Why didnt Ralph Macchio have a bigger career?

He probably didn’t put out.

He’s 60?

He's 56.

Isn't he a dwarf?

R4 He's 5′ 9″

56-60-40-99... Its all the same.

He does look pretty good for mid fifties, and I don't think he's had any surgeries done. But he does wear a toupe.

He has always looked younger than his actual age. I remember on Eight is Enough he was playing a 14-15 year old when he was already 20.

He was just in "The Deuce" playing a police officer. It certainly was not a big role, but he is still acting.

Thinking he got stereotyped into playing Guido roles and could never break out. No idea what he turned down either in the hopes of launching a bigger movie career.

Is he a top or a bottom?

He turned down Top Gun.

These midgets are good bottoms. Even when they're 30 if you squint just right you can convince yourself you're fucking a 16 year old.

If I recall correctly, he had open heart surgery at a relatively young age.

Why did he basically stop acting? I know he does small roles now and then. He's able to live in the Hamptons, on the beach

Family money.

Played gay in a crappy film called "Too Much Sun."

Wig

I read he’s doing a show soon with “(Is there a problem,) Mr Lawrence,” from Karate Kid. He has a grown son in college. One of the NHL teams in NY honoured him with a bobble head last year for being a diehard famous supporter. In interviews, and odd mentions by others, he comes off as being possibly too miserable to work with. And that’s as far back as KK and Outsider days, so maybe that set the tone for future employment.

Where does the wig idea come from?

During the second movie he had a gut and was fat. That killed it.

I think he got type cast and if his acting skills were limited then he wasn't able to break out of the typecasting. It happens to a lot of child actors.

[quote] Played gay in a crappy film called "Too Much Sun."

And in a crappy film called ‘Naked In New York’.

Isn't he the one Ann Romano used to beat up?

He’s ugly

Wasn't he thirty when he did the Karate Kid?

He was 44. He’s 75 now. Always looked young for his age.

R24, that was Danny Pintauro. No wonder he turned out so fucked up.

"I killed a guy! I killed a guy! I killed a guy!" is Guido-speak for "Are you insinuating that I killed someone?"

Verificatia?

r28 I assume you were joking.

He’s not a shoddy actor, but a rare example of a grifty teen actor in it for the money who luckily turned out to have some shred of talent backing it up. He was arguably the only decent actor working on ‘The Outsiders’ and has given great performances in almost everything else; he’s in poor movies but his work is never what’s dragging the production down.

Maybe early success went to his head or fucked with his drive or outlook somehow?

I hate the way Eric Stoltz no-sells that entire scene at R23, just dreadful acting. If you pause the scene at 2m10s you can see Ralph’s face briefly flashes with pure grit-teeth irritation that Stoltz gave nothing. Eric’s character isn’t supposed to react with gusto but he is supposed to react with something, at least a little in the eyes.

Macchio wasn’t giving as much as he could have, either, he’s on cruise control - and yet he still looks like Pacino next to Stoltz.

I saw him many years ago in How to Succeed in Business: wasn't bad for a non-musical person.

He got fat, like Ken Wahl.

He always seemed nice, his cunt of a costar Elizabeth Shue made fun of him in an interview years ago where she basically called him a loser.

Didn't he do a play off-Broadway a while ago at a small theatre?

Perhaps he was considered too ethnic? Or maybe while The Karate Kid films were enormously popular, they were still modestly budgeted, and therefore wasn't proof enough that Macchio could carry a big Hollywood movie or blockbuster. However, there's something to be said for the fact that he still works to this day and is fairly well know even among a much younger demographic. I'll always have a soft spot for him having watched from a young age.

Link to the Shue interview?

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More of fatty Ralph

He's aging well. Any pics of his meaty Italian sizemeat?

It was on television years ago R39, I wouldn't know where to find it online.

He got type cast as a child actor, casting directors couldn't picture him doing anything other than what he did as the Karate Kid. I also think he didn't have the acting chops to move on to other roles.

He was completely authentic as that Daniel LaRusso character. I heard somewhere that he's a family man first. Maybe that's why he kind of faded out?

There's a recent YouTube interview with Elisabeth Shue on the Rich Eisen show throwing some serious shade at Ralph. I'm guessing they didn't get along during the filming - I wonder what exactly happened?

Elisabeth Shue is just mad because she looked like an old, FAT whore next to Ralphie in Karate Kid!

Way too fat to play a cheerleader!!

R45 Ralph does come across as really sweet and down to earth in interviews and public appearances. I can't imagine why she'd still hold a grudge after all these years.

Because the only career high she got was sucking of Nic Cage in that boring ass movie..

He's aging VERY well. It looks like brother and sister in R40's pic.

OP who says he can’t still make it big?

Isn’t there an ancient BI somewhere in the archives about Macchio giving it up to get ‘Karate Kid’?

I do know for a fact that he stayed at John Advilsen’s apartment during a 2-week rehearsal for the film.

He suffers from the syndrome of most child actors. Some age well but can't act their acting chops was good enough playing a child like character or a teen but can't seem to transition well into adult roles. The only actors I can think of who could successfully make that transition is leo, drew Barrymore and a few others.

You don’t think Macchio can act, R52?

He was pretty much the only ‘lead’ in ‘80s popcorn flicks who actually could. That scene with the car in KK alone is still chill-inducing, it’s that good. Then there’s his work on Outsiders, Teachers, Distant Thunder, Last POW, Good Night to Die....the list goes on. He is also great in sitcoms, Ugly Betty comes to mind.

R17 It’s been a decade or so since I watched TOO MUCH SUN, but I’m pretty sure Macchio’s character in it was just a conman who rented his trailer to RDJ’s character. Macchio could have been a gigolo as well, it’s hard to remember without seeing it all (from this clip it seems like he was trying to start out hustling women for extra cash). I don’t think his character was gay, though, I would have remembered that.

The main character played by Eric Idle was a gay man, so maybe you meant the film was gay-interest?

