I'm Kara Swisher, and you're listening to Sway. I've been watching a lot of TV lately, and one show I can't stop enjoying is The Karate Kid reboot Cobra Kai.

Are you sure you're ready? I got hooked on it last year, as did millions of households, and the show moved from YouTube to Netflix and when the time is right. It's nostalgic, but it's also surprising in it, Ralph Matsue is back playing the role of The Karate Kid. Daniel LaRusso and his rival Johnny Lawrence of the infamous Cobra Kai Dojo is once again played by William, a.k.a. Billy Zebco. But unlike the original films, we get to see things from Johnny's point of view and Daniel LaRusso, there's another side of him to the bully gets bullied and the nice guy is sometimes the villain.

The line between evil and good is really blurry.

Now, as I'm watching Cobra Kite, I kept asking myself, did I not see the real story before? Or maybe I've just gained more insight to the age.

I couldn't figure out which one it was. So I had no choice but to call The Karate Kid himself Ralph Macchio. OK, fine. I just want an excuse to talk to him.

I'm so excited to do this. I love the series, I think it's wonderful and obviously I love the original movies. Did you were you surprised that it reemerged this way? And this is this is a lame response, which is yes and no. The reason I say that I am not surprised because I've walked in these shoes for 30 something years. Thirty six years, maybe more than that. Now, I haven't done them the recent math, but it has never gone away for me, certainly being so well associated to that character.

And no matter where I am in the world or on the planet, there is an affinity for that character in that film. I always believed if you brought them to the world, they would drink the water. You know, it's become such a big part of pop culture. So the kids today are backing themselves into the movie franchise through the show?

Yeah, they are. My kids were like, does this come from a movie? And I was like, yeah.

So a great amount of credit goes to John. Josh and Hayden are creators who sort of came into this is guys who wrote in the hot tub time machine and Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.

Right. I heard that a lot of people sent you scripts to follow up on The Karate Kid story. You said no to most of them, correct? Right. They were pitches. I mean, some of them were, you know, the elevator pitch Travolta just got. Look what happened with Pulp Fiction in him. You should go back and do a, you know, the David Lynch version of Daniel LaRusso. So I was like, OK, what is that?

That's right. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Or my favorite, which is was pitched to John Abelson, the director of the Karate Kid film. Someone said, you know, I've always thought, what if Rocky Balboa had a kid? And then you look, Russo had a kid and they met between Philadelphia and Newark and started this whole you know, and it's kind of like your reaction is exactly why we all just laughed and like, that will never work.

How did you feel when you were hearing these, like yourself?

I guess I was at that place. This is probably mid, late 90s when things had really outside of my Cousin Vinny at that time, they were starting to slow down for me. You know, I was probably more OK. Things have gotten a little tougher, thinner, leaner. I need to, you know, try to shift into a different direction as opposed to, OK, let's go do that again.

Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of actors do shift into that or live in those roles. How difficult is that to break out of a role when you're an actor with such an iconic character?

Yeah, it's it's challenging, certainly. And you know, you definitely swimming upstream. The current is strong. And listen, there is a fall and ferry does call it whatever it is that's sprinkled upon this Karate Kid universe that it is blessed in some way. And I allude to this story when Williams AFCO for the first time and I stepped on the stage together, we hadn't been on camera together and since 1980 or whatever. And for the most part, any time we're on screen together, he was kicking my ass and I was taking a beating.

There wasn't a lot of sitting down at the coffee shop having a conversation. And we instantly had this chemistry, this sort of this life had gone by a little more wrinkles, little less hair. But there was a sort of magic between us that I don't even think we had back in the day. And I think some of that had to do with sharing a unique connection of being connected to this movie, this entity that we all share from a different perspective.

That is something that doesn't happen very often.

No, you have a really amazing rapport that you almost didn't even have in the movie, right? Not at all. And how old were you both then? Twenty one for me. I turned twenty two making. Yeah. My birthday was on when I was shooting Karate Kid and he was eighteen. Right.

