Teen idol: KARATE KID TURNS 59!

THE AGELESS ‘80S ICON IS SAVOURING HIS SECOND ACT WITH FAME

- Judy Kean

He may turn 60 later this year and have two adult children, but Ralph Macchio accepts that he will always be thought of as a kid – specifically the Karate Kid – thanks to the iconic film he starred in nearly 37 years ago.

The phenomenally successful film and the two sequels he appeared in have defined his acting career, but Ralph doesn’t have a problem with that. Although he reckons, “I always joke that if there’s a fly in a restaurant, I have about nine seconds to get out before someone’s handing me a pair of chopsticks.”

He’s referring, of course, to the famous scene in The Karate Kid where his character deftly catches the insect with chopsticks. People often quote whole scenes from the 1984 film to him word for word and he’d be a multimillionaire if he had a dollar for every time somebody said, “wax on, wax off” (remember how waxing his mentor Mr Miyagi’s car helped him to learn karate moves?).

But that’s okay because not only did the film give him some amazing experiences back in the ‘80s, but it has led to a reboot of his career, which went through the doldrums in the ‘90s and 2000s.

He’s once again playing karate champ Daniel LaRusso in a TV series called Cobra Kai, which picks up over 35 years from where The Karate Kid left off. The show, now on Netflix and in its third series, has become an unexpected hit, and Ralph is very grateful.