Ralph Macchio keeps the door open for more ‘Karate Kid’ after ‘Cobra Kai.’
Now that ‘Cobra Kai’ has finished, Macchio feels like the right time to end the show in a good way. But it’s not really the end for him as Daniel LaRusso—he’ll play the character again in a new movie with Jackie Chan called ‘The Karate Kid: Legends,’ which happens three years after the show.
“It was not a quick decision, because it was about protecting the Daniel LaRusso character, and finding where he would be at that point, and then protecting the whole legacy in the Miyagi-verse,” the actor told Variety in a new interview.
He continued, “Once we were able to line that up, for the ‘Cobra Kai’ story to lead into the new film — even though they’re separate ecosystems — it all made sense for me. Then, working with Jackie was just super exciting. I started this on the big screen. How cool is it to get it back to the big screen?”
“I don’t want to overstay the welcome of a character that’s so beloved,” Macchio also said of his character. “But he’s aging like I am, so there could be other areas to explore as well. Never say never.”
At the ‘Cobra Kai’ season six premiere on July 17 in Los Angeles, Macchio told the Hollywood Reporter that he would miss working with the cast and crew. The actor explained, “We’re going to be friends for life, that’s just the way it works in the ‘Karate Kid’ universe, such deep relationships. I’ll miss creating with them, but I have a feeling we will create in other ways — to me it’s not goodbye forever, it’s ‘I’ll see you next time.'”
Next, Macchio wants to focus more on directing. He hopes to help turn a Mr. Miyagi origin series into reality with Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. He also wants to try playing other characters outside of the ‘Karate Kid’ world.