So it first launched YouTube in twenty eighteen and then it was acquired by Netflix and you and hear both executive producers. What did you think when they came to you with the YouTube prospect.

The project came to me with John Dyson Heydon came to me. I was the last one to the party because I was the most I guess I was the most resistant. And and listen, they were pitching a show called COBRA. They came in through the eyes of Johnny Lawrence. They probably said, OK, how are we going to sell him on this? They are Billy on board. And then they came in to pitch it to me and took a couple of rounds.

But I just felt now's the time. So then we put it all together and the deals got done. And everyone, you know, the target was Netflix. And when the pitches came in, Sony put them together. It was Amazon, it was Hulu, it was HBO. Even though they were never going to buy this show, it was cool. They wanted to hear it. And then there was Facebook, which was just starting to look at originals, believe it or not.

Oh, that's right. Yeah. Facebook. Who did you meet with their. Did you go.

We met with Mina Lefevre. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. We literally when we walked into her office, it was just boxes, she said, I got here Tuesday. This is the first day.

Yeah, I forgot about Facebook originally. Yeah. Yeah. And it was kind of fun, but our first pitch was YouTube, and it was put there kind of as a warmup and it was a well orchestrated pitch. We rehearsed it. It had a visual sizzle reel and Billy and I would interject in between as the guys were talking through the pilot, we would add a line here like it was.

So it was the two of you, you and Billy and me, Billy and the three creators. Creators. Yeah. And Susanne Daniels took over for You Tube originals and you to read at the time, which then changed you to premium, you know, her model. And she was there to compete with Netflix and they had the advertising budgets. And Google has a lot of money, apparently, but little had a lot of money.

Not that they gave it to YouTube. Yeah. Yes. The pitch went incredible to the point that Suzanne and company were basically pitching us why we have to be there. The only thing they didn't do is hold on to our ankles as we were walking out, because what she saw there is this is the tent pole.

This is the one I mean, which they need, which all these streaming services need, like that one, the house of Cards for Netflix or if you will.

Right. We pitched it Netflix. Fine. That went great as well. And Ted Sarandos was in the room for the first half of it, but had to jump out to a meeting. So we were important.

The top people know Ted now is running Netflix for people. Yes. Right. So any way to bring this in for a landing at the end of the day during the pitch to YouTube just said here, Makumbe and Netflix wanted to at that point develop. They wanted to see something. YouTube did not see a written word. Just let's go for it. Let's go for. Yeah. And the low expectations. Once we did our up front or whatever it was, Billy and I appeared with Suzanne saying it's going to be the rivalry of the ages.

And then you start hearing, oh my God, I love this idea. It's going to be the worse. It's going to be like a bad cavity that I can't enjoy the pain, but I hate it. At the same time, it's going to be terrible. And those low expectations did not hurt us.

Thank goodness you didn't go to Quebec. I know it's funny you mention because I met when I was at a dinner with a friend and someone was working for Peacocke getting that started. And yeah, I heard about Cobra, Kai and I. There was the first time I sort of let out information that it might not be going back to YouTube. His thing was like, well, you should go to Quimby. That's perfect. I said, no, this is this is like a global.

He'll remain nameless.

So Netflix. So how did it get. So you were doing two seasons? Yeah, we did two seasons. It did very well on YouTube. The fun part of YouTube was you could watch the numbers like the show launches and you're watching two million, 2.5 million. You could you know, because it's you watching those views. The the downside is teaching people how to get YouTube premium and not have to hook up your computer to a toaster and make sure that kitchen light is on, otherwise it won't come through.

It felt almost like that. Yeah. Yeah. It's like a a hamster on a conveyor belt. Then let's get it going. And certain people of certain ages had no idea how to even get it right.

