I’m Ralph Macchio, and this is my last meal. Every person has exactly two things in common. We all got eat and we’re all gonna die. You might recognize today’s guest from the Outsiders, My Cousin Vinny, and the extended Karate Kid universe. You can check out his new movie, karate Kid Legends in theater soon. But his greatest accomplishment is being named Captain of the 1992 New York Islanders. Ralph Macchio. Welcome to the show, boy. Yeah, deep dive right there. Thank you, man. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. So you were named one of these celebrity captains. Mm-hmm. Of the New York Islanders in 1992, and though you couldn’t lead them to the playoffs. Right. There was potentially a nicer guy, celebrity who won the Stanley Cup with him that year. Do you know who it was? Wow, I don’t, let me see The 92 nicer guy Celebrity? Mm-hmm. I don’t know who was Mr. There aren’t Rogers on that list. Um, I’m trying to think. Mr. Rogers, Captain of the Pittsburgh. I nailed it. Penguins, Ralph. I nailed it. But in the eighties we won four straight Stanley cups when I was, my career was just starting and that was big. And now we’re, um, my son actually works for the team right now. Oh, really? Yes, he’s working in business intelligence, data analytics. That’s, that’s way too big a plug for the Islanders. Uh, one more plug for the Islanders. Do you have the 2016 crane kick Islanders Bobblehead. I have a couple of those boxed in the storage room down in the basement. Yes. Yes I do. That was a big, you know, giveaway night. That was a, you know, 20,000, uh, people, I dunno, the first 10,000 got one. Mm-hmm. I regret not bidding on eBay ’cause the price is shooting up for those. Oh, they show one. I don’t know. I was worried they were, they couldn’t give ’em two for one. But now, uh, maybe their value’s going up. I think so. I think so. Um, well thank you so much for coming on the show. Have you thought about your last meal before? Not really. This, uh. You know, makes you start thinking and then whittling down and figuring out, because the last minute you just go on and on. Wait, no that! Sure. At some point I just tried to focus on, uh, a little bit of what was a part of my upbringing and– Mm-hmm. And if I only had to taste one more time what I would want. Yeah. How often do you think about death in general? I thought about it a lot more as a young kid when, you know, that time where it all of a sudden it’s like, oh, holy crap, this is not gonna last forever. Yeah. And then like now. It’s kind of okay. I’m planning for it, so I don’t enjoy that, but at least I’m ahead of it. I don’t know, you know? No, I, I, I wanna live forever, so I’ll just keep, uh, I’ll keep faking it till it’s, um, till I can anymore. I think you look like you’re gonna live forever. I think if there was a betting pool right now, we’d bet at least a hundred. I’m taking the over on. Okay. Go ahead. Go ahead. I’m with you, Ralph. You ready to eat your last meal? Sure. Ralph, for the first course of your final meal, a salad of baby arugula heirloom tomatoes, a little crumbled feta, fresh lemon and extra virgin olive oil with maldon salt added at the table. Then we have the grilled scampy prawns over linguini allo oleo with fork and large spoon necessary for proper consumption and a nice full-bodied chardonnay. This is a Bell Glow Chardonnay from Glossier Holt, 2021 outta Santa Barbara County, and some Pellegrino with lime. This is spectacular. I haven’t even tasted it yet, and it’s perfect. Uh, I mean, tell me about it please, guys. Well, this, can I dish you some salad? Yes, yes, please. Thank you. And I’ll help you. Uh. Thank you so much. So I’m a, I’m a big fan of, uh, heirloom tomatoes, arugula, you know, all the ingredients I I I, I put in here a feta cheese is an homage to my, my paternal grandmother, who’s no longer with us. She’s, uh, Greek. So my dad’s half Greek. So usually, most often I’ll put on the Parmesan shavings in this, but sometimes I like the feta as, as well. Yeah. And then with the Maldon. I usually, my hands are. Oh, you can use your fingers, please. I usually come in because then it’s about the flakes. It’s a perfect finishing salt, so I’m diving in. It looks spectacular. Thank you, man. Absolutely, man. Thank you for this wonderful gift. Hmm. This is very, very good. Excellent. On the right now I’m just gonna taste, I’m gonna