Yeah the 80s he was playing a teen. His acting in ugly betty wasn't a stretch. If he wants to show he has range he should audition for a part in an interesting griddy indie movie. Playing against type like a serial killer character a non lovable role.

Worst offender of what r52 describes is Molly Ringwald. Watching her act is like watching a kid in a school play.

Griddy, R55? You mean they used too much graph paper? Or the streets were all at right angles?

R54 Macchio’s accent is thick as passata there. He does not sound that Italian now.

Was that a put-on for the movie, or did he speak more that way as a youngster?

His character in Too Much Sun had like a ‘sassy aggressive NJ wife’-thing going on when he’d kick meek RDJ around and tell him to find a job and get some money. You don’t hear him talk so much as yell a stream of “ey-ey-eY-EYWHADDAYADOINSTOPTHat” followed by some nasty quip about what a loser RDJ is. It must have been a very cathartic role.

It seems like Macchio was going for ‘macho asshole’ but overshot it by a mile. Or arguably he was just too pretty a femme to ever pull off machismo; even the way he stands around leering is a touch femme.

Also, Ralph’s greasy mullet in it is atrocious. It is not a look that suited him in any way.

A couple of roles he turned down:

Mark Ratner in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. His agent wanted too much money (kind of odd that early in his career).

Marty McFly in Back to the Future. He thought the script was stupid. (I can't blame him as most scripts do in fact suck)

"A couple of roles he turned down:

Mark Ratner in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. His agent wanted too much money (kind of odd that early in his career)."

Really? That's interesting because it must have been before he was even cast in The Outsiders. Was it going to take him away from "Eight is Enough" or something like that?

Some pop culture trivia: he's inspired a bunch of songs by artists who used to crush on him.

Here's another:

Lovable but dim. About as bright as Joey Lawrence.

He had the problem a lot of cute, boyish looking actors have... they can get away with playing teens or college age characters for a long time, but once they finally look too old for those roles, they’re too short or delicate or unmanly looking to play leading man parts. Actors like Daniel Radcliffe and Logan Lerman and Elijah Wood will have or already have the same issue.

R62 Bat for Lashes ‘Daniel’ is such a stirring & sublime pop song, and has never had the deserved accolades. It’s one of the best dark ballads of the last 20 years.

R63 he doesn’t come over stupid; what makes you say that?

Did Ralph ever reach puberty?

He was in The Actor's Studio with Dick Van Patten in the late 50's - that's why Dick got him the role on Eight is Enough. Betty Buckley felt he was too old to play her nephew.

R23 saliva can transmit diseases...

Maybe Stoltz gave whatever accursed career-stalling herpes he has to Macchio.

Wasn’t the Italian mouse that Fievel befriended in AN AMERICAN TAIL based on Ralph? If not then the likeness is uncanny, from accent down to posture & gesture. Even the hair & teeth are near-identical. The girlfriend of said mouse looks a little like Elizabeth Shue in design, as well.

AN AMERICAN TAIL was released two or three years after THE KARATE KID PART I, so the timelines would match up roughly.

Why has Ralph Macchio’s speaking voice become higher with age?

He was probably deliberately put some bass in his voice as a younger man to deter toughs from trying to kick the shit out of him. Not only was he slight of frame and pretty in a feminine way, he also played a little character known as The Karate Kid. Anyone else in his position would probably feel the need to widen their stance.

I like to think that he and C. Thomas Howell fucked each other silly on the set of The Outsiders.

[quote] Anyone else in his position would probably feel the need to widen their stance.

It always worked for me.

[quote] I like to think that he and C. Thomas Howell fucked each other silly on the set of The Outsiders.

Let’s hope not. Howell was 14 years old to Ralph’s 20 when THE OUTSIDERS was shot. What’s more, they despised one another.

The impression I’ve got over the years is he’s got kind of a miserable mouth on him. I forget if it was Karate Kid or Outsiders, but he almost didn’t get hired because they didn’t think it was going to be worth the hassle.

His son is on the tweeter, the pic is of him and Ralph. The NY Islanders hockey team honoured him with a bobble head night about a year ago. In recognition that he’s their most diehard famous fan. In some of his earlier roles, I noticed he was wearing an Islanders jacket.

Last year at one of the convention panels he did, Ralph answered a question about how he got Daniel LaRusso. According to Macchio the director & producer loved him for the part but had to lobby to get him hired, because the head of the studio at the time thought he was not star material and wouldn’t be able to handle the role well.

Ralph didn’t say exactly why the studio head felt this way. Maybe it was an attitude problem, or maybe Macchio just didn’t comply with some demand or meet a certain standard. RDJ & Tiger Blood were also on the table for the role up until last minute, although Macchio maintains he “was always the guy” for Daniel LaRusso.

R73 from retrospective interviews it would seem that C. Thomas Howell was in awe of Swayze and had a kind of crush on Dillon. He likes Macchio now but by all accounts did not appreciate him or think he was anything special back in the ‘80s.

He always seems a little tense & nervous.

He's cute here.

But, let's face it, a block of wood can out-act him.

He should be the poster boy for the eternal twink.

C. Thomas Howell has Avery dominating presence on that stage.

Eternal *battered* twink, R81. In Karate Kid I, he somehow looked sultry & come-hither with a viciously scraped black eye.

Trivia: Billy Zabka accidentally clocked him in the face for real during their fight-choreo rehearsals and so Ralph was walking around during the shoot a week later with real marks on him under the makeup. The shiner was left uncovered for the sunglasses reveal) so it made it into the film. Something about that is really hot.

I heard them talk about this at a Con; iirc Zabka mentioned that he clipped Macchio's jaw with a kick rather than his eye with a punch, R83, making the reddened area along the side of Ralph's right cheek & neck (in shadow) his real injury.

But yeah, the thought of Ralph skulking around wearing bruises another guy gave him is sexy. It's halfway to a lovebite. And they say this movie has no gay connotation....

Oh, to be a fly-on-the-wall for those rehearsals, R83...