And the audience, the target audience might not be right. Yes. And that was a problem. That was so the the concept was, wow, could you imagine if this was on a platform that was easier to reach for the right demographic? And and then when we got to seize that, we finished shooting season three, which you saw before YouTube for you. For YouTube. Oh, yes. And I was feeling this writing on the wall shooting season three and just got very quiet from YouTube.

It just was there was a disconnect. It felt like there was something going on. So when I got the call a couple of weeks after I got back from Okinawa, because we got to shoot a few scenes there, I was really proud of that. Suzanne called basically as close to as an executive can be in tears saying I'm paraphrasing because I was not on the call. But it's almost that embarrassing call. I'm saying any other place this would be picked up.

But we're not going to continue with the show.

Yeah, one of the issues is Google itself was not as committed. No, not at all. We felt that from day one. And I have nothing but great things to say about Suzanne and certainly and Google and YouTube for saying go make it. And they can make a lot more watching Will Smith jump out of a helicopter on his 15th birthday, then they can't make sense out of that, it seems. So then it was like we were homeless.

But what we all did is we said the same thing at the same time, the creators and certainly builders and I felt the same way. Please don't put season three out. Let us have that. Let us figure out a way. And then still. And now. And then a pandemic drops. The good news is we had ten episodes of content anticipated, maybe even highly anticipated content. And you can argue in our back pocket. And we did plenty of Zoome calls and we spoke of.

The Karate Kid universe, not just curriculum, my part of it was saying, OK, I've walked in these shoes in every corner of the world and in every language, and it's that and everybody knows it and they know it.

Yeah, because Netflix is a global company in a way. Other streaming services are not big time.

I mean, that's a lot of what they wanted to talk about.

Right. Were you surprised how popular? Quickly, because it suddenly came to my attention to a lot of people's attention. Once it was on Netflix, it made a big difference. Yes, it's unbelievable.

It was just insane. It just blew up instantly. It was end of August because of the pandemic.

People have time to watch it.

Yes, that's certainly I think maybe in this time in the world, a big, fat, nostalgic embrace that is kind of a comfort food, like the best cheeseburger you had at 12 years old. You they no longer make, but somehow you get to taste it again. People are looking for that that warm and fuzzy when we're not dealing with warm and fuzzy when we step out of the house.

Let me let me ask you I'm going to push back a little bit on the on the comfort food. I think it's a very dark show and interesting and complex, much more so it could been super cheesy.

You know, you could easily have slid by on the 80s elements of Capecchi like, oh, look at the clothes and then what you do in the show, which for those who haven't watched erotica, there's so many references that you just flip off quickly. You don't even take a minute like you do them and you do them over and over again, which is even funnier, you know what I mean? Like their wax on, wax off or the one with the spaghetti in the white jacket.

And what do you think? I want that. Oh yeah. You call it so much attention to it. You can't miss it. Even some of your sets are kind of cheesy, a little bit like it's nothing as fancy.

I guess that. But I like it. It works like like a lot of uncorks of serial versus. But it works. It works for some reason. So there's a lot of cheesy moves that make fun of the original movie and the tropes of that era and things like that.

But it actually isn't a spoof. And that's where I think a lot of these 80s things go wrong, is that it makes fun of what people loved in the first place. That's one. And the second one is that it's about bullying and we are in a bullying era, you know what I mean? And I know it sounds crazy to make the link between that and what happened at the Capitol, but those people are running mad at the Capitol.

Reminds you of the Capecchi people, you know what I mean? Like, it's really interesting.

And it definitely goes into darker places in that you yourself, who's supposed to be the good guy, and Billy, who is supposed to be the bad guy, it's complete.

You're not so good. And he's wonderful, by the way, as an actor.

So I listen, if he doesn't deliver that performance, they could write it as brilliantly as you want. The show does not continue and it's the most collaborative art form in the world. But Billy's work is so wonderful and complex and nuanced. The Karate Kid is clearly a black and white. Yes, storytelling, good over evil and all that stuff. I mean, and Miyaji good, creese bad. Kobilka dives into those grey areas where your allegiance episode to episode can change.