go here. It’s big fruit forward, full body. Oaky Shard. Mm-hmm. Please dig into the linguini. Yes. So don’t ask you. You grew up in an Italian family on Long Island. Your father was in the waste management business. You worked with Francis Ford Coppola. Yes. Yes, yes. Ralph. If you were in the mafia, now’s the time to tell us. You got one more day. My dad wasn’t in the waste– You can get a plea deal? My dad, not necessarily waste management. He’s close enough. First of all, these prawns look amazing. Mm-hmm. And it’s so colorful and spectacular. Yeah. And so this is against the law, right? To have cheese on a seafood pasta. And I don’t mind it just a little bit, but this is a must. And you need this spoon. Hmm. Wow. Home run. We could stop here. Mm-hmm. We could just go home. I could die any minute. This is really very, very good. It can’t be over until we talk about your new movie, Karate Kid Legends. This is the first time that we’re seeing the LaRusso Miyagi verse coincide with Jackie Chan’s. Mr. Han, what made you want to tell this story and how is it different than the others within the universe that you told? You know, obviously the Karate Kid universe, big part of my life. Yeah, the, the film franchise has just been so embraced over the years. It’s a piece of Pop culture, it’s, um, you know, a piece of a lot of people’s childhood. The character of Daniel LaRusso represents a piece of all of us in a way. And then through the Cobra Kai series and the sort of global impact of that, going to Netflix and continuing that story from the Johnny Lawrence point of view and, and the William Zko, who’s so wonderful in the show and our partnership and all the kids on it just blew up even bigger and bigger. So when they came with this concept. I said, what is, how do you connect? Mm-hmm. You know, let’s figure out an organic way. And they did a scene in Karate Kid two that kind of explains how China and Japan and Okinawa came together with Kung Fu and martial Arts. And it started to become intriguing to me. And obviously Jackie Chan being the legend that he is all of a sudden a new, a fresh new story in the universe, but its own ecosystem. So it’s not a continuation. We did the Karate Kid, right? Mm-hmm. The first time. Yeah. Right. So this is now fresh for 2025. I think there’s a shortage of stories for families of kids overcoming obstacles, dealing with pain loss, be defeating the bullies and, and believing in themselves, and, you know, so if I could be a part of that. In a positive way and pay that legacy forward. Yeah. That’s kind of what I do with life now. Yeah. Even uh, in front of the camera and behind the camera, therein lies why I said Okay. And, um, it’s exciting. And listen, I started this thing on the big screen. Why not get back up there? It, it’s interesting how everything funnels back to the original karate kid in a weird way, like. You have, of course, the new generation, you watch Cobra, Kai, Netflix. Mm-hmm. Uh, but for me, even, I remember having a 25 cent VHS tape of the next Karate Kid, and I was watching it and I’m like, oh, Hillary Swank is my karate kid. Mm-hmm. My dad literally walked in and goes, that’s not the karate kid. That’s, I’m gonna show you the real karate kid. And that’s how I was introduced to your movie. And then that happened again in 2010 with mm-hmm. You know Jaden Smith and Jackie Chandon then? Mm-hmm. Again with Cobra Kai. With Cobra Kai, yeah. What’s it like seeing this multi-generational fandom all funnel back to 1984? It’s, it’s really, really unique. Yeah. I mean, how many examples are there of that and the guys who wrote Cobra Kai did such a beautiful job of keeping the nostalgia of these two old guys having the same argument for 65 episodes, to be the Luke Skywalker in all of that somehow is, you know, and almost an embarrassment of riches. I’m just, I just wanna stick the landing is how I’m looking at it. I really feel, you know, kind of blessed and grateful. I know it sounds corny and all that stuff, but I have, you know, 10-year-old kids running up to me on the street, like it’s Christmas morning. And they know who Mr. Miyagi is and they think he’s cool and they want a high five. That’s insane. Yeah. I made that movie in 1983. I don I don’t think it’s corny though. I don’t think that earnestness is corny. I think we need that earnestness. Yeah. The way, like right in the