Ralph Macchio: Johnny & Sodapop

0:00And as competitive as it all was, especially now at this age, all I do is root for all of us. I mean, it's like, yes.

0:23Hey, everybody. Welcome to Literally. This is the second time one of my fave people is back on the show, the great Ralph Macchio. he's got the cobra kai universe is doing its thing with the new movie karate kid legends which is play obviously he plays daniel la russo but alongside jackie chan um pretty sick movie and of course he's like you know as a fellow outsider i always feel like whenever i have some of the outsiders on the show it's like my um college high school but would have been nice Yeah, I was 17 when I met this guest. Let's just leave it at that. Ralph Macchio.

1:17Let me see what's going on with this hair. Yeah, no, it looks amazing. Dude, we have hair. We do. Fuck yeah, baby. We do. All mine are named and numbered. We have hair. At times I see it go down the drain. I'm like, why? What have I ever done to you? I know. Why are you leaving me now? We like the hair. It's good. It's okay, right? Okay. You got good look on the hair. Okay. We know Ralph has good hair. No, please. Always. Wait, wait, let me put this on. There we go. Do you come from a long line of here sweet people? Like, is there male pattern baldness in your family? He totally is. My dad wears, you know, I mean, he's in his 80s now.

1:55But I would say in his late 30s, one day I was like, boy, dad's hair looks great. Because it was just this full head of hair. I would say that's how blind I was that he was wearing a piece at the time. A piece. That's amazing. You know, Allison, I would wear it if I had to. But look, guys our age, you know. Hey, not many. We are in a select group of well-preserved. Well-preserved. Congrats on the movie, man. Thank you. Thanks. You're back in theaters where you belong. It was kind of fun. Yeah, yeah. It was kind of nice to, you know, launch it on the big screen, get back there. It's, I mean, movies are so hard now.

2:37I know. You know, there's such, you know, it's big ideas, conceptual, opening weekend. What's your drop off the second weekend and see you on Netflix. it's what was it like going through a movie experience as someone who did tons of them in the the glory days we were all doing them and then i mean you you were an early pioneer at youtube yes i mean which i want to get to because that's now the place to be right so it starts in youtube goes to netflix goes into theaters i mean it's been a whole journey for cobra it has been well Well, you know, I mean, what's in the theaters is a separate ecosystem in the grand universe.

3:19Yes. In the Karate Kid universe. So, but Cobra Kai, yeah, came up. I mean, we pitched that, you know, eight years ago, wound up on YouTube Red, which then became YouTube Premium. No. I see. So it was at the point that Google gave YouTube some cash to say, hey, we want to be in this. Yes. scripted business and they soon realized they can make a lot more dough with someone doing some stunt jumping out of a helicopter right uh then hiring a staff and move and setting up studios and paying actors to live someplace and so that but the the show uh they were suzanne daniels was at uh i think she still is there and she was the one who just said i know you're gonna go someplace else but we don't need to read anything we don't need to see anything we want this um the pitch was really good and we were at netflix we went to all those places but the thing was youtube had one card to play and that's sight unseen start making them because they were trying to build that scripted uh entity which in essence after season three of cobra kai when it became this hit The low expectations for that show did not hurt us.

4:40It's like, this is going to suck, but I'm going to watch it. And then all of a sudden, 100 % on Rotten Tomatoes, critic scores, and it was the surprise. And then they kind of, it was the only one still standing when Google was mandating YouTube out of the scripted world as they were seeing it. They couldn't make sense out of it. Pandemic hits. We have no home. They don't want to cancel the show, but they're not going to do it. But we had 10 episodes in our back pocket of a show that was successful. And then we went, you know, to Uncle Ted. Uncle Ted. Who's where we wanted it to begin with. Shout out to Uncle Ted.

5:22I know he's listening. Yeah, he is listening. Oh, boy, 100%. If not, we'll send it to him. Oh, no, Billy. I get great reviews. Hey, I loved your conversation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, and that was just about figuring out a way to, you know, the world is shutting down, but we needed, someone needed to spend a lot of money to extricate and get it from YouTube or share it. And then it was relaunched. It was sort of like an out-of-town tryout. Yes, that's what it feels like. Or, you know, the Grapefruit League, and then you're at Dodger Stadium or, shall I say, Citi Field or maybe even Yankee Stadium.

