[imagesource: Netflix]

The Karate Kid actor Ralph Macchio has been reflecting on his success in his 60s.

Besides looking ridiculously good for his age, Macchio has long ridden the wave of his famous role as Daniel LaRusso in the 1984 film.

Back then The Karate Kid was the UK’s sixth-biggest film and it still slaps today, being named on multiple lists of the greatest sports films of all time and getting reimagined and remade in various ways, too.

As the BBC notes, the “Miyagi-verse (named after Mr Miyagi, the Yoda-like mentor from the films) has continued to expand” with the arrival of Kobra Cai, the massively successful streaming series, topping it all off in 2018.

In the first three days after series five of Kobra Cai launched on Netflix in September, it racked up 1,7 billion viewed minutes.

In between, there has been the original film trilogy, a 1994 update which launched the career of Hilary Swank, and a Jaden Smith reboot in 2010.

Macchio shared his theory of why the film is still so loved:

“The characters worked on a human level that spans space and time and generations,” he tells BBC Breakfast.

“Bullying, wish fulfilment, mentorship, overcoming obstacles, single parenting, starting a new life in a different town. These are all themes that still resonate today.”

Besides starring opposite Robert DeNiro on Broadway, being directed by Francis Ford Coppola in The Outsiders, and beating Will Smith to the role of Bill in the Oscar-winning My Cousin Vinny, Macchio is at peace with the fact that he will always be primarily known as The Karate Kid.

This is why his memoir of sorts is centred on The Karate Kid‘s legacy in pop culture and his own life:

“It’s sort of the anti-memoir,” he laughs about the punningly titled Waxing On.

Image: Penguin Random House

“It’s not the normal crash and burn, dropped down to the depths and build yourself back up to redemption story. It’s more a celebration of that film, what it’s meant for almost 40 years, what it’s been like to walk in those shoes through the ups and downs in there, the rich times and the dry times.”

And there were dry times. In the mid-90s his youthful looks and strong association with his role as Daniel meant he struggled to “graduate” out of the role.

People couldn’t believe he was 22 when he made The Karate Kid, and now, at “an astonishingly sprightly-looking 61” he is still shocking people with his looks:

“It’s a blessing and a curse that I’ve had my whole life. It’s not so much of a curse now as I’m north of 60,” he says.

“I blame my parents for the good genes. With both my grandmothers, everyone thought they were 10-15 years younger than they were.”

Even though Macchio struggled to carve a path outside of The Karate Kid, he never bad-mouthed the film knowing full well how important it was for so many people:

“I knew of the importance of that role to people’s lives. I’ve had people with tears almost brimming in their eyes, saying this movie gave me hope, it changed my life, or it was the film I watched with my grandfather every other weekend, or helped me to get through my parents’ divorce.”

Then came Kobra Cai, which Macchio describes as “the joy of tapping into the 80s and bringing that nostalgia along, but creating relevant stories for now”.

Look at him in the image right up top starring in the series, which received a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. So young-looking, still so sprightly.

So unfair.

[source:bbc]