current state of things, um, I think it feels pretty good to spread a little bit of joy in a world that really, honestly, very often is anything but joyful. Sure. And that’s, um, my wife Phyllis is a, is a, a nurse practitioner. She works in palliative care, which is kind of end of life. So it is on point, certainly since we’re having my last meal. And when you’re dealing with that every day and helping families and going through a difficult time and pain management and stuff, you, uh. Really cherish the fact that you could spread something positive. So it’s not corny. You’re right. It’s not corny. I’m, I’m lucky and I don’t take it for granted. Uh, I wanna ask about the phrase wish fulfillment, because you’ve used that in relation to the karate kid a couple times. Mm-hmm. There’s the idea of a wishful fulfillment being kicking the crap out of your own bullies, which is certainly part of it, but. To me, the thing that hit me really hard was God, I wish I had somebody that cared about me and mentored me as much as Mr. Miyagi mentors, Daniel LaRusso. You really are the Mr. Miyagi forward new generation in a lot of ways. Yeah. How seriously do you take that? I do. You know, it’s interesting. I didn’t expect to, uh, take such pride in that, you know, Mr. Miyagi, the human Yoda in the Karate Kid franchise, right? Yeah. That every, every teenager going through a difficult time wants the someone with all the answers or at least the guidance. And so it in, in Cobra Kai, I remember I was doing a sequence, um, in Miyagi’s backyard, and I had this. You know, moment of like, I welled up and you know, ’cause then Pat, Maria no longer here, John Sson, our director no longer there. Yeah. And I was taking, taking the reins. Mm-hmm. And also realizing that I’m not in Kansas anymore. I’m not the, you know, the 18-year-old kid who’s painting the fence. I’m now, you know, quite older trying to, spread the lessons forward. I’ve enjoyed with a young cast on Cobra Kai. If I, when I tell a story of, say, making that movie, or even with raising my own kids, which I’ve done, they’re older than the kids on the show, so I was able to use those experiences. Yeah. You know, they all leaned in. Like to hear the stories and, and listened, and all of a sudden I’m like, whoa. I’m like the teacher right now. Yeah. You know, it was kind of like a galvanizing moment working with these actors and then I sort of took a pride with that and, and maybe more than a handful of times it was like, okay, stop talking and teaching. It was too respectful of Ralph to say enough already, but I think it’s a give back in a good way. I, I like to believe. Yeah. Listen, Xolo Mariduena has sat in the exact seat. I know. I saw it. And I will tell you that he was never sick of your stories. At least what he said to me. He may have talked crap on you after he left. No, no, no. He’s a, he’s a good boy, a talented kid. I’m a, I’m a big cheerleader for Xolo. Yeah. Did he invite you to the Secret House party that they threw after rap at house? No, they keep me outta that stuff. It’s pretty messed up. Yeah. Yeah. They keep me outta that stuff and I’ll be I’ll, you’ll have us both back and we’ll be just like. Two generations going at it, Ralph, for course number two, we have the six layer eggplant, Parmesan, fried and flour, not in bread crumbs, not in bread crumbs. And then we have the sauteed broccoli rob, a little bit of olive oil, garlic, just a touch of chili flake. And then we have the baguette. We’re serving it with a little bit of Italian olive oil and balsamic vinegar. And then of course, we have the full bodied red wine in a decanter. Now this is from Cayman Estates. Ralph, what do you know about Cayman Estates? Cayman Estates? Is owned by, uh, Robert Mark Cayman. Mm-hmm. Who, uh, is the screenwriter of not only the original Karate Kid film and its sequel two of the sequels, uh, film by the name of Taken. Walk in the clouds, Taps. I think he was co-writer on that. I know he wants full credit and he’s a good friend and gave birth to, uh, Daniel Ruto and created Mr. Miyagi. And this is, I can’t wait to tell him that this is happening. He’s gonna say it’s about time. He did this for me. Let’s see if he’s a better writer or a better winemaker. He, he does, uh, both, both very well. That’s nice. Big Cal Sonoma Cabernet. Wow. Delicious. Tell me about your grandmother’s eggplant