5:57I almost wore the Met hat today. You and I have so much to talk about. But it was so much. Hopefully we'll see in the postseason. Could be. Did you see my online feud with Frank the Tank? I know. I heard of this and I need to check it out. You need to check it out. Yeah, yeah. Somebody said to me, who's Frank the Tank? I go, if you watch Howard Stern, he's like stuttering John. Right. Wouldn't you say that's the perfect. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sidekick. That guy. At John, not John Boy. That's another thing. I love those guys. At Barstool. Yep. And he was saying that the Dodgers have no likable people in the organization and that Dodger Stadium is— The manager's likable.

6:38Freddie Freeman. And you're likable. And I'm likable. And so I went after him in a very, very funny way. And, yeah, we'll see you in the playoffs for sure. But, okay, so back to movie star Ralph Macchio, my favorite Macchio of all Macchios. Me too. Because I've known them all. I've known Teen Idol, Ralph Macchio. I've known, um, I've, Eight is Enough, Ralph Macchio. Oh, wow. That's right. That's right. I remember sitting across from you at ABC Century City. Yes, I remember. Going to the network read. It was going to be you or my, mano a mano. I know. And only one man came out on top and it was Ralph Macchio.

7:15Yeah, that was, uh, wow. I was nine was too many. And that was the end of that show. But, uh. You were like that moment where they add on like a Martian or a talking dog. No, it was like a cousin whatever on Brady Bunch, cousin Oliver. No, he was, yeah, no, he was kind of, it was an ABC talent search. That's kind of where I came out in New York. I did what, I guess what, you know, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon did for so long and, you know, finding their kids and then keeping them in the pen and like plugging and playing them in where they needed it. 100%. So this was kind of the show that was on that, oh, we need that type, that rebellious East Coast.

7:56Young Fonzie. Yeah, right. Young Fonzie or probably Young Chachi is what they were thinking. Oh, Young Chachi. Yes, of course. And so. Of course they were. Yeah, I remember flying out here and being nervous at ABC Entertainment Center. I think your mom was with you. No, it was. You know what? You probably remember better than I do. And my mom says hello. Oh, give her my best, please. She might never forgets when she knocked on the wrong door at The Outsiders and you answered it in a robe or a towel or whatever. And she'll never get that out of her mind. I was like, God, just a little too old maybe.

8:31That's right. God darn it. Mrs. Macchio, the graduate. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome. But, yeah, that's ABC Entertainment Center, Century City. And that was one of those when you go back to the hotel, I think it was like the Holiday Inn on like, you know, where the Dolby Theater is, which is probably the Lowe's now, I think. I don't know. Last I checked. And you're just waiting for the hotel phone to ring and it was one of those and you got it. Like it was like crazy times. Those don't happen. No, they don't happen anymore. And what's interesting, that happened for me so often at the onset. And then there were the dry years where it's just like just staring at the bat phone and not even Alfred was calling me.

9:18I mean, but that's my that's just the way it is. It's I always say that to people. I go, if you're lucky enough to be in it as long as we both have been for sure, then part of the deal is surviving the inevitable fallow period. Yeah, exactly. I mean, nature has them. Why wouldn't we have a deal? No, and it makes it all the richer now. I mean, just to, you know, just last two weeks ago, the premiere for the Karate Kid Legends in New York City and my wife and kids, I never, we never had a premiere for any of those movies. I just think the Will Smith, Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, that had a premiere.

10:00But the movies that I did and The Outsiders, we never really had a premiere. Crossroads was the only, my cousin Vinny, I didn't have a premiere. I'm going down the list now, but Crossroads was the only proper premiere of a movie that I had. And then so two weeks ago, whenever it was, we, you know, to see my kids experience that, even the whole Cobra Kai thing, you know, watch parties at college and, you know, it's, it tastes sweeter the second time around, you know, and I know how fleeting it is, but to have that you know is really grateful really grateful and I have you know 8, 10, 12 year old kids running up to me like I'm Santa Claus and they you know they you know and they know who Mr.

10:48Miyagi is and they read The Outsiders in school and they go to Broadway to see the musical and it's just it's incredible man I was gonna say who you've got a you've got a 13 year old coming towards you ah is it gonna be Johnny Cade or is it gonna be It's close. It's close. I mean, it matters if they go into a fight stance. Then I know which— They give you the crane thing. The crane. Yeah, no, they— The crane thing. The outsiders, it's usually teenage girls. I'm sure you're the same. I mean, you see, if you walk by the theater in New York, you know, they're outside dressed in the costumes of the characters.

