Long Island's Karate Kid still kicking some butt on the small screen!

By Elisa DiStefano

Ahhh... childhood crushes.... I had many, but Ralph Macchio--aka the Karate Kid--held a special place in my heart. I knew he was from Long Island. In fact, a friend of my family was a friend of his family (we all know that Long Island is a small world!) and so I was able to get his autograph. I was so proud of that autographed photo!   I was certain that I would one day see him at the mall. In fact, during each shopping trip, I made sure I had on an extra layer of neon slouch socks just in case! I didn't think our meeting day would come two decades later. Okay, so I didn't run into him at the mall. When I heard he was going to be back on Ugly Betty I emailed his publicist. She told me that I was in luck because he was going to be at the Cinema Arts Center in Huntington. Up close and in person, he did not look much different than that old photo! He still looks so young!  What a nice, friendly, down-to-earth guy. Have you seen him on Ugly Betty? He is so great as Archie Rodriguez--love interest for Betty's sister Hilda (Ana Ortiz).  We spoke about how great the Ugly Betty cast is and how he has to block Ana's belly--she is 5 1/2 months pregnant! Ugly Betty shoots in Queens so it's perfect for Ralph and not a bad commute. He can stay close to his wife of 22 years and his two teenagers. He also likes being a part of a show that his whole family can watch. He's excited because his kids think "he's cool right now" because he is on that show!

Ralph is a rarity in Hollywood. Perhaps it's because he never made the trek out west and has lived here on Long Island all of these years. I asked him about his teen idol days on the island and why he chose to stay here.

"There was a section of time where going to a mall on a Saturday was not a wise choice, but those days have waned a little bit which is good, and that gives me a chance to be a person and a dad and a husband and just try to live as normal of a life as I can. It's always a balance that I've chosen.  That's why I didn't choose to live in LA or just be around it all the time. It's an important balance. I think at the end of the day, it's going to be important, even if I've lost opportunities by choosing to maintain a home on Long Island and raise my family here, but that's a balance that's paying off in a good way right now."

Ralph's parents, his wife's family, and his grandmothers all live here. He is a Mets, Jets and Islanders fan. We chatted about when he played himself on Entourage with his long time friend Kevin Dillon and our own Kevin Connolly, who he said he did a lot of Long Island talking with in between takes.

In addition to Ugly Betty, Ralph recently starred in an indie film and is co-creating a pilot for ABC Family.
As far as a cameo in the upcoming remake of the Karate Kid--as of this time, sadly no, but you never know! He did recently receive a call from Will Smith who is creating the movie. Will reached out to him for his support. Ralph also spoke to Will's son Jayden (who is set to star in the movie with Jackie Chan) who is very excited about the role. So how does Ralph feel about a new Karate Kid?

"Listen, if anyone can do it the right way, it's Will Smith. He's truly one of the nicest guys at that power level that you'll ever meet...  I do think its going to be a tall order for them to create an original version of that movie because it's such a big part of so many people's childhood and it still plays to the present generation on television.  I think that the magic we got to create back then, it still stands as something that I'm privileged to have been a part of and we'll see what they come up with--but it was very cool to get the call, and he was very cool about it."

I hope to see a lot more of Ralph soon!

Comments

[Tim]

Hey Elisa,

You did an ok blog about Ralph Macchio, to me its not one of your best. Hope to hear from you soon.

[Rona S. O'Neill]

Elisa -

Get a grip and come back to reality about Ralph Macchio

We're not talking about Robert DeNiro here, so let's not get too carried away with his acting ability. He's a low grade, frequently type - cast actor, who Hollywood no longer is interested in.

Remember - This is the same Ralph Macchio whose career was so far in the dumpster that 3 years ago he had to take a role in Artie Lange's awful (straight to video) movie "Beer League."

BTW -He alone may have put the final nail in the coffin of the show "Ugly Betty", whose return next year is questionable.

[Pat]

hey Elisa, great blog about Ralph Macchio. It's great to hear you got to meet one of your childhood favs. I actually just saw him myself back in October. He was signing at a convention out in New Jersey. I didn't actually get the chance to meet him though, just saw him signing at the table.