Ralph Macchio is happy and satisfied with howCobra Kaihas completed Daniel LaRusso’sThe Karate Kidarc, but he still has one more story about Daniel-san he wants to tell - and direct. Macchio starred in threeThe Karate Kidmoviesbefore reprising Daniel LaRusso inCobra Kaiover 30 years later. Macchio returned as Daniel once more inKarate Kid: Legendsopposite Jackie Chan and Ben Wang.
Before acceptingNewport Beach TV Fest’s Artist of Distinction award from hisThe Karate Kid Part IIco-star, Tamlyn Tomita, Ralph Macchio joined theCobra Kaipanel with castmates Mary Mouser and Yuji Okumoto, as well as executive producers Hayden Schlossberg, Jon Hurwitz, and Josh Heald.Macchio revealed he wants to tell Daniel LaRusso’s origin storybeforeThe Karate Kid,and ideally, direct it. Read Ralph’s quote below:
If there’s anything, for me, that I wanted to see in the show, we’ve all discussed it, and it’s an area that I’ve always wanted to tackle, and I don’t know if there’ll ever be room for it in the right entity, butI’ve always wanted to know who Daniel LaRusso was up until he was 15 ½ years old. We never really talk about who his real father was.You never see him really address that. You know, the first fifteen years of your life is stuff you talk about forever. So there is no real room. I know we tried, sort of, ways to go back to that.
The through-line of Johnny Lawrence’s trajectory, and seeing all of his past, his youth, we were able to do. That’s an area… I would love to direct that [Daniel’s origin], whatever that might be, if it ever… But it would have to make sense in the larger arc of where it lands. But it is an area that would be interesting, I think.
Why Ralph Macchio Wants To Direct Daniel LaRusso’s Karate Kid Origin Story
There’s One Missing Piece Of Daniel-san’s Puzzle
Daniel LaRusso’s story has been well covered, but Ralph Macchio is right that little is known about who Daniel’s father was before he left New Jersey at the start ofThe Karate Kid. Part of the reason whyDaniel was angry about moving to Los Angeles was because he was mourning his father,which is something he discussed in his New York Times bestselling autobiography, “Waxing On: The Karate Kid & Me.” However,The Karate Kidglossed over Daniel missing his mysterious father to focus on his relationship withMr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita).
Ralph Macchio directedCobra Kaiseason 6, episode 3, “Sleeper,” which is an experience he enjoyed, as Ralph discussed at Newport Beach TV Fest. Macchio has designs on telling Daniel’s origin story about his father, though it’s unclear what format that could be. Daniel’s history pre-Karate Kidwould have to be a period piece set in the early 1980s, and would require finding someone to play a young LaRusso. However,Ralph Macchio directing Daniel LaRusso’s origin story is an appealing concept,if it happens.
Our Take On Ralph Macchio Wanting To Direct Daniel LaRusso’s Karate Kid Origin
If Johnny Got An Origin Story, Why Not Daniel?
Cobra Kaiseason 1 delved intoJohnny Lawrence’s (William Zabka) backstoryand revealed his troubled childhood. Ralph Macchio is right that Daniel LaRusso has a notable gap in his childhood story. Ralph saidCobra Kaitried to find ways to weave in Daniel’s childhood, but it didn’t fit.Cobra Kaidid touch on how Daniel met his wife, Amanda (Courtney Henggeler), and some of what happened after the events ofThe Karate Kid Part IIIas Daniel became an adult, and started a business and family.
There would be no one better to fill the holes in Daniel LaRusso’s history than Ralph Macchio himself.
If there is a compelling story to tell about who Daniel LaRusso’s father was beforeThe Karate Kid,Ralph Macchio is the ideal person to tell it, and direct as a movie or TV series. Daniel’s origin would be set in New Jersey in the early 1980s, which would be fascinating juxtaposed to how Johnny grew up in the San Fernando Valley.Cobra Kaistill hasinfinite stories to tell in the Miyagiverse, and there would be no one better to fill the holes in Daniel LaRusso’s history than Ralph Macchio himself.