farm. So this is a version of my, when I was, I was the, the one kid of the grandchildren that would like, want the eggplant. But anyway, let me, let me tell you, it’s been– As long as it’s not chicken Parmesan, the Italians are gonna be happy. Yes, yes. Because this is the Melan Zana is the only original Parmesan. Yes. She wouldn’t put, I mean, I wouldn’t do a lot of motzerel, or. Mozzarella. Thank you for translating that. You know that? Yeah. The Gabagoul. Mm-hmm hmm. It’s that comfort food of yesteryear. Listen, it’s vegetables, but ultimately it’s fried and covered in cheese. It’s fried and covered cheese. We save it and a nice, nice amount of our sauce. And I picked, I say French baguette because although I love the people from Greece and Italy. Mm-hmm. The French have the bread down. They figured it out. That’s just it. And of course you use this bread to soak it up. They call it a scarpetta. Mm-hmm. That’s exactly it. Mm-hmm. Digging into the broad. Yes, I’m gonna do that right now. I’m want to ask you about Robert Mark Kamen, at least some of the karate kid was based on his own experience with Karate. I know there’s also a newspaper paper article. Written as well, but he took a lot of personal experience and put into that. I know he had one sensei that was apparently kind of militant and cruel, that inspired crease. Mm-hmm. Then he got another one that was a little bit more warmer and that he seemed to really admire, and that was part of the inspiration for Mr. Miyagi. Why did you know that Pat Marito was a right choice for Miyagi when you read with him? Oh, that was instant. I didn’t, I, you know, it was the, as the story goes. You know, Pat Morita at that point of his career was, you know, Arnold on Happy Days. Yeah. I remember growing up on that. So when he came in the studio was always wanted like a ra une, kirakasawa, classic actor playing this. That’s a crazy alternate reality. Crazy. It exists whereas you and Ra Mune. Yeah. And, and he doesn’t speak English. So that’s a whole other story. Um, and I had such preconceived notion of Pat Marito being. Arnold from Happy Days. Yeah. And ironically, years later, I, there were preconceived notions about what my limitations were as an actor. Mm-hmm. Right. So, you know, you be careful what you think, you know? Yeah. Right. So when he walked in the room, when I walked in the room, he was there already with the director who fought the producer in the studio. To, uh, to get him on tape. And the whole Arnold from Happy Days was gone. It was another human being and he clicked into that, his Miyagi voice and the beats. And he knew the comedy because he was a comic beforehand. Yeah, I just listened and that sort of give and take, uh, with Pat, there was an instant, um, affinity. Uh, I was able to listen and the scene, the scenes seemed so easy, so they were kind of seamless, effortless and kind of soulful. Like from just reading it for the first time, you just felt that everything was right in the world for a second. That that’s happened close to not many other times ever. Yeah. You know, so, and here we are. 40 what? One years later. And these characters are still known worldwide and kind of connecting the people. Yeah. I actually had no idea about Pat Marito’s background until frankly, reading your autobiography, um, going back and watching clips of him doing comedy with Red Fox. Red Fox gave him his shot. Yeah. It’s like absolutely incredible. But I think part of what made Mr. Miyagi such a special role was the comedy. It was having that. There’s almost an enlightenment to it. He brought that to it, right? I was always jealous. You have the ability to play all this stuff. And then he’d, the camera would cut and he’d go into fart jokes and all this other stuff, and I’m like, how do you do that? You know? I was like, I have to do the scene. I’m eating the eggplant Parmesan, and then I’m gonna move to the pela– And he taught me how to just, you know, just let, let that, let that all breathe and don’t take it too seriously. But. When we’re rolling, it’s 110%. Yeah. And then, I mean, now in karate kid legends like Miyagi is sort of being reinserted a little bit back into this franchise. Do you think that, I mean, in a way his teachings are like the driving engine of everything. They still keep, they still keep going. That’s the, that’s what hooked me to move forward. Mm-hmm. Because