And now at this point of season three, we now both recognize the good and bad and both these guys are rooting for both with their two separate types of shortcomings and problems and demons. And that's a big credit to our writers and creators. And seeing the show and bullying was the first word out of Hayden Schlosberg mouth. And he said in this theme is going to resonate throughout this concept, just like it resonated throughout the concept of The Karate Kid, although it will be different and how it's changed over time.

It's not, you know, give me your lunch money. I'm going to stuff you in a locker. Technology has changed the game entirely and bullying being able to rally the troops. You mentioned the situation and in Washington on how the Internet can reach the world in a nanosecond. And with whatever messaging you choose to put out there, if someone's listening, you can stir up a case.

And also what you were talking about is Johnny, its character is bullied. You start to see the back stories. That is a little more complex of each, including your character, who is a bully and part of it. You make some very questionable choices. And there's a lot of grey areas in your character, for example, right?

I think for LaRusso, you know, he was always and this was a give and take a little bit of a struggle early on with the writers on trying to find, OK, how do we believably make him an antagonist at times with good intentions. Right.

Well, you still living in your victory when you're an adult, you kind of know that it's not comical.

It's kind of not pathetic.

But like someone who had one great moment and. Right. It's like. Exactly. He kicked the field goal, that one, the Texas high school thing. And he's a celebrity every time he goes to Dallas or Austin. But, you know, LaRusso, the character was always a knee jerk. Act first, think later. Little cocky. Even though he had little to back it up. That was sort of my East Coast bravado that I brought to the role even the first time I read it for adults.

And I had a little bit of that cockiness. And so so we just sort of, like, amplified that he got successful. I mean, it was written more in a way than I think I would have written it. But I understood from the entertainment value of coming in through the eyes of Johnny Lawrence how important it was that this guy would haunt him everywhere he turned. We look at when when Johnny Lawrence comes to the dealership, the bridge.

This is the karate guy, the guy from the tournament. Oh, there's a guy who's actually kicked. It was a really close match. But do you want to get technical? I kicked his face just busting chops. It was an illegal kid.

What we don't see and that's, you know, what we don't look at in that scene where he says that's water under the bridge. We don't hear that. We hear I kicked his face.

It's belittling of him. You were belittling him quite a bit. He's playing the new role in this new context. Change your understanding of the character.

You know, I went back and watched Season one. Season one certainly is one. La Russa looks most antagonistic because it's setting up the Johnny Lawrence story here in the meeting, trying to shut him down. He's. Yeah, exactly. Give me a break.

Stanhill show a little respect. Respect. Are you kidding me? So you don't know the history here. John, Creese and Kober time were the embodiment of everything is stands against this guy, Johnny Lawrence. He was a star pupil. The worst of them all would be dishonoring the entire support by reinstating the. When we shot that scene, I never knew visually that they were going to blur out my dialogue and just focus on him and his mind, and it made sense, you had to make a choice.

Who were you following in this scene? But it's interesting. I look back and watching the film, the original film, you would see those moments that were the seeds that would breed this kind of quality in this person. Also, John Dyson Heydon are big fans of The Karate Kid, Part three. I am not and has nothing against the actors involved.

That's the one that John Chris's friend come to. Yes. Yes, I know. Don't you love it? Why don't you? I just felt for the LaRusso character, he never went forward. It felt like we were redoing the first movie in a cartoon kind of sense without the heart, actually.

Good. You go dark. It goes dark. Yeah. No, that's the good part. That's the good part. Right. And you use it in this new series. You does very much.

So it's it's interesting to me how when I talk about The Karate Kid, I'm always talking about the original film is the second movie where in actuality, Cobra II, the last thing that happened that we know is all the events of Karate Kid Part three. So now I'm fully embracing of that.

