Ralph Macchio’s Son Couldn’t Believe It When He Saw His Dad In A Teen Magazine For The First Time
The hilarious reaction came when his then 5-year-old son realized his dad was “huge, and he missed it.”
The world may know and love Ralph Macchio since the 80s, but his kids had no idea their dad was famous, let alone cool, let alone a heartthrob.
The Cobra Kai star, 60, visited Good Morning America on Monday, and recounted the moment his son, who was five years old at the time, saw his dad in teen magazines for the very first time, and his response is hilarious.
Macchio said his mother had brought over the stack of magazines some time in the early 2000s, and his son began to flip through the pages only to find dad in his “lean years.” He was in total shock, shouting, “Dad was huge, and we missed it!”
The original Karate Kid shared the release of his new book, Waxing On, The Karate Kid and Me, and joked that who knew 39 years later, he would still be doing the famous “wax on, wax off” karate movement in a different hit show.
When asked if his kids ever got into The Karate Kid, Macchio shared, “Yes, there was a time when they realized our dad's not like the other dads. Why are people standing on one leg and putting their arms up? What does that mean?”
Hilarious.
Ralph's now-grown children, Daniel, 26, and Julia, 30, are big Cobra Kai fans, however, and the proud dad gushes that they watch the show with their friends. His daughter Julia even made a cameo on one of the episodes.
The actor spoke about how he didn’t actually like the title of the film when he was cast, saying that The Karate Kid felt “cheesy.” He also spoke about how the beloved character, played by Pat Morita, was almost never cast.
“Nobody wanted ‘Arnold’ from ‘Happy Days’ as Mr. Miyagi and myself included. At the time, I was like, really?”
However, once he met Morita, he shares that it was instant “magic.”
Macchio says that he speaks a lot about his journey with the movie in his new book and shares how honored and pleased he is with being able to extend the story of The Karate Kid in his current role on Cobra Kai, which has brought back original characters like Morita. While pretending to knock on wood, he admits that he is hoping for the green light for Season 6 and would love to get Hilary Swank to appear, as she has been a long-time request from the original cast.
I have to admit, Ralph Macchio is permanently 23 and wearing a karate uniform in my head, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