you’re helping, uh, out a kid who needs guidance as I played that kid who needed that guidance. And in waxing on you talk about how, you know, you and Daniel LaRusso are. Very inextricably linked. And even as you were filming it in the time, you kind of felt a big part of yourself in that. Is that why you’ve been so protective of him as a character? Because I know somebody once floated the idea of a movie where Daniel LaRusso’s son and Rocky Bellone sons are screw ups and you have to train them each other. Yeah. Well listen, it’s a big idea. And now, you know, it’s interesting when you think back when that was pitched, that’s probably 19 mid nineties. Mm-hmm. Whoever those two guys were, they’re so ahead of their time because now with all the, the Multiverses and the Spidermans and the Avengers, there is all that’s like, let’s make that picture and, and in essence the big idea. Mm-hmm. Is a big part of how studios Yeah. Studio movies are made. The downside to that is very often the big idea is just a big idea. Sure. And it’s not the story. And so I’m, you know, I, I go back old school to, you know, find the story and the idea present itself as opposed to let’s create the poster and figure it out later. Yeah. Ralph, right now in front of Sony Pictures, and God, will you say that there will be a karate kid, Rocky Balboa crossover in the future? Never say never. Never say never. And in karate legends there might even be some crazy little piece of storyline that actually doesn’t feel that far from that, but it’s not. Oh, how’s that? Oh, man. Whatta tease. What a tease. What a tease. Ready to go to course number three. Yes, for sure. This is excellent, man, Ralph, for course number three, if you would unbox it, we have the Shake Shack, french fries right here and double cheeseburger. With the Shake Shack Chocolate Shake. And then of course the Samuel Adams Boston Lagger. Right? I’ll give you the story behind, uh, you say you eat this every single day for dinner every day. Incredible. Amazing. I think there’s a big. In and out. Shake Shack thing, right? Mm-hmm. Like out, yeah. Out in California, everyone’s like in– Watch your words friend. Watch your words. Right, right. Shake Shack is just, I’m a New York Mets fan, so we’ll go down to all my fans. So we have a great Shake Shack out in the outfield city field, and the first time I had, it’s just something about the bun man. I’m gonna need to go to my cardiologist tomorrow. I’m really excited. Take me with you. We’ll get a two for one discount. Hmm. It melts in your mouth. It’s more like a dumpling than a cheeseburger. It is. You know, why can’t I eat this every day? And my number’s not skyrocket. So this, the reason why I added this is when my son was up at, at college, Boston College. Mm-hmm. I would drive, go up from New York, I’d take the ferry across from Port Jefferson to Bridgeport, and then drive up, see him at, you know, it was four years of Boston College and on, on the way back. It was always about can I catch that last ferry before they, before the ferry’s done? Otherwise, I gotta drive around almost to Manhattan all the way. It adds another hour and a half. And so anytime I’d make that, that ferry on time, they always had Sam Adams in the bar, part of the ferry. I, you know, it would be my victory. Just a little bit of history cheer. You made the ferry, you made the ferry and the river sticks, right? Didn’t carry it away. You know, and this is, this is ballpark food, man. Oh, this is golden. It’s no better food. Oh man. Uh, wait, I’m stopping for this. Well, boy, take a beer break. Yeah. All. Now, I, I understand why this is popular. Okay. There’s clearly a reason, man. All right. It’s a good last meal. I’m, I’m kind of, I’m almost done. I made the, you know, I got the movie, the, the big show and all this stuff. It’s probably, you’re already shocked. Karate Legends, right? It time, it’s, it’s time to Die. There’s no more reshoots after you. You’re good. Uh, I think so. We’ll see. I wanna talk about when you shot the Outsiders, which is such an incredible cast. Looking back, it was just like every actor that you knew from the eighties was there. Rob Lowe though, said that. You should have had a sign that said, do not disturb. Written on you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because he considered you antisocial. Looking back on that, do