you $20. Fill it up. So it's a little bit of machio sprinkled in Billy Gambini. I love my cousin Vinny. It's one I'm super proud to be part of, that's for sure. And I did not shoot the clerk, okay? But I am one of the two youths.

Thank you. Thank you. Hi, Ralph. I have two things for you. First one is a question. Going back to earlier in the show, you were saying how with Karate Kid 3, you didn't really enjoy how Daniel's story didn't move forward, and going into Cobra Kai with characters returning like Marty Cove and Thomas Ian,

how did it feel to see this character progress along with juxtaposing against those characters? How did it feel playing against his, you know, Terry Silvitz, Thomas Ian Griffith? It's been incredible. I mean, his take on, you know, adding layers to that character, the writing that the guys, that John Josh and Hayden, and they do this with every character. in the show and every every original

look at what they did with Yuji Okamoto and Chosen the ultimate nemesis in part two is now as Miyagi Do friend and but working with Thomas he's so he has such

attention to detail he's he loves leaning into the heightenedness of it but he does not play the cartoon of it where he felt the cartoon of it was a part of what Karate Kid 3 was, and he's very conscious of that. He's a black belt. He's the true martial artist, and he's six foot five, and very difficult to fight. But he's just a sweetheart of a

guy. I'm so happy for him, and all the folks that get to come back and, you know, taste the wine again. Let's go over. We can try to get through as many of these as possible. Go over here. Yeah. Hello. I have two questions. What's your... Yeah, one question. One question.

Okay, okay. So the one question that I really want to know is, you know, Cobra Cye has been having a lot of, like, twists and things coming up. What do you want to see next on Cobra Cye that hasn't been done yet that you would like to work on or see? Oh, that's a good question. Yeah. Truthfully, we have not been picked up for season six yet, which we think should happen very soon. But keep watching.

You know, keep those numbers going. But I think, you know, they teed up the international element that could happen. So it might be interesting to maybe get out of the valley. I mean, I did get in season three, I got to go to Okinawa, which was spectacular. So I think expanding on that, I think for LaRuso, season five was a really good season to see him slip and fall and lose a grip on everything in his life. only to have everyone have his back and him be that protagonist again, just like he was in the Karate Kid franchise. You know, his kids are getting older,

the life is getting more challenging, all areas of that. And I enjoy, I just love working with these people. So I gave nothing there with that answer, except let's keep making it. And thanks to you guys, we get to do it. I think we need to go to the next question. I just want to get more as many people as possible. Can I just hand this off to Ralph because I saw him at Comic-Con. He wants to be able to.

Can you drop it with maybe one of the ushers and we'll do our best to get to it, Ralph? Thank you very much. Hi. Did the guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother have anything to do with the start of Cobra Kai? It's a great question. How I Met Your Mother is a blast and credit the writers in the writers' room and I do a whole

thing. I write a whole thing about how that came about for me and everything else. John Josh and Hayden always say No, it wasn't the How I Met Your Mother at all that made them have the idea. They had the idea years back. They just didn't know how to do it. It was at a point that there

weren't streaming services and there wasn't the Netflix's or Amazon's of the world where you could tell a five-hour story and ten-half-hour parts. So but it's in the zeitgeist and these writers were you know, thinking of it. I love

the whole Barney Stinson of it all. That, you know, that Laruso is some skinny jersey brat who deserve nothing and Johnny Lawrence is the true karate kit. When I first saw that, I was like, what, what? It's fun. All right, let's go ahead. Greaser.