And, you know, John, just you have to say, oh, yeah, you know, my I'm friends with Jennifer Beals and she first didn't embrace Flashdance and I forced her. I'm like, you have to understand how important that was to so many people. It's not about you.

It's not I'm not talking about Flashdance three. So you're right. It's a big it's a big difference. It was a very good movie. You're wrong.

I suspect Flashdance three would not have been a good movie. Flashdance, too. I don't really make that. But it's hard to embrace those characters that are iconic for actors like that.

Did you mind doing that because you were the hero and you're not precisely the hero? You moved aside to let Johnny Lawrence become a hero, too, which was interesting. And the other one, you were the hero. That was it. Yeah.

No, no one was not rooting for Daniel Russo in nineteen eighty four. You know, it was you know, you could talk about the illegal cat.

This is the kick at the end for the crane. The crane which is whether it's illegal or not. Right. And the theories behind it and how the Internet started that conversation which only makes this movie more relevant. I never looked at it. I mean, certainly I would battle with the writers at times with it's so easy for you guys to write the rich decline. Yeah. And negotiate that out and. All right, I'll lose most of them.

What did you want to keep what did you want to keep? He is a good guy and a good father and a and a good husband and tries to follow the knowledge and lessons and wisdom that he gained from his human Yoda who is no longer there and always pays respect forward to me again, what he that was always important to me in this show. And it is woven throughout the day one. I can't even consider this unless the Millgate character and the now void in La Russa's life is something that is addressed throughout the series because we're not here without that performance.

So I want to talk a little bit about the element of politics below the surface. I wonder about Johnny's political affiliations, about yours. One of the things that was surprising is a lot of comments that he makes are just awful. I calling Miguel an illegal.

There's a big drop the man all the time and there is politics and oh, my God, the absolute joy I get out of watching Johnny Lawrence say everything we're not supposed to say. It's very refreshing. It's it comes up innocent because he is just locked in that time period. I think across the board, people love that. I think there might be some people that would be offended by it, but I don't see it that way.

I see it as though because you paint it as wrong, but he says it anyway. He does it not. Right. There's not there's no feeling as if.

Yeah. Good good job buddy for saying that. Yeah. No, no, no. But as far as from a political standpoint and connecting that. Yeah. Listen I just read something yesterday. It was an article about Trump in the White House, Biden, Cobra, Kai, Megiddo, the different. You know, you can draw those sort of parallels in a way. I mean, I think where Johnny lies, people ask us, people ask Billy and I, what would Johnny Lawrence do during the pandemic?

When you wear a mask, would he vote for Trump? Where is Daniel LaRusso? Stand this way. We tap dance around those for the most part. But I think he alluded to the fact that Johnny would rip the mask off and see just fine with your two hands where LaRusso would certainly be having everybody washing his hands and the holy water before he started the contest, but also probably sterile.

He's probably because he's a businessman. He's a businessman, like he knows he's going to get creamed in taxes. So I think he leans left but straddles a little closer to the middle. All right.

So one of the other things is a pretty overt expression of gender roles in Capecchi, which I think is great. But one of the things is more girls are doing karate. The questions of hypermasculinity are in. The toxic masculinity, essentially, John, Chris is obviously the walking talking, by the way, fantastic. He discussed his back. Story is great to you.

I really enjoyed that.

And how do you look at that idea? Because the girls are quite active in karate in this case. And I'm not talking about the next Karate Kid, that one, because I know they were doing that just to show, look, a girl can kick, too. But do they think about that a lot or do you think about that because you're you're training your daughter in this case?

We've always spoken about that and trying to shine a light on on the last 12 or so had a daughter and it was important that she remembers Miyagi. And it was a it's part of her upbringing. And I think that's important, that sort of empowerment. And there is a lot of you know, I've gotten a handful of questions with the toxic masculinity with it. Does it shine a light on that kind of violence? And it's quite violent. Is it quite violent, more violent than I was expecting me to say?