John Advilsen’s YT does give us one aggressive Daniel/Johnny cutscene, at least.

Ralph should have been given more to do in the ‘90s, more indie dramas & black comedies.

He was doomed when they made fun of his paunch in the Karate Kid II

He didn’t get pudgy until Part III.

Every time I see MY COUSIN VINNY I think he’s gonna have more lines than he does. He appears throughout but barely speaks, really. I guess that’s a Pesci movie for ya.

R88 he was a little husky for the KK sequels and for 'Vinny' but by the time he shot 'Naked in New York' in 91 he had slimmed back down to a smaller size that Eric Stoltz. His daughter was about to be born then (her birthday is in 92) so he probably had concerns about his health & career longevity in light of that.

[quote]The only actors I can think of who could successfully make that transition is leo, drew Barrymore and a few others.

The list is bigger than you think. Regardless of what your opinion is about their acting talents, the following former child actors were able to parlay their profession into successful adult actors:

Jodie Foster

Elizabeth Taylor

Natalie Wood

Christine Baranski

Peter Falk

Mickey Rooney

Nancy McKeon

Kim Fields

Eric Stolz

Elijah Wood

River Phoenix

Sara Gilbert

Tracey Nelson

Melissa Gilbert

Fred Savage

Matt Damon

Kurt Russell

Ron Howard

Brooke Shields

Alyssa Milano

Sarah Jessica Parker

Molly Ringwald (I know some poster doesn’t think highly of her but she gets work)

Christina Applegate

Joseph Gordon-Leavitt

Jason Bateman

Valerie Bertinelli

Christina Ricci

Rayven Simone

Judy Garland

Anna Paquin

Mayim Balik

Justin Timberlake

Ryan Gosling

Annette Funicello

Helen Hunt

Mila Kunis

Sarah Hyland

Miley Cyrus

Selena Gómez

Ralph Macchio himself

... and many others who started in theater, like the guy from the boy band who panders to the gays (Nick Boybandname) and the guy who brought down Kevin Spacey

There is a very thin line between the teenage Gabriela Sabatini and Ralph, at any age.

Macchio does sometimes look more Spanish than Italian.

As a little kid I used to get Ralph mixed up with Bernat Quintana, the gay twink on ‘El cor de la Ciutat’ (telenovela in Barcelona). There’s a thirty-year difference in age between them but I couldn’t tell that watching ‘Karate Kid’ reruns from young.

They are doing a new Karate Kid and he's in it. Called Cobra Kai, web series. Looks good in previews.

We’re way ahead of you, R94.

He’s reflexive and can laugh at himself, both very attractive & gracious qualities. He realises that he was perhaps too uptight, dour & “neurotic” as a younger man and this might be why he wears the calm & acquiescence of middle-age so well.

He also does a strong Brando.

How does Macchio vote, anyone know?

He endorsed Obama at one point, so I would assume he votes (D).

R91-

Skyler Gisondo

He has a bit of a squeaky-clean, forever boyish vibe to him that I think actually hurt him in terms of later on attracting leading man roles, or even getting cast in anything like, say, the Sopranos.

I saw a video of him teaching his son to drive, and I his son pinged to me.

He was the hottest when he was on Eight is Enough.

R91, in the music department:

Michael Jackson

Janet Jackson

Donny Osmond

Justin Bieber

Miley Cyrus

Judy Garland

Leann Rimes

Stevie Wonder

Ricky Martin

Frankie Lymon

Justin Timberlake

The Bee Gees

The Osmonds

Alanis Morisette

[quote] He has a bit of a squeaky-clean, forever boyish vibe to him that I think actually hurt him.

So R100; the sadistic life-choice is your face, your ass or your career?

I agree that he should have been in THE SOPRANOS, in some capacity. He was an obvious choice imo.

Yeah! He could have played a former popular teen idol who became unemployed and down on his luck, so he borrows money from the mob. Carmella had a huge crush on him back in the day. Tony gets jealous...

Think of the comedic possibilities!

Why didnt Ralph Macchio have a bigger cock?

His voice is kind of high pitched for someone his age. Too boyish.

Ralphie never seemed like one who was hired for his alpha male-ness.

His wedding video babyface is the oddest thing. He looks like his own pageboy, or a middleschooler dancing at his prom.

His wife was very young in the face, too.

R109, he looks like a freshman boy asking a senior girl to dance.

He got fat and he was never that cute to begin with his voice was also kind of grating.

Young Ralphie and Phyllis made such a beauuuutiful couple!

R112 those aren’t goombah names at all. Where are Katerina, Carla, Anna, Antonia, Gia, Aida, Val, Lisa, Lilian, Donna, Maria, Deanna, Allegra, Roberta and Isabella?

Was there anything to that BI about him and Karina from DWTS? Apparently there was “history” there but in the end Ralph still chose his wife & family. Sounds a little too melodramatic to be true of him, tbh.

I was in. Karate Kid movie and I'm going great!

[quote] Young Ralphie and Phyllis made such a beauuuutiful couple! —Ralph’s cousins - Ethel, Enid, Edna & Doris

Ralph was born & raised (and still lives) on Lawn Guyland. Female rels who are his age would be named Cathy, Dawn, Lisa, Theresa, Janice, Annie, Donna and Maria. Younger generations would be Sophia, Isabella, Laura, Adrienne, Kara and Aryanna.

Perhaps he aged too well. Hard casting him as an older man I suppose. He was beautiful in his prime.

I have a theory that all the young actors cast in both the movie and TV versions of the Outsiders had to suck off Francis Ford Coppola.

[quote] Hard casting him as an older man I suppose. He was beautiful in his prime.

A prime that’s not yet over, apparently.

He looks great for his age.

Didn't all the guys in The Outsiders not get along with each other?

