Ralph Macchio interview: ‘Cobra Kai’
“This season is really one of the the richer seasons on all these deeper dramatic elements and yet some of the funniest stuff peppered throughout too,” declares “Cobra Kai” star Ralph Macchio about the fourth season of the Netflix blockbuster comedy/drama. For our recent webchat, he adds that “it takes a decent amount of work and focus on how to be true to those moments, whether it’s within a comedic story-line or a serious story-line and be true to the characters.” Watch our video interview above.
“Cobra Kai,” now in post-production on its fifth season (due to premiere in September), revisits old rivals Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) 30-odd years after the original 1984 Oscar-nominated classic “The Karate Kid.”
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While the series’ first two seasons flew under the radar on YouTube’s premium service, it developed a loyal fan-base who relished reliving the decades-long feud between Johnny and Daniel as they fostered a new generation competing for All Valley karate supremacy. The series catapulted into a bona fide pop culture phenomenon when Netflix picked up the series in 2020, becoming the most-watched series on the platform. “Cobra Kai” also became a critical darling, with its third season scoring four Emmy nominations last year (including for Best Comedy Series).
Season 4 kicked off where the third season ended, as Johnny and Daniel finally come together to take down the nefarious Kreese (Martin Kove, also reprising his role from the original film), Lawrence’s old sensei, who has taken over Johnny’s Cobra Kai dojo. Johnny’s former karate prodigy Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) has recovered from his season 3 back injury, while Robby (Tanner Buchanan), Johnny’s estranged son, has turned his back on Daniel, joining forces with the Kreese. The plot thickens as the regular cast expands, with new kid Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young), fan-fave duo Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) and Demetri (Gianni DeCenzo), LaRusso teenagers Samantha (Mary Mouser) and Anthony (Griffin Santopietro) and Sam’s arch-rival Tory (Peyton List) joining the fray as series regulars. Old grudges, blood, sweat, tears and an enthralling All-Valley Karate Tournament that dominates the last two episodes of the season build towards a thrilling conclusion as Kreese is shockingly usurped by an even greater threat, Kreese’s former right-hand man, the diabolical Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith, also a new series regular this season, who reprises his role from the 1989 second sequel “The Karate Kid, Part III”).
While “Cobra Kai” is action-packed, nostalgic and often very funny, it also explores themes that resonate on a deeper level. That is especially so when it comes to the Daniel and Johnny relationship, which runs deeper than the two of them being rivals. While they come to blows mid-season, by the end of Season 4, they are back working together, because they realize that they’re are stronger together. “It is this interesting how these characters are blurred lines between actor and character, because you put a piece of yourself in every role,” admits Macchio, referring to his close working relationship with Zabka, his sparring partner and co-lead on the show. “Otherwise I don’t know where the honesty comes from,” he says.