11:31and it's 40 years past and they love these characters. Really quite unique to have that with a few franchises, if you will, or, you know. Yeah. And I've gotten, as I know you have, you've gone to the Outsiders Museum in Tulsa, which is so sick. It's great. I want all those images. Those images are awesome. Where did they get those photos? We had, yeah, there were two main photographers, I think. I'm blanking on their names, but. They were there the whole time. They were there the whole time. We were shooting stuff. Did they, I, did you use, I used to get the, the contact sheets. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

12:10The slides. And I remember. The transparencies. So those things, they shot not only everything of the outsiders, but if Francis did an angle, he shot the angle. Yeah. So you could do a, a still book of every single angle of the outside. Jim Zink. Yeah. Yeah. You got. Jesus Christ. Good job. What'd you have for breakfast though? I can't remember anything. I know. Same thing. I remember the fucking unit photographer from The Outsiders is Jim Zink. Yeah, yeah. Shout out to you, Jimmy, baby. Yeah, there you go.

12:50What is the question you get most asked about outsiders? What do they ask me most about it? I guess, I mean, they'll ask about the burn, like the, you know. Oh, wow. Yeah. They'll ask about like the makeup and that, then the fire and that stuff. I did say that's a youthful intrigue. Like how, how did you do that? How was that done? More so besides is Cruise cool or not? That comes up a lot. How's Tom? Yeah. How's Tom? I love you. You and Tom, the only people in theaters. I know, in movies right now. You and Tommy. Side by side. The outsiders are fucking undefeated. Yeah, yeah, that's right. That's right.

13:32I, um. Do you remember when Tom removed his tooth? I do. I do. Yeah. It was like. Part of his character. Do you. Okay. So let me ask you this. Whenever I see Tom doing these amazing, just beyond. It's hard not to say insane, but it's, it's. I look back. I look back at. But when Francis made us, for whatever reason, to practice to be gymnasts. Do you remember this? Well, yeah. Everyone was doing their backflip. I mean, I got away with all that stuff as the Johnny K, the introvert internal. I don't remember. Just walking by himself. Yeah. There was never any pressure on you to do a backflip. I wasn't in the rumble.

14:14I was in the hospital. That's what it was. But there was a lot of pressure on us to like learn backflips and do all this shit. And I don't know if you've ever learned a standing backflip. It's hard. It's scary as shit. And, of course, there was only one person. Off the diving board into the pool when I was young. That was like my version because it was always a soft landing. Well, Tom was the only one who did it. And if you watch the movie, the movie's playing. But then the movie just stops. And there's a shot of Tom doing a backflip for no reason. Right. And then the movie continues. That's right.

14:47Exactly. So, but I realized that's where it started for him. Yeah. 100 % that's where it started. For sure. And he was quite driven from day one. I mean, that gentleman had a plan. Right? He really did. So it's not just, you know, it's not, it just, it just didn't. I'm not misremembering. No, no, no. Very distinctively, it was happening there. And it's a great, he has the back flip and he comes up grabbing the back of his head because I'm not so sure he stuck the landing, but the car, it was out of frame. By the way, maybe it's a Texas switch. Could be. I don't think so. Oh my God. But it does have a Texas Switch look to it.

15:22It is very Texas Switch look to it. So Texas Switch is - Explain that. My favorite Texas Switch ever, and I watch this all the time, is I'm obsessed with 1970s television show openings. Uh-huh. Obsessed with them. And my favorite one is - Hawaii Five-0? Well, that's the best one ever. Right, right. That is, that's amazing. Yeah. But there are also some that are ridiculous. And my favorite ridiculous one is SWAT. Yeah. And it's shot of a van, just a van going down a street. Just like, oh my God, I can't believe it. And anyway, and each one of the SWAT guys comes out and does some gnarly stunt. And one guy breaks, dives through a window, falls out of frame where he's obscured by boxes.

16:05And then what's clearly the actor who did not do the stunt pops up. Right, right. So Texas Switch is one of the stuntmen. It's the best. Yeah. So maybe Tom, let's start a rumor right now. That it was a Texas witch. That Tom Cruise actually doesn't do his stunts. And we have the evidence. And the evidence is the outsiders. Right. We'll go back. It's kind of tough with the current footage that is playing on your feed right now. Right now. Of him not wearing a parachute, but just. The burning parachute. Just when you think you've said it. I know. It makes my stomach hurt. It's incredible. Anyway, all right, enough about that.