Hello. Good shirt. Thank you. I was just wondering because I heard that you had very good chemistry with a lot of your castmates on the outside. that is? And I was just wondering if you have like any memories that you would like to share with us. Oh, the outsiders was super special to me. I mean, you know, I got close with Matt Dillon for a while. He was my New York buddy. I'm such a fan of his. And I remember running lines with

him for the barbecue, the Dairy Queen scene that we had to shoot two days on that. We had to pick it up a second day. And I just remember being in his hotel room. And I was just running lines and he was like, you're the most professional actor I ever worked with. And I'm like, no, I just want to learn the lines. Aren't we supposed to learn the lines? I didn't think I was so professional because he was so great at improvising and his raw talent. And then C. Thomas Howell, we spent a lot of time together, getting on each other's nerves as two guys working every single day. And now he's, you know, he's such a good friend of mine.

And it's awesome. I just did Rob Lowe's podcast. If you haven't heard it, that's up right now. now, talking about the waxing on book. The kindred spirit with all those guys, and Diane Lane. Let's not forget the spectacular Diane Lane. Thank you so much. Thank you.

I think we have time for one more. This is going to be our last question, guys. Hi, Ralph. My name is Monica. Definitely wanted you to know my name, even if you forget it. Okay, Monica. Oh my god, you did not just say that. I know there's probably a lot of people in the world who felt like a Daniel Rousseau.

But I was wondering, were there any moments on set that you've done a scene with maybe Sholo Mariduania, Mary Mouser, or Tanner Buchanan, where you've seen pieces of yourself or pieces of Daniel in them and felt sort of proud? A great question, and I write to that as well. Yes, yes, and yes. The beauty of doing Cobra Chi and something I was not expecting was that emotional connection with these young actors that each have moments that are so beautifully mirrored by the writing staff of things that happen to Daniel Aruso in the original Karate Kid franchise. Sholo, I mean, Miguel is essentially the millennial Daniel Aruso.

And Samantha, as my daughter, played by Mary Mouser, gets to mirror, is that they walk in the same shoes and they're really strong moments that I get to explain in season three I think when he talks about fear getting in the way and that he's been there and sort of I've walked in your shoes and

sharing those moments or with Robbie Tanner Buchanan with doing the chores in the backyard and just waxing the car and saying I mean those were emotional moments for me because those are the pieces of magic that created the Karate Kid

universe if you will and here I am now, not 21 years old anymore, and watching them stand in my shoes and me and the shoes of Miyagi or not as younger characters. Okay, the old guy, all right? Say it. Say it out loud. It's really wonderful in some of my favorite things, components in doing the show. And these kids are so talented. They're awesome. Their martial arts is awesome. And they're, they're a emotional, Jolo had a great season with season five, I thought, and Mary as well. Awesome question. Thank you so much. Well, we are sadly just about out of time. I do want to say, I mean, you carry the mantle of this, like, amazing franchise so well, and it's just so beautiful to see just all the connections from the beginning to where we are now, and it's going to continue clearly in some fashion, hopefully more Cobra Kai, and who knows beyond that.

I want to thank this amazing crowd. I want to thank Symphony, space guys make sure to check out they got they do amazing programming day after day check out what they've got here and i want to encourage all of you to check out this great book this is honestly we touch them like 3% of this book waxing on is the book from mr ralph machio uh let's give it up one more time for mr ral thank you guys you guys are amazing thank you man thank you and so ends another edition of happy sad confused remember to review rate and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person.

I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't to do this by Josh. Goodbye. Summer movies, hello fall. I'm Anthony Devaney. And I'm his twin brother, James. We host Raiders of the Lost Podcast, the ultimate movie podcast,

and we are ecstatic to break down late summer and early fall releases. We have Leonardo DiCaprio leading a revolution in one battle after another, Timothy Salome playing power ping pong in Marty Supreme. Let's not forget Emma Stone and Jorgos Lanthamos' Bagonia. Dwayne Johnson, he's coming for that Oscar. In The Smashing Machine, Spike Lee and Denzel teaming up again, plus Daniel DeLuis's return from retirement.

There will be plenty of blockbusters to chat about, too. Tron Aries looks exceptional, plus Mortal Kombat 2, and Edgar writes, The Running Man, starring Glenn Powell. Search for Raiders of Ler, Lost Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.