you wish you would’ve gotten into more shenanigans or did you need that hyper focus at the time? No, it wasn’t. Listen, first of all, it’s being bent and twisted for effect, so let me bring it back. I always had the do not disturb on my door. I would bless. I, I think at that time it was either Springsteen. The cla, the Clash. Matt Dylan played a clash like crazy. Adam. Adam, a character for Matt Dylan on the outside as he played The Clash constantly. He was big time in The Clash. I think C Thomas Howell was. Um, uh, uh, Adam Ant, I, I had cheap trick going at that time. Major Springsteen, Swayze and I, uh, were big Springsteen guys. Mm-hmm. Huge Springsteen guys. As a matter of fact, a couple of the outsiders guys would come up to me even today and say, I didn’t know who Springsteen was. He was so East Coast. And then how funny they were. And Rob might have been one of those people, but yeah, I was, um, you know, I was still the guy who was like, okay, mom, you know, everything’s good in Tulsa. How’s dad? Yeah. But, uh, no, I got into some shenanigans with those guys. It was the sixth floor. Of what was the Tulsa Excelsior Hotel, but that floor will never be the same ’cause it was me, Cruz Rob was on the other side. Dylan was down at the end. C Thomas Howell. It was nuts. I mean, I did go, here’s a good story. I haven’t mentioned this. I went back, I was back in Tulsa. One reason or another maybe. 10 years ago and I went back to that hotel. No what? And I went up to the sixth floor. It was a different name. The lobby was old chairman, this is, that was 1982. And I went up to the sit and I came out the elevator and I looked to where my room was and they were cleaning the room. And I looked in there and the lineup for the bed and the thing, it just was like a, it was insane. Out of body, like flashback it. Those moments of nostalgia are so rich. And, but they are so bittersweet, you know, and I have that, like I said, with Cobra Kai playing scenes in Miyagi’s backyard that were invented, uh, decades before. Yeah. So it’s pretty, um, you know, that’s, but that’s the good nostalgia. Sure. I mean, there’s the irony of nostalgia of you don’t really know that a moment in time is as special as it is until you. 100%. Back on it. It’s like the moment’s constantly fleeting. Um, I know you’ve talked about going through some darker times, like Karate Kid three wasn’t all that you wanted it to be. I know you’ve said that it’s now reinserted into the Cobra Kai. Mm-hmm. Format and how much of like a blessing that is, but what you call the lean years in the nineties, how did you sort of prevent yourself from giving into cynicism? It wasn’t all by design. My kids were born, so I started my family and for me there were certain days I, you know, kind of like, wow, that whole career thing is. You know, quell to a point of, you know, there was less opportunity and so it was more about creating opportunities or being creative. So that’s the good news. You could always be creative. Yeah. Can’t always make a living out of it. Sure. When I look back on that time, you know, guest spot here, indie film there, shooting a short, short film here, writing, uh, one act play and just keeping myself busy. I was around for my kids childhood. Yeah. So by design I, you know, it’s almost like. And I’m gonna have this big hit Netflix show in 18 years. So let me kick back now. That wasn’t the, the, the case, but the fact– And what the hell is Netflix? What the, what is Netflix? Exactly? The DVD mailing company. Yeah. What is that? I still marvel at that. God truly, you know, you know, but you take the lessons. It’s like any, like, failures and difficulties breed a, a more understanding going forward than success sometimes very often. Yeah. You know, and that was the the case for me. I think everything tasted way sweeter this second time around. Based on having those challenges. I’ve gotten the opportunity to sit next to a lot of people in this booth who have accomplished a lot of things and many disciplines, and 0% of them have said. That they regretted not spending less time with their kids. Right, right. Like that’s never happened in history. They say, God, I wish I would’ve worked more. Yeah, no, I had that and I still haven’t. We’re we’re still very close. Um, you know, my kids are third, my daughter will be 33, which is just stupid to say out loud, but