Speaker 1: The game's over on the world. You played to win.
Speaker 1: The game's got a Jet touchdown, can't. You're listening to
Speaker 1: the official Jets podcast, Jets three sixty production. All right,
Speaker 1: Green's this is a special treat. Let's bring in a
Speaker 1: Jets fan who's working down south right about now, and
Speaker 1: that's Ralph Macchio, who ethan. This guy continues to be
Speaker 1: big in his acting career, but when I was growing up,
Speaker 1: it was all about the karate kids. And here he is,
Speaker 1: Ralph Macchio. Thank you so much for joining us. Great
Speaker 1: to be on guys. Thanks so much. Man, it's funny.
Speaker 1: Hey a Long Island native, Ralph grew up in Ning Ten,
Speaker 1: New York. Of course, that's Strong Island, Long Island, Strong Island.
Speaker 1: Can you describe your Jets fandom? Uh coming up as
Speaker 1: a youngster, Oh yeah, I mean listen, I early day
Speaker 1: remembrance is probably I would say some of the earliest
Speaker 1: sports memories. Well, it was a big year sixty nine
Speaker 1: with the New York Mets on the baseball side, but
Speaker 1: the New York Jets on on the football side. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, I had my It's it's recently past Halloween,
Speaker 1: and I I was Joe name. It would like at
Speaker 1: eight years old, you know, with the big shoulder pads,
Speaker 1: and there's just ninety eight probably probably sixty five pound
Speaker 1: weekling at the time, maybe fifty two pound weekling at
Speaker 1: the time. Um dressed up his name it is and
Speaker 1: had all the all the posters of Emerson Boozer and
Speaker 1: all those uh, all those guys back in the I'm
Speaker 1: dating myself, but back in the heyday of of that
Speaker 1: that amazing time, and then through the through the seasons, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, until you know, back in when I used
Speaker 1: to freeze my butt off at at Chase Stadium. Uh,
Speaker 1: just freezing handful of games back in the I would
Speaker 1: the seventies eighties, then into the you know, into the
Speaker 1: sack exchange years, and so I'm always there. What was
Speaker 1: that connection? Why was it in Long Island that Hey, listen,
Speaker 1: you're growing up and you're about Ralph Macchio's age, you're
Speaker 1: probably picking the Jets, the Mets and the Islanders and
Speaker 1: vice versa. If you're going old school, you probably are
Speaker 1: picking the Giants, the New York Rangers hockey wise, and
Speaker 1: of course the New York Yankees, Right, I think I
Speaker 1: don't know. For me, I think it was, first of all.
Speaker 1: I mean when I was you know, I was in
Speaker 1: grade school, you know, early grade school, those were the
Speaker 1: teams that were good. Uh the Islanders, not yet they
Speaker 1: hadn't Islanders and seventy two, but as a long Islander
Speaker 1: that was our own team, I mean, as our backyard,
Speaker 1: suburban major sports teams. So that's why I hoped into
Speaker 1: the Islanders. And it didn't take long for them to
Speaker 1: win a Stanley Cup in within uh, you know, within
Speaker 1: eight years. But as far as the Jets, you know,
Speaker 1: it's mentioned nine six nine around that time, and the
Speaker 1: Mets as well. Those were those those at the back
Speaker 1: page and front page of all the newspapers. So I
Speaker 1: think that probably lend itself to me going to that
Speaker 1: direction at a young age. I hope you're aware of this,
Speaker 1: because I wasn't until rather recently that you have your
Speaker 1: own bobble head in an Islander's uniform. Yes, I do.
Speaker 1: That one's off the bucket list. Yeah. They were very cool.
Speaker 1: You know. Listen, I go all in as a fan,
Speaker 1: as anyone in the Jets organization could say. I've always
Speaker 1: you know, any time I could get out to the
Speaker 1: games and I'm and any time I go watch them
Speaker 1: and and follow the team. I I really I'm a
Speaker 1: big sports fan. And with the Islanders, they they at
Speaker 1: this promotion last year and it really was a big
Speaker 1: success and it was a lot of fun. Um to
Speaker 1: sort of pay homage to, uh, to the Daniel Russo character,
Speaker 1: but to keep him a hockey player. Um. And it's
Speaker 1: a lot of fun. And even with the Jets, I
Speaker 1: did the j T S Jets Jets Jets chant a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago at the center of the you know,
Speaker 1: of of the gridiron, and uh, it was a lot
Speaker 1: of fun. It was a lot of fun. I share
Speaker 1: in office with our senior director of commerce, that's Chris Pierce,
Speaker 1: and maybe I can work on getting you a Jets boblehead.