It was only C. Thomas Howell & Macchio that would bicker R121. In the interview Ralph did with Artie Lange (see link @R96) he mentions that up until they shot the fire scene, the two boys would have shouting matches “like teenagers do” (although Ralph was 20/21 at the time...). These fights were usually about work; Macchio found Howell’s unwillingness to rehearse and lack of acting experience/training frustrating, while “CT” (as Ralph calls him) took exception to Macchio’s occasional precious attitude in not wanting to do stunts or just hang out outside work. They seem to have become friendly in their seniority though, doing Cons together and tweeting each other more than any of the other cast do. Weird how that happens.

IIRC There’s also a note in Rob Lowe’s autobiography about the cast thinking Tammy a little strange and Swayze intimidating, but they all quite liked both.

He looked dapper in ‘50s jazzman costume for CAN’T BE HEAVEN. It was very BOARDWALK EMPIRE-esque.

Suprising DeNiro didn't hook Ralph up with some gigs after their Broadway stint.

Like many child actors he seems to have entered but not completed puberty.

Can we call him a "child actor"? He started his career proper at 19 years old, on EIGHT IS ENOUGH.

I recently rewatched [italic] Karate Kid [/italic] (now streaming free on Amazon Prime) and was struck by how young he looked for a 20ish actor. He looked far too young and boyish to be Elisabeth Shue's love interest.

And was he supposed to be the same age as all of the Cobra Kai guys?

Stop calling him a child actor!

Is he white-adjacent?

He looked like a child, hence the "child actor" moniker.

I don't know, Rose, R131? Ya think the last name Macchio might be a clue?

Gary Coleman was 38 years old when Different Strokes premiered - and he was called a child actor. I fail to see the difference.

So all Italians are white-adjacent?

According to DL's strict eugenics rule, yes. He is also 1/4 Greek, which doesn't help his case on DL at all.

Also, it is unlikely Elisabeth Shue's disapproving Encino parents viewed Daniel LaRusso and his Jersey mom as being equal to their daughter... but we don't know if that's just because he lived in Reseda!

R136, aren’t both places in the valley where that slut Brooke Logan is from?

[quote] I don't know, Rose, R131? Ya think the last name Macchio might be a clue?

R132, how is your post responsive to R131?

R138, you're right. My response should have been directed to R130.

r133 You're only off by 28 years.

R137, they are both in the Valley, yes. One is decidedly more affluent than the other. The other is known to have lots of shitty apartments.

He's another one who has always maintained a squeaky clean reputation.

It’s somehow conspicuous that he’s such a decent man. He grew up in showbusiness in the ‘70s & ‘80s, and it’s like nothing has touched him. There’s something fascinating about someone like that; you ask yourself, “what makes him better, or different?”

He’d be an interesting interview with someone willing to hardball him.

His marriage at such a young age, during the height of his career, was also odd.

He got typecast.

Typecasted

R144 could it have been to please la famiglia? And protect his wealth from prospecting women?

Not all men with beards are gay.

Milo Famiglia?

Or ‘The Family’? Worked for Sinatra...

I mix him up with Scott Baio...

He gets to be on the same show as Maggie Gyllenhaal.

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL!

Obviously, his career is at it's peak.

He is cute but has no sex appeal. How the hell did this former child star get so much replies. He is only known for karate kid, a movie that came out in the early eighties. I guess a lot of you are feeling nostalgic.

[quote] He is only known for karate kid, a movie that came out in the early eighties.

...THE OUTSIDERS? CROSSROADS? MY COUSIN VINNY? BEER LEAGUE HITCHCOCK? BALLAD OF DANKO JONES? The second & third part of KARATE KID?

You’ve seriously not heard of one of these?

Uh, r91, Peter Falk and Christine Baranski were not child actors.

[italic]Ralph hasn't got that haaaaard cooooore, like me. She never learned to roooooolllll with the punches...

He was on Kevin Can Wait this past Monday. That is one God-Awful sitcom!

r153 most people under 50 haven't, except for maybe the Outsiders.

Most people regardless of age recognise him from the karate kid movies and that will be his legacy.

r153, I'm not sure the concept of unfamiliarity with "Beer League" or "Ballad of Danko Jones" requires caps lock.

Artie Lange’s character in Beer League kept needling Macchio’s character about being gay iirc. It was weirdly hot and kind of funny in spite of the tinge of homophobia. That’s Artie for ya, I guess.

His cameo on Entourage was awesome (think it was the episode “Aquamansion”).

Macchio was cuter as a kid.

COBRA KAI doesn't look half bad, though.

Will you be subscribing, OP?

Almost everyone was “cuter as a kid”, R162. Macchio still looks half his actual age.

I never thought he was a great actor, but he was quite cute. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for him because of his role in My Cousin Vinny alone. I love that movie.

I had a weird secret crush on Ralph in ‘Vinny’ R164. He was carrying a little on weight on him that was really sexy to me, and looked less like a highschooler so I felt a lot less creepy thinking he was hot.

Only an Italian-American could make “I shot the clerk!” sound like a question. I also like Macchio’s sneering delivery of “Vin, you graduated law-school 6 years ago; whadda ya been doin’ since?”

So there is no dirt on him? No scandals? No secret nude pics? How is this possible.

Ralph was on The Tonight Show last night. At 56, he looks great!

^^^he’s quite charming. It’s hard to know whence all the rumors about him being “difficult” arise.

His voice sounds younger now than it did when he was young.

R169 Billy Zabka likes it better that way. When they fuck and Ralph moans & begs for Billy in a breathy high pitch it’s easy to pretend they’re still in 1984, before their voices had fully broken and the world is was still innocent. Ralph makes a good feminine partner anyway but with less bass in his voice....

Macchio still looks cute now and only just reached his peak handsomeness c. 5 years ago, in his mid-50s (has that actually happened to ANYONE else ever?)

Looking good in Cobra Kai, even next to Bill.

Macchio has a fantastic ass in dress-slacks, it must be noted for the DL Annals.

R11 guess.

Scott Baio stole his career.

I’d rather have Ralph in charge of me.