16:48I'm joking. So you're still a Springsteen fan, I'm assuming? Always been. Always been. And yes, you know, from day one. Yeah, did you? I mean, because I know Swayze, myself, we were big Springsteen guys. Were you a Springsteen guy at that point or just getting into it? Yeah, yeah. No, no, for sure. Because it was La Clash, Adamant, and Bruce. and Cheap Trick I had going on the onset. I had my big boom box. Adamant. Oh, and Matt had - Matt was into the Clash. And Bowie. Yeah, Bowie. And T-Rex. Yeah. But Springsteen's, you know, always, I've never met him. I know you're for your friends. Wait. Never met him.

17:31Come on. Never met him. And my family's pissed at me about that, but I'm like, I'm not that guy. There's also, it just never happened. I mean, I did, I've seen him a thousand times Yeah, no, a thousand And not quite, but I've seen him a bunch Saw, went to the Broadway thing twice I actually sent a note backstage For my wife saying, you're sending him a note backstage You know, because he's underscored my entire Yeah, life Life, and so I did, and in my shitty handwriting I said, but can I type it? No, you can't type it All right, because I stopped writing when the phones came out. All you can do is write your autograph.

18:10Yeah, that's it. I could sign. All your hand does. That's it. And that pays off way better than any other kind of writing. But so I did send a note backstage, just a respect note, not like, hey, can we meet? It was that. Right. You didn't say I'm in aisle double C. I'm in aisle C2 off the aisle. It'll be me. I'll be waving. No, it was really totally respectful. No, I think that night Patty wasn't in the show. You've seen the Broadway. Yes. All right. So she wasn't because, and he commented that there was something, something going on with the, one of the kids. He said, I think his comment was, you know, I thought at this point I'd be, I just participate in an advisory position, but for some reason now we got to go in full Monty.

19:01so we're dealing with this crisis so Patty isn't here so maybe there was something going on so I never heard back but I'm just a my god what a career just listen to the song The Wrestler just gorgeous one trick pony just a gorgeous piece of you know the story for that he got boned on the Oscar that's ridiculous what is it the rule it has to play within In the narrative, it can't just be credits. Right, but I guess Philadelphia played in the narrative. It's some weird thing. Says someone who's been boned by the Oscars on, well, it wasn't the Oscars, but like I did a movie called Behind the Candelabra.

19:52Yeah, yeah, yeah. And my character. Jerry Weintraub. Is it another connection? Michael Weintraub, I know you're listening. Yeah, he is. yeah he's with Ted right now he's with Sarandos um I but there was a like a screen time limit like and I got everybody else won every award and I won absolutely well but I just remember your face yes it was awesome it was fine yeah what a great what a great fun role that must have been so you don't have to carry it but you could come in and kill add the color it's awesome I'm that's what I'm looking for now. You know, after all this awesome franchise stuff and God, I mean, the Karate Kid, just that from 1984 to now, how many movies, television, and that it's relevant for four, almost four generations now.

20:45They could all, you could have your grandparents and your nieces and nephews all watching a piece of that same thing. And I kind of was the Luke Skywalker of that franchise. But to that type of role - You're the less angry at George Lucas. A little bit less. Mark Hamill. Yeah, that's what I am right now. Well, give me a week. Right. No. I saw Lucas. I'm segueing like crazy because with Francis Coppola's AFI event. Oh, tell me about - Oh, well, we got to talk about - Go in order. No, no, no, no. I got in order. This is all bullshit. Tell me about - So I had Francis on the show. That's great. And it was, I cannot tell you what it was like for me.

21:28I did. I listened to some of that. Yes, yes, yes, I saw that. I almost could get super emotional talking about it now. Yeah, I'm with you. I mean, I don't even know what it's, I don't know what to compare it to. It's going back to high school reunion to the principal or the teacher you thought didn't like you or did like you or whatever. It's so full of like baggage in a way. Right, but for you, because of the film's initial cut and then the complete novel cut, that narrative is just an awesome, you know, fully realized. Right. You know. With a third act now. It was great. I mean, having that cut, the complete novel cut out and having Francis say it was a mistake.

22:14It was a mistake that he made. Was it the studio? Was it running time? He said when he would get angry, I think his, correct me if I'm wrong if you know this, but he would say when he got no, you know, when he butted heads with the studio, he usually would just cut stuff and make it shorter. That's amazing. Yeah, I think he's on record for saying that. And when he looks back at that, you know, that's something he wishes he could have course corrected. And now you kind of can, maybe not for the theatrical release. But and so I think that was, you know, he had to he had a longer movie. You either follow the Curtis brothers or you go up to the church in Windricksville.

