“No smirk, just a simple smile”: Ralph Macchio Revealed How Pat Morita’s Funeral Led to Cobra Kai When He Met His Karate Kid Co-Star William Zabka

The Karate Kid is one of the most popular sports-based franchises in Hollywood. It’s been close to four decades since the release of The Karate Kid (1984) but it still manages to resonate with so many kids thanks to it’s inspirational underdog theme, interesting and relatable characters like Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, and teachings of Mr. Miyagi among others.

The first chapter starts with Ralph Macchio’s Daniel’s attempts to learn karate from his apartment’s handyman to stand up to his bully, Johnny. Over the following installments, both characters go through very different arcs concerning their personalities, but they keep the flame of their rivalry always alive, and one way or another, they always seem inseparable.

However, once their stint in the franchise ended, they drifted apart and a lot of things had to combine to reunite them and ultimately lead to Cobra Kai.

How Pat Morita’s Funeral and How I Met Your Mother Led to Ralph Macchio’s Cobra Kai

In 2018, Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprised their roles in Cobra Kai – a sequel to The Karate Kid. Thirty-four years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence starts his redemption journey by reopening Cobra Kai dojo and taking in his neighbor Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) under his wings.

This also reignited his rivalry with Macchio’s LaRusso. Considering the success of Cobra Kai and their partnership, one might think the idea of returning must’ve been pretty straightforward. But that was not the case. In fact, for many years, Macchio and Zabka didn’t even meet.

In 2005, when Pat Morita, who played Mr. Miyagi, died, they met each other at his funeral. The reunion happened for the first time since the 1980s. “He caught my eye,” Macchio recalled (via The Guardian), “no smirk, just a simple smile.”

This perhaps started the domino effect for Cobra Kai, as they became friends after the encounter. Macchio even gave his nod to appear as an adult Daniel in a music video Zabka was involved in.

Another thing that pushed the idea of Netflix’s hit series was the ongoing joke on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother about what the Karate Kid pair might be going through as middle-aged men.

These jokes – at least to screenwriters Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg – suggested there’s still a demand and curiosity around the 80s’ hit franchise. The trio pitched the idea to Sony and soon after Macchio agreed to join the project Cobra Kai.

Ralph Macchio Reveals How He Felt After Missing Out on Friends

Much before Cobra Kai, Macchio and Zabka appeared together in How I Met Your Mother for one episode, titled The Bro Mitzvah, and showed they’ve still got what it takes to impress fans.

Interestingly, Macchio could’ve also featured in another sitcom based around a group of friends, Friends. In 1994, he was under contract to make television for NBC and even filmed several episodes for a show that never saw the light of the day. During the same time, the studio created Friends and ER, but the actor was overlooked for both.

“I was on an overall deal with the studio that was casting both Friends and ER. And somehow I wasn’t put in either of them,” the 61-year-old told The Guardian. However, he insisted it was the best thing, and that, “the right people get the right parts.”

It’s hard to disagree with him on that. It’s very tough to imagine the Karate champion Daniel making jokes with his close pals in a New York apartment.