Speaker 1: I listen, I'm I'm all. I would love to have
Speaker 1: my three favorite teams. Uh, you know at the head
Speaker 1: of the desk. You know, we're just I'm all. I'm
Speaker 1: all in for for participating and bringing attention to the
Speaker 1: teams that I've always was for, despite sometimes complaining about
Speaker 1: each organization for some reason. As the fan, Uh, could
Speaker 1: you always want to be better all the time? That's
Speaker 1: just passion. You're you're in your fifties now, but I
Speaker 1: consider yourself a youngster just like me, but you are
Speaker 1: a dad. Have you passed on your Jets fandom to
Speaker 1: your children? Yes, certainly, certainly. They all they're they're and
Speaker 1: my daughter is she's twenty five now, believe that or not.
Speaker 1: My son is twenty two, just recently. It's crazy, but
Speaker 1: it is true. Uh as and as I don't understand
Speaker 1: it since I'm only in my mid thirties, or at
Speaker 1: least in my mind. Uh So, yeah, it's great to
Speaker 1: share all that stuff. I mean, they share the frustrations
Speaker 1: as well, and uh, it's it's all good. It's all
Speaker 1: good fun in the crazy world we uh we live
Speaker 1: in to just you know, rally around something that's that's uh,
Speaker 1: that's fun that you could all do together. That's what
Speaker 1: I love about sports. And you know what sports could
Speaker 1: do with a city like Houston, what they've just been through.
Speaker 1: It's nice to see people able to come together in
Speaker 1: something that's uh, you know, in the backdrop of such
Speaker 1: tragedy to a city, that a city can rally like that,
Speaker 1: and you know, that's one of the great things that
Speaker 1: sports does. If you could work with any current and
Speaker 1: former Jet who would it be and why I could
Speaker 1: see you working with bart Scott bart Scott, Yeah, if
Speaker 1: I could get in one word edge y, but I
Speaker 1: would say, you know, I was a big Freeman McNeil
Speaker 1: fan back in that mid section the time. For some reason,
Speaker 1: I used to really enjoy Oh another thing, that's funny.
Speaker 1: I never forget I had a um I guess it
Speaker 1: was Sean Green when we beat the Patriots. He put
Speaker 1: the Patriots to bed. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I love
Speaker 1: that was like my me and my son both had
Speaker 1: that ring tone of that that play call I gotta tell,
Speaker 1: I Gotta tell white shoes when she wasn't about that.
Speaker 1: I'll love that. Yeah, we had that for a little while.
Speaker 1: And then we also even my my I believe my
Speaker 1: my daughter, who's not the biggest football fan, at one
Speaker 1: point they can't wait, uh you know at the bart
Speaker 1: Scotts can't wait. You know, anybody can be you know.
Speaker 1: I love the Sol interview. It's just that's a that's
Speaker 1: a that's a YouTube sensation. Yeah, you're certainly right about that. So, Ralph,
Speaker 1: what projects are you currently working on right now? What?
Speaker 1: What can you tell me about The Deuce season two?
Speaker 1: And then, uh, well, go with that first and then
Speaker 1: we'll get to the other show later. Yeah, the other
Speaker 1: show is happening right now. Is big news. The Deuce
Speaker 1: has been. The Deuce has been, uh, just a great experience.
Speaker 1: Where Season two starts up, I believe in February production wise,
Speaker 1: so it'll be a solid year before before that that
Speaker 1: comes out. But it is such a critical success and
Speaker 1: so such a well done uh drama that David Simon
Speaker 1: and George Pelicanos those guys that didn't wire and they're
Speaker 1: just phenomenal writer is and its top shelf creatively. It's
Speaker 1: early seventies it uh, it's really the authenticity of that
Speaker 1: time in that era because like as were mentioning, you know,
Speaker 1: the Jets back in the late sixties, early seventies. I
Speaker 1: remember that time as a kid, and I remember that
Speaker 1: area of New York City Times Square, and it wasn't
Speaker 1: it wasn't um you know, the Lion King and Aladdin
Speaker 1: like she is now. It was a different at different times.
Speaker 1: I've played his vice cop on the show always, and
Speaker 1: this was when the police department was certainly uh crooked
Speaker 1: and on the take as everyone else was, and and
Speaker 1: uh and and making money off of you know, not
Speaker 1: quite honorable things. Um, but The Deuce is a great
Speaker 1: project to be involved with. I don't I bet it's
Speaker 1: a you know, not a big role in it, but
Speaker 1: I got to be in five of the eight episodes
Speaker 1: and I'm proud to be part of it. And I
Speaker 1: didn't kill me off yet, So we'll see what happens there.