He is really average looking and I am shocked that DL will care about an actor who does not look like a stud. When he was in those karate kid movies he was cute but as time went on he began to look weird. Boyish looks is not appealing in a middle aged man. He looks really unmasculine with pretty features. Maybe it explains why he did not have a bigger career, besides it will be tough for casting directors to cast him in a movie. He can't play a young adult anymore.

[quote] He looks really unmasculine with pretty features. Maybe it explains why he did not have a bigger career, besides it will be tough for casting directors to cast him in a movie.

This indicts the commercial American film industry more than Macchio’s face.

Perhaps Ralph would have fared better in the Golden Age of Hollywood, when leading men had to be more mannered & feminine?

How is he planning to move forward with Cobra Kai? It could have longevity over three or more seasons, but if it doesn’t then Macchio has to have something to fill the time in his 60s now that his kids have flown. Does he invest in anything or have any hobbies? Does he do any secret gigs on the side?

[quote] If he wants to show he has range he should audition for a part in an interesting griddy indie movie. Playing against type like a serial killer character a non lovable role.

Worked for me.

Cobra Kai came out today! Thoughts & comments, dear DL?

It's fun, R180. Just finished the first episode, and Ralph looks great. Nice to see him getting some work.

Because he is cute OP. Hollywood likes making mannish looking women a sex symbol, he isn't Jonah/ Seth fat or ugly, and he doesn't have a square jaw that is wider on the bottom than it is on the top. He's cute/adorable, Hollywood doesn't like that.

[quote] When he was in those karate kid movies he was cute but as time went on he began to look weird.

I feel the opposite. I never thought he was attractive or cute until he re-emerged on DWTS.

For a guy who's nearly 60 and more into his family & art than exercise, he's got great flexibility. Dance or Karate?

He's bringing pocket squares & colored socks back. I can dig it.

Is he secretly dating Billy Zabka? It really seems like he is, and I never got "closet-case" from him til now.

Because Tony Danza had the slot.

His parents are loaded. Self-made. He probably didn't need to work. Italian parents share their money with their kids.

I wonder if Ralph Jnr. got married so young just to appease his parents. That happens surprisingly often in those type of families.

[quote] I never got "closet-case" from him ‘til now.

Hmmm R185 I caught on to that also. Maybe it’s just that he’s always sitting next to the very masculine catnip-to-women Zabka whenever we see him now, which throws Macchio’s fey qualities into sharp relief. As nice as it would be to have Ralph be Family, I think it would be hard for him to stay closeted for this long without a whisper of a rumor. If anything, Zabka is more likely to be one of us as until five month ago he was almost completely out of the public eye and free to fuck who he pleased. Both men are married IRL anyway, so if they do enjoy or have enjoyed homosex it’s on the DL and extramarital.

Rebecca Granet is right though, they do have chemistry and balance each other out; Zabka is upbeat & warmly funny where Macchio is serious & dryly sarcastic. They make each other laugh, it’s kinda cute.

[quote] Dance or Karate?

Stunt-double, adorable R184.

Ralph does look great for over-55, though. Does he live really clean, or is it just his leisurely existence?

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^^^^^

Ralph certainly isn’t having a ‘cruel Summer’ this year. Lil’ COBRA KAI is outperforming Netflix’ latest fare.

I just finished my second watch of COBRA KAI and I’m convinced Macchio has a crush on Zabka, possibly one he hasn’t even noticed developing himself.

They’re using Daniel’s appreciation for Johnny’s body as an in-joke on the actual show but it’s starting to bleed into the subtext; every scene their characters are in together Ralph is either running his hands or his eyes all over Billy (and who can blame him?) This is mere observation but Macchio seems like the intensely nervy and slightly-pretentious type to internalise gay feelings and use them for “his craft”.

There’s also the fact they’ve been camping buddies since the early-mid ‘00s and used the press junket for COBRA KAI to flirt with each other. Their chemistry is awesome which makes me think they’ve fucked..

Well, thanks to the Islanders we know Ralph is a pitcher, if nothing else.

"If he wants to show he has range he should audition for a part in an interesting griddy indie movie."

Movies about geometry are a tough sell.

He could do a role like Slates did in HE WAS A QUIET MAN, sort of an autistic type. He’s never been a romantic lead, really, and he could use something more cerebral to work on after a career of types.

His character on EIGHT IS ENOUGH was so adorable, singing showtunes in the school halls.

I just rewatched that 8IE episode.

Ralph got SO intense with Willie Aames, the latte looked terrified. Ralph is very coquettish with older men, ain’t he? He in his turn looked scared of Betty Buckley though, so one wonders what went on there.

How much is he getting paid for Cobra Kai? And does YouTube have that much money?

I liked that weird quasi-incestuous part he had as a hitman opposite Ally Sheedy in GOOD NIGHT TO DIE. I was shocked at how good their chemistry was as up until that movie both had been phoning it in. I could totally see them as both lovers and killers. Why don’t either of them have more parts like that right now?

he needed more sex

As in appeal, R202? Or as a feature in his life more generally?

R201 I have mixed feelings about Ralph in GNTD, which I just rewatched for a review. He was about average, but I tend to expect more from him and thought more could have been done here either by him or for him.

He is watchable enough in this role and looks youthfully gorgeous for 41. He shows as ever the hypnotising presence that made him a star in the first place; he's one of those actors who draws the eye on camera no matter what he's doing. I love the guy and I wanted to love him in this, but in all honesty he just could not nail the patter or the motivation for this character. Maybe LI is too hard an accent to totally shake? Or the part was too thin and caricature-ish? It was a farfetched and chaotic film with none of the focused character-work of his big studio pictures, so him getting lost in the shuffle is I suppose forgivable. Lainie Kazan and Seymour Cassel stamp all over him in their shared scenes, and he doesn't seem convincing threatening to kill the former.