it’s true. She’s wonderful. And my son’s 29 and, and, uh, I’m only 31. How did I do it? Ralph, we are at the final course of your final meal, we have the apple pie, a la mode, fresh baked butter crust with honey crisp apples inside, and, and then the double espresso macchiato, macchiato, macchiato. So that’s an espresso shot with the foam milk on top. That’s it. Not mixed. Not mixed. Not mixed. Uh, please dig in. Whew, baby. This looks amazing. Do you have any special connection to apple pie or this is just a good American dessert? Dessert? Like it, it’s like, no, there’s a reason this is popular as well. Mm-hmm. It’s delicious, man. It’s really great job. Lately I’ve tried the affogato, which is basically if you pour this over the ice cream. I’m ethically opposed to affogatos, Espresso’s best hot, ice cream is best cold. I agree. Why are you ending up with just a room temp soup? I know, I know. You’re right. You’re right. Okay. Overruled. I’m never having another one. Thank you so much. That’s, that really means a lot. Oh, nice. That is a strong, that’s the closer. Mm-hmm. You’re a sports fan, is the guy who comes out. Maria? Wait, that’s the closer. Who was a closer for the mix? No, no, no. Well, I mean, there were many Didn’t. None. None as good as that guy. Fair enough. Um, I wanna talk about the potential alternate universes that could exist looking back at that eighties cast of actors, because there could have been a karate kid with Charlie Sheen or Robert Downey Jr.. 100%. But there also could have been a Back to the Future with you as Marty McFly. Yep. It’s funny you have the apple pie here ’cause I have one more dessert. Uhhuh, you referred to the role of Marty McFly as being apple pie and you were a little too cannoli Uhhuh, but you’ve learned to lean into that now. I have. What did you mean by that? Well, that’s a, it’s a, it’s a good story. Good, good, good. Pull right there. Um, and you can eat the canals, listen. Uh, I will take a bite of the canola. They’re real. ’cause I’m gonna break in a second. Um, so yeah, John Avildsen, who directed the Karate Kid called Elizabeth Shoe, the Strawberry Shortcake and me the Cannoli. And so when I met with McKesson Spielberg, um, they were, they were talking about, you know, a lot of people met with, with, with them on that movie. They cast Eric Stoltz before Michael J. Fox. Mm-hmm. And I remember them talking about taking the New York. Out of my, you know, to be more Middle America, Marty McFly. I mean it was written that way. And I Is New York just code for like, kind of two Italian? Uh, maybe, yeah, maybe. I think it was a kind, the combination of the, the two. But I think Karate kid, the original karate kid like broke about four weeks before this meeting. Mm-hmm. So I was probably. You might wanna meet that guy right now. Sure, sure, sure. For whatever the reason, the irony is the role went to the perfect actor, which is Michael J. Fox, who turned out to not be apple pie, but is Canadian. They got, there you go. What? Poutine or? The right. The actor. The right actor got the right part. You are killing me. This is, it’s time to die. It’s time to die, right? Yes. Man. All right. We’re really great. This might have done me in. This is a lot of sh-t. Espresso’s gonna, you gotta mix it. Toss the espresso in the red wines. Yeah. That’ll put, that’s gonna get you right. That Exactly. Once the depressant, Joe Pechi always used to say, lemme make my cousin Vinny. And we’d have, uh, you know, wine at dinner or whatever. Mm-hmm. And he goes, and we were talking about how wine makes you tired. And he’d always go like this to me. He goes, just kills me. He goes, it’s a depressant, but then it’s a stimulant. And I, you know, I would fall asleep on the couch when I got back from dinner and I’d wake up at two o’clock in the morning like this and I was like. Joe Pesci. That’s such a fantastic Joe Pesci. Wait, can you do De Niro telling you that you should go to a heroin shooting gallery when you did that play with him. Can you do that one? Damn, you did read everything. I think you should. Um, you know, you should, you should. You should go. You should go. You can’t just, um, you know, pretend. Well, now I’m just walking. So they’re all coming. Um, they’re all coming right now. The, the after the wine, the beer, the, so that’s the best I got. Uh, I know you’ve thought about your