And I think that some of it I feel I think there might be a little bit of a shift not away from it, but a little bit more less felonies with no consequences.

Yeah, I know. I was sort of like, where's the police? This windows keep breaking like I've never broken a window.

It's like we spoke about, OK, we've we've had our big double live album set and now it's time to do the cool acoustic album and then go back into. So that's what we end up breaking or home invasions.

The home invasion. I was like, wow, you'd go to jail for that one.

We'll be back in a minute, if you like this interview and want to hear others hit subscribe.

You'll be able to catch up on Hsueh episodes. You may have missed, like my conversation with actor Bryan Cranston and you'll get new ones delivered directly to you. More with Ralph Macchio after the break. As you mentioned, there's a lot of references to Mr. Miyagi in the show, Pat Morita, who played him sadly passed away in 2005. You really keep Mr. Miyagi in the story and talk a little bit about that in keeping him there, because he never leaves this show ever.

Yeah, that was I wouldn't use the mandate, but that was a need of mine. Upon first hearing the pitch for me to come on board to weave me and his character throughout, you were personally close to him?

Yes. I mean, personally close. I would say no, not as far as him involved in my personal life and be involved in heads. I was personally close to him in the sense of as time and years went on, the new significance and relevance of our screen partnership around the world became so clear to me. I just don't know if I knew it of karate feeling.

I should make a guy feel confident.

I got a good trust quality, but, you know, not quantity.

It was is truly the definition of magic when we did those things. There was a give and take. There was a it was like the perfect tango. And without effort it was effortless. That's the work. I didn't know how much richness it had. I just knew it was easy to do. So therein lies the kind of truth for me. There was something otherworldly or whatever you want to call it.

In a weird way, it's transferred to Johnny, which is interesting, the significant relation to the segment, because each of those that those movies were about a significant relationship that changes fatherhood is all about overcoming obstacles, bullying their single parents.

LaRusso with his mom, he lost his dad. Maggie was a surrogate father. You have Johnny, estranged son trying to help Miguel. And Vince can't mend the relationship with his own kid. That's what like you said early on in this discussion, that's what makes this deeper than just comfort food. But that is it still is, in my opinion, because we're looking for love, we're looking to belong. We're looking for all those things. And there is a comfort in that when you can relate to what the characters are going through.

Now, you brought back almost all the characters. I thought the scenes with Johnny and his group was surprising because they were they were sort of just assholes in the movie. Right. And they have actually depth pretty much everyone's very sometimes you don't expect some people go away from the game.

They'll be a game.

Yeah, but you also focus a lot on these kids to the kids having an equal role. And that has worked rather well is that you have a relationship with these kids. Now, the viewer has a relationship with the kids.

Probably the first meeting I said when they were pitching Miguel and Samantha and Rob, I said, where are we going to we need great kids. We're going to run out of gas with these two geezers. Well, not quite. These two middle aged guys discussing the same kick, you know, from 1984.

Did you all have you been keeping up with karate moves all these years? I have done less of it and I'm doing more of it. And I'm still left with this. I have a quick photo shoot and then I'm going into training because I want to be better each season. It's tougher to do. Billy kept it up more than I did. Billy's an athlete, you know, and he looks like an athlete, so we're blessed to have him hanging in there.

It was easier when I was twenty two than fifty nine, let me tell you. Yeah.

So when you think about your career, thinking about it being defined by this role, you were in a whole bunch of other things. You were and you were terrific. I just saw my cousin Vinny the other day. I can't believe you were an eight is enough, which was kind of interesting.

I was nine was too many. Thank you. Yes, I was many.

When you think about your career going forward and doing this, that this is a really high quality version of your biggest hit, like you've come back like no one is mad at the Rolling Stones for doing a great job with their old hits, too. How do you look at your career?

