Waxing On: the Karate Kid and Me by Ralph Macchio

Author:Ralph Macchio [Macchio, Ralph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-10-18T00:00:00+00:00

History repeats itself

Try and you’ll succeed

Never doubt that you’re the one

And you can have your dreams.

You’re the best . . .

Sorry, couldn’t resist. Good luck getting that out of your head the rest of the day.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Frozen in Time

As I bade farewell to the eighties and entered the nineties, I certainly wasn’t as open as I am today to embracing the burden/privilege of being so associated with one famous character. There was for sure a time when I was looking to separate myself from Daniel LaRusso, to avoid being typecast. The climate was changing for me, and I felt a resistance from the entertainment industry to bridging any gap going forward. Prime opportunities were drying up. It felt a little like my time had come and gone. At least it appeared that way from my perspective.

“You don’t want him, he’s the Karate Kid.”

Those were the words from a studio executive when the filmmakers of My Cousin Vinny inquired about my potential availability. There was a great deal of pushback to my even securing an audition to play Joe Pesci’s Italian American cousin from New York. This was 1991. Interestingly, Ben Stiller and Will Smith were two names on the top of the studio’s list as candidates for the college-age students wrongfully accused of murder in Beechum County, Alabama. I, on the other hand, was not, omitted from a list I might have been on just a year prior. But I get it, and I got it even then. I understood how things work. Nevertheless, it was the first real example for me that the wave’s crest was now behind me and the rush was over (for the time being). Those names I mentioned were on their way up the mountain as I was sliding down the other side, at least in the minds of the decision makers at that point in time.

As you may imagine, it was frustrating for me, especially in this case, because the role seemed such a perfect fit. I was defiant at first but soon relaxed into the game-playing atmosphere and went in to audition. It was the right thing to do. What seemed a good, if not obvious, casting idea to me played out successfully when I got to prove myself. Thankfully, the filmmakers prevailed over any studio trepidation, and I’m proud to have that one on the résumé. I affectionately call it “the late-for-dinner movie.” If My Cousin Vinny is on television as you’re getting ready . . . you’re going to be late for dinner.

I can’t pinpoint only one reason for why things slowed for me after the eighties. It was multifactored. Surely, the underwhelming response to The Karate Kid Part III was probably part of it. I have often spoken out about the fact that that specific installment of the franchise has never been my favorite. Back then, I felt it didn’t grow the character of Daniel LaRusso. There was little evolution. If anything, he went backward, with the story repeating itself.

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