Luckily Sheedy is better and at least gives energy to her part, which brings his performance up. I too believed them as long-time lovers, although not as deranged hitman & wife or as incestual; isn't it implied in the movie that they just act as siblings as a kink and a gimmick? They couldn't pass as related anyway, given their coloring. Their creepy-couple behaviour really works the best when deep in the saccharine silliness of it, like when Sheedy was biting/kissing his ear and ruffling his locks (were they still real in this movie?) while they drove. Perhaps had that featured more in the script they could have locked down their characters better (they only get about 10-12 minutes of screentime shot over a couple days, in fairness). You're right that they do have a sweet, believable and comfortable chemistry which would work very well in another vehicle today. I wonder if they actually enjoyed working together, and what they both thought of this movie and their parts?

Are you high, R204? Ralph & Ally were the only entertaining, interesting parts about that vaporous movie.

They were perfectly cast because of their childlike looks and demeanour, and their almost-archetypical presence. Their characters were written as enigma. Everything from their names (literally ‘Donnie & Marie’) to their accents to their backstory and their claims of kinship were meant to seem implausible because they’re grifty lowrent mercenaries. It’s just as likely that they were both just a couple of kooky maniacs from the out-of-town (but not so far out as Nawlins) who worked for the Mob but wanted to stay untraceable, so decided to invent crazy fabricated personalities to scare off questions. They were written as inept, mysterious cartoons with a line in nutso asides. Ralph did fine in the part.

They both seem like they’re having a ball playing these roles but also that works for the characters who come across as a little bloodthirsty and kinky, enough to treat killing as a game (albeit a scary, necessary one if they want to eat). Even when Ralph’s character expresses misgiving over what they’re doing he only says “I don’t wanna do this in the daytime” in a whiny pouty voice, and there’s something both sinister and funny about the delivery which clicks. Both Ally & Ralph sink into these parts, and if you let your memory go as you watch it’s even easy to forget they were Alison Basket-Case and Danny LaRusso. It’s hard to use iconic teen stars in any movie with success, but this was an inspired choice imo.

I didn’t even like GOOD NIGHT TO DIE, really (it was on the lame side of ok, with a couple of half-decent scenes with the leads), but Ralph’s parts in it are endlessly watchable. Like you said he has that intense yet appealing creepy thing going. Iirc press said that had the movie done well their characters were possibly going to get a short spinoff series on CBS or something. That would have been a fun booster addition to the resumes of both actors in their early-mid noughties.

Wonder if Sheedy tapped that? She seemed pretty in to him so it was either great acting from her in that movie or...

It was a poor movie R201, one of those knockoff ‘Lock, Stock’ faux-noirs that were always springing up in the 00s. Every character in it was an “inept mysterious cartoon” as you excellently put it, but this was no Bakshi. It’s a cheesy, junky filmschool project that somehow snuck into TriBeCa that year. This probably seems histrionic but I remember hating it at the time and ever since I’ve been set off by any mention of it.

I think you overstate Macchio & Sheedy’s contribution, too. They were the best roles of this shoddy film and indeed fun and easy to watch (maybe that’s the popcorn pedigree), but this was obviously a quick paycheck role slumming it for both. Macchio didn’t try and Sheedy didn’t care. I’m not sure how much mileage they’d have gotten out of their own series for these characters, but there was a chance it could have been entertaining for cable. I agree that I’d really like to see them work together again and play villains, just on something better that they were both more inspired by and comfortable with.

Per IMDB the keyboard player from Yes did the soundtrack. Tbh that OST was the highlight of the film. Oh, and if you have to or choose to watch it again (why you would I don’t know) look out for the WTC shots, which were left in the movie when it was screened at TriBeCa (oooh, edgy....).

I’m the same age as his daughter (she’s 26 now, about 11 or 12 in this pic) and he’s attractive to me. So that’s weird.

I thought he elected to bow out quietly for a couple of decades to help raise his kids, OP.

He was generally with his daughter at her childhood and teenage dance recitals, if Reddit is to be believed.

CROSSROADS was fucking great in retrospect, wasn't it? Ralph got Jami Gertz in it, so it was a win for him.

I loved the soundtrack. 'He Made a Woman out of Me' oughta be a DL anthem.

So nobody ever had him, there's nothing to report? And he never did anything but work and play nice?

That scene in CROSSROADS where 'Blind Dog' Willie Brown (Joe Seneca, WHET?) slaps sense into Eugene (Macchio) for talking back and being a punk has me crying with laughter every damn time. It's camp brilliance. It gets even better when Willie all but calls Eugene a poseur and then tries to scam him out of his last dime.

Hard to believe Macchio was 24/25 shooting this, he looks like he's barely 17 (which makes the frequent talk of pussy and the copious whiskey seem a little extreme). As for the mullet and the blazer with the rolled sleeves..

Are you seriously asking this question, OP?

R23 I remember critics of yesteryear shrieking that a gay role would spell the end of Macchio's career.

Actually, his temporary downturn began a few years prior to 'Naked in New York' with 'Karate Kid Part III', but nobody - especially critics in the pockets of Columbia-Tristar - wanted to cop to that in 1992. If anything, a gay role was the forward-thinking and intelligent choice for Ralph given his situation and the U.S. at the time.

The question should be, "Why didn't William Zabka have a bigger career"?

R215^^^

He's too ethnic looking.

Is he Sicilian-Calabrese, or what? I can't figure out these different Italian breeds and his accent is weird.

According to wax on fuck off he was too nice. I never thought he was cute.

^^^he did seem like an adorable teen, and incredibly shy/soft-spoken.

I get why little girls loved him so much, he comes across virtually harmless. Like a Bambi.

Glenn Scarpelli got all the good parts.

His daughter is ugly...

She can really dance, though R222. I bet she gave Daddy cheat steps for when he did 'Dancing with the Stars'.

R217 he sounds so natural dubbed over in Italian.

R114 unfounded rumor. His wife showed up to watch him dance with Ms. Smirnoff, so there's something to clutch pearls about if you like.

Ralph was rather good at Latin dance, must be in the blood.