Speaker 1: And then the other a show, which is the biggest
Speaker 1: news going on right now for me, is you mentioned
Speaker 1: the Karate Kid earlier and Daniel L. Russo and that
Speaker 1: the legacy of that character in that film and the
Speaker 1: pop culture that it has become over more than three decades. Now. Um,
Speaker 1: we are shooting a show called Cobra Kai and uh
Speaker 1: and that will be out on YouTube read, which is
Speaker 1: a premium service. Everything is streaming television now being Nets, Legs, Amazon,
Speaker 1: Hulu and now YouTube um um and it's uh, it's
Speaker 1: thirty years uh plus later. Um. Johnny Lawrence, the lay
Speaker 1: by williams. Zapka, who is the blonde haired bully who
Speaker 1: was kicked in the face with the infamous crane kick,
Speaker 1: the one move that I had in my arsenal and
Speaker 1: uh we crossed paths thirty years later and it's he
Speaker 1: opens He's go heading to open the Cobra Kai Do show,
Speaker 1: but a very successful Daniel Russo will not let that
Speaker 1: happen on his watch and uh and great great stories
Speaker 1: and sue, Um, it's it's and it also we also
Speaker 1: infuse a whole new high school generation for two thousand
Speaker 1: and eighteen, UM on the relevance of what what it
Speaker 1: life is like at that age and with through martial arts,
Speaker 1: and also what bullying is in today's day and age
Speaker 1: versus what it was in Um, it's much more complicated
Speaker 1: now and so but it is got a lot of
Speaker 1: comedic elements to it, a lot of heart and soul
Speaker 1: and nostalgia. But you know, whether you're a fan of
Speaker 1: the movie or not, this show should be very entertaining
Speaker 1: for everyone. But if you are a fan of the movie,
Speaker 1: it will get your geek on as far as a
Speaker 1: fan because we will pepper in little pieces of great
Speaker 1: callbacks to what created that franchise. And it was just
Speaker 1: the right time and the it's the right time to
Speaker 1: do it. I've said no for thirty years the right
Speaker 1: here's who created this concept, um really have a handle
Speaker 1: on it and uh, and it was fresh and original
Speaker 1: and it's the perfect time for it, and the ground
Speaker 1: swell of attention it's been getting just from people in anticipation,
Speaker 1: it's it's exciting. So the scripts are good and it'll
Speaker 1: be out. It looks like this spring ten episodes and
Speaker 1: that's hopefully season one of many. Well we shall see.
Speaker 1: Well we're wishing your lock in that production. But hey,
Speaker 1: where is most of that being shot right now? It's
Speaker 1: being shot in Atlanta and some Los Angeles. Um it
Speaker 1: takes plates in Los Angeles. Um as is the case
Speaker 1: the business, it's show business, not always show art. And
Speaker 1: the tax incentives the shooting Atlanta, uh and then around
Speaker 1: Georgia or or why there are forty productions in Atlanta
Speaker 1: right now, including ant Man and the Avengers and the
Speaker 1: Stranger Things in the Walking deads and it's just become
Speaker 1: like Hollywood South and for us, we're gonna go to
Speaker 1: Los Angeles and shoot the larger exterior pieces. Um. So
Speaker 1: you could tie in the two together. When you finished
Speaker 1: up that movie, how old were you and at that time, Ralph,
Speaker 1: were you thinking, Uh, yeah, this is gonna be a
Speaker 1: pretty big deal. Um No, none of us, none of
Speaker 1: us knew. We didn't have a clue to the director
Speaker 1: has Gona recorded say saying that, and myself as well.
Speaker 1: We didn't. We thought, you know, it was going well.
Speaker 1: We felt I certainly felt that my scenes with with Pat,
Speaker 1: the late great Pat Marito were had a special quality
Speaker 1: to them. But as far as I mean, you cannot.
Speaker 1: You know, if you could sign up and create this
Speaker 1: all the time you did, there'd be a lot more
Speaker 1: hits out there. You know. This is just one of
Speaker 1: those that just hit at the right time, the right cast,
Speaker 1: the right filmmakers, to right scripts. And uh, I was
Speaker 1: twenty one turned two at the time. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: on the Macheo curve, you always have to pull eight
Speaker 1: years of my I played sixteen for thirty seven years,
Speaker 1: is always my joke. Um, But so I was the
Speaker 1: perennial sixteen year old for for a very long time.