Oscars in memoriam clip. If you could make a pitch to the Academy right now, what do you want it to be? Yeah. No, and I mean, it’ll, it’ll most likely be the Active Crane Kick that ended. Started, they catapulted that, you know, movie franchise. But, um, uh, that’s a tough one. You know, there’s a, there’s a scene, there’s a scene at the end of the Outsiders that I really love. When, uh, Johnny, my character has moved on and, uh, he’s talking about nothing gold can stay and what that means. Yeah. And it’s kind of, Coppola really worked with me to sort of like clear the acting out of it because I was performing it and he kept trying to just get the, get the performance out and just, and it got to that point where I was tired, you know, and a lot of the David Fincher, they’d say he does that a lot with actors, with social network. He would do stuff over and over until they got to the point of being tired and it became natural. And Francis did that. Uh, with me. And I think that’s one of the purest scenes, uh, that I’m just delivering that and it’s about no longer being there, but being sort of enlightened and, and, uh, ahead of wise beyond his years. Yeah, I dunno, that just came to mind. Yeah, I know. That’s beautiful. I do have a counter pitch. Okay. Yeah. Hear me out in Entourage. You’re talking about how you didn’t let the monkeys outta the Playboy man. Right? It was poorly shore. It was poorly shore. I’m just saying that could be a good, you know, counter to the earnestness. That’s it. No, I loved, I loved, uh, I love Entourage. That was a great episode. It was fun. It was the first time I played a version of myself. And then I think that may have led into, uh, wax on off. It’s the greatest four minutes of every day. What do you think happens when you die? It’s a tradition that we ask everybody at the end of the meal. I don’t, you know, I don’t think that that hard about it. I’d like to believe in my life that I’ve earned the right for it to be a pleasant place. Sure. But, uh, you know, I’ll call you when I get there. Please let me know, man. Let me know. Uh, it’s been fantastic. You ready to go to the lightning round? Uh, sure. Ralph, who is the one person dead or alive you’d want to share your actual last meal with? Gene Kelly, what song do you want played at your funeral? Thunder Road. You’ve worked with Francis Ford Coppola, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci. Can you rank them in terms of Italian ness? Of Italian ness? Uhhuh from, uh, that’s, uh, least Italian to most Italian, maybe De Niro, Pesci, Coppola. I and I could De Niro Pesci are interchangeable. The Coppola’s the most Italian? I think so, yeah. He’s also had a lot of other, Italians make a lot of Italian. Yeah. Yes. He knows how to make Italians look good or, or famous. Uh, who is your dream eulogize at your funeral? Springsteen never met him, but I don’t know. I just gave it to Springsteen. I just don’t know why. Uh, do you think Rocky should have been called the boxing guy? Right. That’s good. And then I could have been called just LaRusso. Yeah, I think, I think it should. Let’s make that switch. What’s your biggest fear? Just being negative. When I should be more positive. I do still struggle with that. Where I’ll see something it’ll, it’ll send me down when I clearly should be looking from different perspective and I, and then. Usually when you get to that place, you wind up in some form of trouble. So, I mean, is that my biggest fear? It just came to mind. Sure. The worst decisions I’ve made or the. The, um, the things that I’d like to have a do-over on was when I, I was either negative or fearful. Gotcha. So one feeds the other. Um, at what point did you shoot him? Nah, I never shot the clerk. At what point did you shoot? You’ve never shot me? No, that’s okay. Are you happy? I am happy. I’m damn happy, man. I’m damn happy that you had this meal with me. Truly. This is phenomenal. This is awesome. Ralph, you wanna look into that camera right there and deliver your last words. Stay gold. Do it for Johnny all day long. Find your balance and I hope I brought you some happiness. And my only last words are get him a body bag. Ralph Macchio is dead. Ralph, man. Dude, for real. Thanks, man. Incredible. This is great. This is great. Everyone, make sure to check out Karate Kid Legends. 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