Though the duo have only spoken highly of each other in the press, their friendship didn't kindle until years later — 2005, to be exact — when they reunited for the first time ever at Pat Morita (a.k.a. Mr. Miyagi)'s, funeral. “He caught my eye,” Ralph said in his memoir about the meeting.
He continued, "Pat was a fierce martial artist. But my memories with him are galvanized in his calm, gentle and supportive demeanor. I considered him a friend and my ultimate cheerleader.
How did Ralph Macchio react to Pat Morita's death?
Miyagi once said, “No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do.” Well, it seems both Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio were good teachers and students. Macchio is now paying respect to the late Morita, penning an essay in tribute to his late sensei.
Ralph Macchio, as an INFJ, tends to be highly secretive individuals who keep their genuine sentiments and motives hidden from others. They are sometimes misunderstood as cold or distant when in fact, they are simply very skilled at keeping their inner thoughts and emotions to themselves.
Ralph Macchio Opens Up About Pat Morita Almost Missing Out on the Role of Mr. Miyagi | Tonight Show
Does Ralph Macchio know karate in real life?
Apart from four jiu-jitsu lessons when I was 10, I had no martial arts experience. Before filming, I was trained in Okinawan Gōjū-ryū karate by Pat E Johnson, who coordinated the fight scenes and played the head referee in the tournament at the end of the film.
During Pat Morita's (his former The Karate Kid (1984) co-star) funeral procession, Macchio gave a brief eulogy and ended it as quoted, "Forever, my Sensei" to the mourners.
Often times he leaned into it, playing with different Asian accents, like how his Chinese accent for Arnold was supposed to be for a character originally meant to be Japanese. Many of his characters didn't have accents (Morita himself didn't have one and couldn't speak Japanese) but many did.
Why did Ralph Macchio stop making Karate Kid movies?
Despite his youthful appearance, Macchio was in his early thirties when shooting The Karate Kid Part III, and so was deemed too old to continue in the role for further movies.
Macchio was born in Huntington, New York. He is the son of Rosalie (née DeSantis) and Ralph George Macchio Sr., who owned a few laundromats and a wastewater disposal company. Ralph has a younger brother named Steven. His father is of half Italian and half Greek descent, and his mother is of Italian ancestry.
"For Billy and I, the depth and level of our friendship and our history together has just gone beyond, just like this show has," Macchio tells PEOPLE of working on Cobra Kai with Zabka.
Originally Answered: Why didn't Ralph Macchio return as LaRusso in Karate Kid 4? He didn't want to be like Sylvester Stallone, doing Rocky or Rambo for 25 years. He wanted to do other projects, not just be tied to one thing.
But I had been dancing since the age of three, taking lessons at the June Claire School of Dance in Babylon, Long Island." He attributes some of his deft and fluid moves in movies as the Karate Kid to his early training as a dancer. But Macchio's glad finally to use his talents in a bonafide musical hit.
He never learned martial arts. Nothing he shows in the movies is based on his own knowledge or ability, he copied the moves that his martial arts choreographer showed him; The only person in the karate kid movies that had any Karate experience was “Kreese” and that was under a very controversial teacher.
Before filming The Karate Kid, Pat Morita was not a martial arts master. He did not have any experience in karate prior to making the films. However, that does not mean he and the rest of the cast were not placed under a training program.
Morita gained particular fame during the 1980s for his work as Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid films. The original preferred choice was Toshiro Mifune, who had appeared in the Akira Kurosawa films Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), and The Hidden Fortress (1958), but the actor did not speak English.
Ralph's voice is just way different today. He was in his 20's back then when making the Karate Kid movies, so you'd think he would still sound like that today. In the 80's he had more of a Jersey accent too, but his voice just sounded different than it does today overall. It's softer now that it was back then.
"I was 15 ... and we met at my cousin's Sweet Sixteen ... and we met and hit it off, and we're still in love, and it's awesome," Macchio said during an episode of Live! With Kelly and Ryan in 2019. The two married 12 years later on April 5, 1987.
