Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me

Macchio, star of 1984’s The Karate Kid, produces another feel-good hit with this breezy reflection on his experience making the movie. Despite his initial reservations about the film’s “ridiculous” title—“If I ever did get this part... I would have to carry this label for the rest of my life!!”—21-year-old Macchio immediately connected to Daniel LaRusso, the underdog at the movie’s center: “He had this bravado that came naturally to me, drawn from my own experiences of being the smallest in my class.” As he recalls in affable prose highlights from his time “as a leading man in my rookie year of 1983,” he offers fans heartwarming anecdotes about his costars, including William (Billy) Zabka, who played antagonist Johnny Lawrence, and Pat Morita, who played Mr. Miyagi: “Pat had it all. The beats, the rhythm, the tone.... He inhabited this role.” He also recounts the movie’s most memorable moment, the legendary crane kick with which LaRusso defeated Lawrence, the antagonist; while “essentially impossible” to execute, Macchio, with the help of martial artist Darryl Vidal (“The Baryshnikov of karate”), pulled it off without a stunt double. Reflecting on the movie’s enduring popularity, Macchio writes, “The film is a prime example of when Hollywood gets it all right. It teaches and inspires through pure entertainment.” Fans will find this just as entertaining. (Oct.)