R69 I was just checking the wiki for NAKED IN NEW YORK (tracking down obscure Calista Flockhart appearances, don't ask) and I notice that the page was edited last week with a change to Macchio's character bio; it now reads 'bisexual' where to my recollection it read 'gay' before (a year or so ago, if not mere weeks). On the 9th June this year or even some time before, someone saw fit to mess with the continuity...

I've seen this movie, and can confirm that Macchio's character is gay as the day is long. The character calls himself sexually "confused" in one scene, but the (awful) film never explains where this confusion arises as he shows zero interest in woman at any point. This part was definitely a gay one and iirc Macchio has said as much before (in printed archived interviews from decades ago, but still). Odd little bit of straightwashing...

I’ve always gotten Femmey Bisexual vibes from him. I’d believe him if he insisted he never dated or seriously fell for a man (although he certainly gazes at Billy Z. in some typa way) but I don’t think I buy that he never sucked a guy to the root or took three masculine fingers a time in his life. It’s something behind his eyes that to me screams ‘was once a sultry, slutty bottom’. Maybe casting couch? And you know, his favorite things as a teenager in the ‘70s were showtunes and Astaire/Rogers movies..,

The interview R226 means is the one where Ralph said he felt “so heterosexually right” kissing Eric Stoltz. Which, yeah, the magazine in question did not ask him to clarify that. He also all but Outed his costar in the same interview by implying that his nerves about their lovescene were due to latent attraction.

His success on the cherry business, threw his acting career off-track

1-Night Stand asks:

[quote]Why didn't Ralph Macchio have a bigger penis?

^^do we actually have verificatia?

[quote] Macchio told SiriusXM Stars’ Seth Rudetsky the main reason he and his wife have been able to make their 25-year marriage work is the two “honestly believe that we belong together.”

I don't know whether to coo or roll my eyes. Breeders confuse me.

R73 Johnny Cade had his hands all over Ponyboy in THE OUTSIDERS movie, for whatever reason. Chest, thighs hips. Don't remember if it was that way between them in the book (S.E.Hinton insists it was all brotherly).

Blame Scorcese, ultimately.

He was an androgynous beauty in his 20s.

It's obvious, OP. In Hollywood once you get to a certain level, you are offered the chance to go much much MUCH higher. But that comes with many things that some people refuse to do. Ralph said no to sucking off Jerry Weintraub and getting fucked in the ass by him, and that was that.

Kevin Hart, for instance, literally spread and said "let's get this shit popping in here!" ...

Macchio always looked great but maybe he seemed too New York?

Ralph was never fat, he hasn't got the fat gene.

I wonder if his daughter has swum in lesbian waters. She’s a pro dancer, went to College....

He should get an Emmy nom for Cobra Kai.

He looked like a gorgeous babydyke in CUBA AND HIS TEDDYBEAR.

Can we assumed he was brought into the same sex abuse ring that so many other teen boy headliners of his era were?

He got typecasted.

^^He was typecasted in the 80s, but weirdly not so much as 'the Italian kid'. He mostly just got stuck with the doe-eyed babyfaced victim-cum-unlikely-hero parts with few nods to his heritage (although yeah, Daniel LaRusso was a Jersey rat and he did play to the stereotype in 'Cousin Vinny' and one or two C-movies).

Was he getting turned out by Eric Stoltz? Their press photos from the '90s have such weird self-satisfied energy.

R1 “probably.”

My biggest question in life is what Ralph Macchio's hole was like circa Karate Kid?

R245 is why I love DL. Only on Datalounge are posters contemplating the details of Ralph Macchio's hole.

It's not just DL, R246. My senior ladies' Bridge Club discusses this matter all of the time.

He has simply never looked convincing kissing a woman onscreen. Not back with Shue in Karate Kid, not with beautiful Jami Gertz in Crossroads, and not anytime with any other woman since.

Elisabeth Shue looked like an amazon next to him.

I recently finished watching The Deuce where he has a small role as a detective. He seems like a super nice guy but his acting hasn't exactly improved from his Karate Kid days.

He was funny and well-cast as the academy cop in PSYCH, but then all he really had to do was act neurotic and snippy all the time. He actually has fairly good comic timing for a dramatic teenstar.

Well, he’s banking on another five seasons of COBRA KAI so hope springs eternal I guess.

But I jest. It’s actually a well-realised show that deserves a long run. It’s no HEATHERS: THE SERIES.

R190 he’s either very boring, or wants us to think that he is.

[quote] Comedy writers and producers, when they’re looking for some hook, ask, “Why can’t I find any crap on you?” Unscathed? Yes, I would say that’s true. It’s partly by the makeup of who I am, and I blame my parents for grounding me. I’ve always kept one foot in and one foot out. Family is hugely important to me, and living away from Hollywood in New York is a big part of it. I wasn’t the guy running out to the Viper Room or clubs until three in the morning. I was the guy running back to watch the Mets win the World Series in 1986. I wanted to go to the hockey game or the family picnic.

Fangirls online ‘ship’ him with William Zabka.

^^Only because female characters in 'The Karate Kid' franchise are so poorly written (Lucille excluded, ofc).

R251 that Psych episode Ralph featured in was a season 5 hilight, and one of the best in the series.

It was also the first moment I wondered about Macchio’s sexuality. His character was angrily eyefucking Timothy Omundson’s character through the whole episode and there was definitely sexual tension (their characters were rivals). Ralph never seems to get so invested when acting opposite women.

I wonder if his cock stinks.

....but like, why, R257

R256 Ralph looks fuckably sweet in that show. Those big black eyes and that pretty femme face...killer combo.

Idk why he wasn't ever (and isn't still) a more popular as a fantasy-figure among tops.

Never have I seen a man with more of a Submissive look about him. He even stands like he’s being humbled.

If he’s really as nice as he seems then I hope no-one ever took advantage of his nature.

His daughter plays Alex in a production of Flashdance atm. Who's going to get him in shape for CK S02 now?

