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The sports drama series Cobra Kai was a hit when it debuted on YouTube in 2018, but when it arrived on Netflix this summer, it gained a whole new bunch of fans. The Karate Kid–inspired series stays true to the original film, bringing back original stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka to reprise their roles of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, respectively.
The follow-up series picks up decades in the future, 34 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament. Daniel (Macchio) is doing just fine and living a successful life on the outside, but he still struggles without the guidance of his mentor, Mr. Miyagi. Meanwhile, Johnny (Zabka) has returned to karate and reopened the Cobra Kai dojo, where he takes in other misfits and trains them in the art of the sport. Even after more than three decades, the rivalry lives on between the men in Cobra Kai.
While we’re waiting for the arrival of Season 3, we did some digging into the world of The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai, and doing some research on the Karate Kid himself. Here’s what we found:
HOW OLD WAS RALPH MACCHIO IN THE KARATE KID?
The first Karate Kid film premiered in 1984, when Macchio wasn’t really a “kid.” Although he was playing a 17-year-old at the time, the actor was actually 23 years old.
HOW OLD WAS RALPH MACCHIO IN THE KARATE KID PART II?
In the second Karate Kid installment, which was released in 1986, Macchio was 25. He went on to play Daniel LaRusso one last time in the film franchise, with 1989’s The Karate Kid 3.
HOW OLD IS RALPH MACCHIO IN COBRA KAI?
Fast forward a couple decades, and Macchio is back playing Daniel. The first season of Cobra Kai premiered in 2018, when Macchio was 56 years old. The actor, who was born in 1961, is currently 58.
HOW OLD WAS WILLIAM ZABKA IN THE KARATE KID?
So you’ve got all the info on Ralph Macchio, but what about his costar and onscreen rival, William Zabka? In the first Karate Kid film, Zabka was 21 years old. When Cobra Kai rolled around, he was 52, and he’s now 54.