How do you think about it now from this moment for what's next right now is to let this joy ride last as long as it works. And it's organic because it has really been wonderfully rewarding from the aspect of doing the show. But also they just keeping this legacy alive in a positive way. You know, and I think part of what I've been able to do successfully is disappearing into that role was where Ralph disappeared into LaRusso, where you couldn't tell where Ralph ended in LaRusso began.

And that, I believe, is an achievement as well, as opposed to, OK, I'm going to put on a beard, shaved my head, and no one's going to know who I am. And I use this accent, but a little of both would be fun to explore.

Right? Right. Well, one of the things is there's no way to escape it. It's a worldwide phenomenon, a movie that everybody remembers and when and you are the face of it, you know, in some ways. And so that's difficult to they can't not look at you and see that. Right. They can't. Which I think is difficult as an actor. So you're doing season four right now of Capecchi, correct?

Or in prep and or on the launch pad, although Netflix says, I have to say, they are asking me not to say when we're starting. Are you bringing back more characters?

Will Hillary Swank be joining, for example? There's.

Listen, here's the answer. Here's the generic. Anyone who's part of the versus any character that appeared in the Miss Universe was during the life of Mr. Miyagi. And any of those sequels is canon for this show. So who knows? Yes. No, maybe.

So when you think about talking to people today that like my kids or I don't know if you have kids.

Yes, I do, too. In their 20s. Believe it or not.

What do you want them to get out of and who? Don't know every little bit. What do you want to get through to a different audience, the ones that don't know Daniel Rousseau from back then? What is your goal as an actor and as an executive producer of the show?

Yeah, I think a few things I want to do to my kids quickly, because that's been something I didn't expect how much I my my daughter's twenty eight. My son is twenty five. I'm thirty two. So but I want you can figure it out and know that the champion, the show, they watch it with their friends, they, I mean when the show drops and my kids it's like Christmas morning that I didn't expect. That is something personally that's just been so spectacular to me.

Something is such a big part of my life and has followed me for good, bad or indifferent to this point is such a positive part of of their life and something that's proud they're proud of. I think as far as the next generation, as far as not the OGE fans from I think it's carrying the respect of the legacy of the source material, meaning the Karate Kid film in Marie's performance, our relationship, that bit of magic that I spoke about that is brought forward to this next cast, this next generation test.

I mean, how they how whether it's Mary Mouser or Shiloh or or Tanner, they asked me questions about that. These are the younger actors who play younger actors. Sorry. They love to hear the stories when I tell those stories. And it's rewarding to it's nice to see that knowledge and that legacy be passed on to the next generation, as well as her coming through the door and kicking the shit out of who whoever or that guy is Johnny Lawrence, doing everything we want to be able to do or Lorusso doing something that's kick ass, all that stuff, all the bad.

Asseri is awesome because it's entertainment, but those deeper meanings, the foundation of the heart and soul, that that why we care for these characters, seeing that they hand it off to the next generation is really rewarding. I would love that to continue.

Yeah, I think well I think you could have been cartoon characters or not. I mean, I now you just remember I remember that scene with Pat Morita crying and being drunk and you put him to bed and that's as special as it gets.

And the studio wanted it cut. Oh, you're kidding. I wanted it. Well, because it's stopped the plot. Right. And there was no kick in movie was over two hours. So that means less screening times and that means less money. No, that's a great story too. Yeah. Anyway, I got a billion of them. Well, we'll tell it another day.

We'll tell you another time. I thank you so much.

I really enjoyed this. Thank you. All right. Bye. Thanks. Take care. Bye bye.

Hsueh is a production of New York Times opinion is produced by name Marasa, Heibel Urbani.

Matt Quong and Vishakha Darba, edited by Paul Asuman with original music by Isaac Jones.

Mixing by Eric Gometz and fact checking by Kate Sinclair. Special thanks to Shannon, Busta Lyrical Higa and Cathy too.

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We release every Monday and Thursday and remember, Kai never dies.