^^is she a passable actress? I guess she had 50% chance of inheriting the talent, and with a background of professional dancing since childhood she must know her way around a stage. She even looks like her Dad.

they found way better younger and tighter pussy...kind of luck guys on glee

R51 there’s a blind posted here from like a decade ago which had Ralph’s name as the answer, but a lot posters disputed it’s validity (because, yanno, it’s an x-posted BI and this is Datalounge).

It concerned an iconic 80s actor known for a single franchise, who allegedly used to brag at Hollywood parties/mixers that all he had to do to lock in his star-making role was suck this Director’s dick like a champ which he did with gusto. Well, gusto enough to relate the story many a time afterward.

Puberty.

Mr. Macchio enjoys watching ice-hockey players work. Interesting.

[quote] I agree that he should have been in THE SOPRANOS, in some capacity. He was an obvious choice imo.

Macchio is not considered to have a sinister enough presence for something like the Sopranos or any of the other number of mob-related films.

R267 He could have been a patsy, then. Most of the characters were unwitting morons anyway, or else naive.

R267/R268 it's ok, Macchio WAS cast as the "sensitive, shy, intellectual" son Frankie in DL's own BROOKLYN.

Sal Mineo must have been the prototype for this guy.

I mean...

He looks kind of like Paul Reiser in the picture at R266.

I find it funny that someone like Keanu Reeves has more to do with Asian cinema and speaks more Japanese/Chinese than the actual 'Karate Kid' Ralph Macchio (and than Pat Morita did, for that matter).

Reeves also has better martial arts skills and might be the only American actor to age slower than Macchio.

Well, there was that terrible scandal when he pushed Melanie Daniels into a fountain in Rome.

That's just not right, Mitch!

R273 honey, are you lost?

So according to Ron Thomas, behind-the-scenes of KK1 23y.o. Ralph was all about luring the built tanned teen Cobra hotties into his trailer for “pizza” (he called it “pie”, much to Cobra confusion).

Is Daniel-san a DLr?

^^Ralph be creepin'

He succumbed to Breederdom. Sad.

I think too many civilians confused him with C. Thomas Howell over the years.

OP maybe Joyce Hyser stole it...

R112 Phyllis totally looked like Cher when she was younger. Glossy sleek hair, lovely bone structure and teeth, good posture.

Ok but why do they kiss like European coworkers?

(64) Leonard Decaprio is the perfect example of an actor who at 30 could play a teenager. These boyish types never grow into men. They just become old boys . Michael J Fox is another example. An extreme example is Gary Coleman.

Ralph is still so fucking handsome. Damn. If I ever get married I hope my hubby ages like that. And he seems so sweet. He looked 18 for 30 years. Now he looks a good looking 30 something.

Ralph Macchio has aged VERY well. He's looked good on Deuce which was filmed very recently.

Yeah, he comes across cute and sweet and innocent and all that.

However, Boy's got that Scorpio Mars. There is some darkness and kink in his past, without a doubt. And like all Scorpio he'll almost definitely go to his grave with those secrets, whether traumatic or erotic.

That accent would just sound ridiculous for phone sex.

No Emmy this year. And he worked SO HARD!

I wanted to see him catfight Zabka for an award up in the podium.

Because after playing a character named after a penis in Korea, what could he expect?

....he played a character named Jongun?

I sssume it had something to do with the mediocre acting

290- Then how do you explain the enormous success of Julia Roberts?

I assume she’s better at servicing cock

[quote] I wanted to see him catfight Zabka for an award up in the podium.

They already did that at the opening conference for YouTube Red. It was weird, like one of those '80s seminars.

I will never date someone who can't accept that MY COUSIN VINNY is a comedic masterpiece. Thank you.

Racist Hollywood didn't know where to put him, so he was typecast because he is Italian, but looks Mexican.

I think the crappy wig may be one reason.

He still has a really pretty face for a middle-aged dude, though?

He did LAW & ORDER: CI for like 30 seconds once. He was really there to pet a cute dog and look close to tears.

They put him next to Jeff Goldblum and he looked tiny.

Sandals and a tank...were a choice. One I hope he never again makes.

Did that tufty short hairstyle have a name? Bryan Adams had that going on.

His very youthful face served him well in his later years. Very boyish..

He is a lucky bastard generically. The hyperjuvenated looks are a double-edged sword careerwise though and Ralph didn't really take full advantage of them on a personal level as far as we know.

On the one hand, you’re eligible and desirable for teenaged roles until you’re 30 (no school schedule to work around or guardianship required). Teens on screen is a big market with a lot of opportunities. On the other hand, no one takes you seriously in adult roles and the only ones you get are playing grown people who are in some way stunted (e.g. Nick Conforth of PYSCH in Macchio’s case) which is a small niche

Weren’t he and his wife on the brink of calling it quits for some mysterious reason back in the late ‘00s? And didn’t his daughter Julia get mixed up in something hush-hush when she was a highschooler?

It must be quite the experience dating Ralph Macchio’s daughter, bringing her home to The Karate Kid.

Daddy & daughter have the same face too, which is a real mindfuck.

Some of his gestures get zesty when a camera is on him. Maybe it's just an Italian thing?

I like how his male co-leads are always blonds who are bigger than he is.

He looks comfortable as anything sandwiched between two larger men. Get it, Ralph!

Pretty like a tomboy back in '86, rehearsing with DeNiro for CUBA & HIS TEDDYBEAR.

Didn't he get beaten up by Elijah Wood in a movie once? Can't remember the name of it but it was hilarious.

nothing gold can stay OP....

In 1986 he and Gabriela Sabatini looked so much alike.

Was he ever a pass around bottom?

Maybe. Or perhaps he just sold his soul to Leg ba at the Crossroads...

Robert Mark Kamen (writer of Karate Kid) said this when he first met Ralph: "He's sweet, but obnoxious."

When the screenwriter of The Karate Kid first met Ralph, he thought "this kid is sweet, but obnoxious.."

When I was a kid, I thought he and Sal Mineo were the same guy and it was really confusing for me.