22:56And, you know, fortunately for me at that point, I was in all that stuff. But but on the on the flip side, you lost the brothers and you lost that beautiful scene that you you have. And and and so it's great. But you know, Francis and the whole that's on, do a plug for that, TNT June 18th. That'll air the AFI lifetime achievement for Coppola. Yeah. And George was there and - Lucas was there, Spielberg. It was nuts. Oh, my God. Lucas, Spielberg, Ron Howard, Pacino, De Niro, Hoffman. Me. No, sorry. You know, and - It ain't bragging if you've done it. Yeah, that's right. That's right. And see Thomas Howell, my partner in our little Outsiders piece, Diane Lane was there, Morgan Freeman, Spike Lee.

23:45Dude, I mean, for someone who lives outside of it, which is me, I've never kind of, I've always kept one foot in and one foot out, right? I'm back in New York for the most part. So to be at even at Ted's pre the night before gathering at his house and just be in the backyard, you know, they had the lemon trees brought in. And it was like Sorrento and opera was playing and pizza and veal parmesan was being served. And Francis came in and it was just to be part of that, you know, and we started our careers there. It was really kind of warm and wonderful. And then it was also, look at this patio.

24:27Look at these people. It was kind of the Oscars without all the stuff. Yeah, the what's good about it. And it was Harrison Ford and everyone had another Francis story. And me and Tommy had some fun stuff that we did and it went over really well. So I look forward for you to seeing it. But the first thing Ted said when he said, I just got to, Rob, it feels so bad he can't be here. That was like the opening line of like, hey, Ted, how are you? Yeah, yeah. So he threw you cred right away because I guess you were in Ireland. It was Ireland shooting, yeah. Shooting the American TV show. That's right.

25:01Which is how it's done. That's right. That is, you know, if you're not going to take 100 Americans to Ireland to shoot an American TV show, what are you doing? Like, that's the way the business goes.

25:25Was Tommy, here's my favorite thing about Tommy, who, you know, I love so dearly is he sometimes he talks like a cowboy. Right. He was a little less, he dialed back, I think he was about, he was kind of half cowboy. Because, I mean, bro. No, he goes full cowboy. I feel like I'm in Tropic Thunder now. And I'm going, okay, I get, I go, yes, Sam Neill's getting older. Yep. Tommy's found a lane. Yep, exactly. He's got his music. And it's good. And it's, oh, he's great. Yeah, yeah. But then I did notice when he came back to the outsider stuff, he'd talk like Tommy Howell again. Yeah, it's like when Madonna went British.

26:02Yeah, you've never had a vocal affectation. No. Well, if you watch old footage of me when I first came up. I think you need to have a vocal affectation. I'm going to work on that now. Well, now's the, you know, I'm in the transition. I'm Australian. Yeah, that's right. That's what I'll do. You know, because they're better actors, you know. Yes, of course. They take all the jobs. They do. They do. You're just better. You know you're just better if you're Australian. Better actor. I think good I might. Shrimp on the Barbie. You're British, you're better. British are better. America sucks. And then blue eyes helps too.

26:32You have that. So I don't, I don't. There was one point where I literally was when I was out of work for a chunk. Yeah. And, you know, you're flipping through what's on TV or people I've worked with. And I was convinced everyone had blue eyes. See, I think it's the opposite now. Yeah, it might be. It might be. Yeah, yeah. It might be. You know, but the pendulum always swings way too far either way. Do you have any of your Tiger Beat, okay, there was 16 magazine. Yeah, 16 was. We were both pinup boys. Yep. 16. Tiger Beat. Tiger Beat. They were the Newsweek in time. Yes, yes. Above the Teen Bops and those others.

27:12That were, yes, lesser citizens. Right, right. I think that's all gone. I mean, yeah, it's all gone, obviously. Because it's all just digital. Yeah. I wonder what it would have been like making the outsiders in the TikTok world. I have, I mean, we'd be just in between scenes doing sketches. Right. I mean, we kill, you know, when you do these, I'm just coming off the press tour and the stuff that they submit, you know, you just have to, because it's, I'm like, on Cobra Kai, it was easier because I say, give this to the kids. They're awesome at it. So me and Billy Zapko, we would always just say, give it to the, and the kids would, they'd eat it up.