Speaker 1: And uh, it's just we didn't know. We did not know,
Speaker 1: I will say this much. When we saw the film
Speaker 1: for the first time in a packed house, the producer
Speaker 1: said a story I told many times. The producer Jerry Weinschov,
Speaker 1: leaned over to me and when we walked outside and
Speaker 1: saw people doing the crane pose in the street and
Speaker 1: on there you know, on park benches, and whether they
Speaker 1: were ten years old or fifty years old, he said,
Speaker 1: we're going to be making a couple of these, And
Speaker 1: so you kind of knew when you walked out of
Speaker 1: the theater. Yeah, there was. It's just like when you
Speaker 1: sing in the lead song of a great musical. That's
Speaker 1: how you know you have a hit. So but who
Speaker 1: knew to get him a body back? The leg and
Speaker 1: wax on wax off would be like an the dictionary. Now, hey,
Speaker 1: the people still stop you at the airport when you're
Speaker 1: flying between Atlanta and New York in l A. It's say, hey, man,
Speaker 1: there's the karate kid. Yeah, it's you know, it's it's something. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's something that I that I carry proudly on my shoulder. Um,
Speaker 1: it's you know, and listen, it's a good He's a
Speaker 1: great character. He was the every kid next door back
Speaker 1: in the day. And I think that's one of the
Speaker 1: reasons it has worked and continues to hold up because
Speaker 1: he represented a piece of all of us. He had
Speaker 1: no business winning anything. So the fact that he succeeded
Speaker 1: and overcame those obstacles sounds like the Jackson nineteen Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: exact if you get sports analogies, I use him every day. Hey,
Speaker 1: every day. My thing about you is, you're sitting here
Speaker 1: now fifty five years old. You played so many different
Speaker 1: roles over the years. How challenging was it post karate
Speaker 1: kid for a while to be cast in a new
Speaker 1: role and ultimately by this time you're obviously way beyond that.
Speaker 1: Now now you're playing cops who are on the take
Speaker 1: in New York City in the seventies. But what about
Speaker 1: the challenge of that moving on from it? It's it's listen,
Speaker 1: they're always you know, uh, scenarios where you're on the
Speaker 1: stereotype or pigeonholeding casting and you're constantly needing to reinvent yourself,
Speaker 1: um creatively and also in the minds of of of
Speaker 1: the audience and the studios end or networks as the
Speaker 1: people the buyers, if you will, you know, they categorized.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was just it's it is challenging. As
Speaker 1: I always tell the story with my cousin and Vinny,
Speaker 1: which was a film that I really had to go
Speaker 1: in and and I didn't have to win over the
Speaker 1: director and producer, but the studio was just a blanket
Speaker 1: nag you don't want him. He was you know that
Speaker 1: you were fantastic, thank you very much and mean and
Speaker 1: and it was but that's was That's the story. That
Speaker 1: is the classic story is I just I just came
Speaker 1: off sort of the arc of of a big success
Speaker 1: and had a little bit of that lull time. As
Speaker 1: always ebbs and flows and and so on. The list
Speaker 1: for whatever reason to play in Italian from New York
Speaker 1: as Joe Pesci's cousin didn't make casting sense, which is
Speaker 1: kind of hideous. Um and uh, but you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: and so I had to get in there and I had,
Speaker 1: you know, it was a fight. And then but as
Speaker 1: soon as I went in audition for the his director
Speaker 1: who was in English from England, and he says, I
Speaker 1: don't understand what the problem is. This is the perfect
Speaker 1: eye for the part. What did you like as about
Speaker 1: that role, about my cousin, Minnie? The role is because
Speaker 1: I felt I felt like I knew that guy. I
Speaker 1: I never took the cross country trip from uh from
Speaker 1: you know, as as they were doing, and I never
Speaker 1: got taught stealing tune in Beecham County, Alabama. But but
Speaker 1: then I never shot the clerk. But I I felt
Speaker 1: like I I connected to that guy. I knew Joe
Speaker 1: Pesci from running into him. I was working on Broadway
Speaker 1: with Robert de Niro in a play called Koban His
Speaker 1: Teddy Bear, and Joe him to see the play a
Speaker 1: few times, and that's how I got to know him.
Speaker 1: So I felt a little all in the family there.
Speaker 1: The best part of being involved with that, that film
Speaker 1: is one it has become. It's one of those films
Speaker 1: that I call it the late for dinner movie. Anytime
Speaker 1: it's on, you're gonna be late for dinner because you
Speaker 1: just can't watch one scene only and uh and then
Speaker 1: and then the birth of Marissa Tomay and that's that
Speaker 1: spectacular performance. It's just anytime you could be in something.
Speaker 1: And I look at The Outsiders, another film home that
Speaker 1: that has sort of stood that at the time I
Speaker 1: got I got lucky on a couple of them back
Speaker 1: in the day, and they still resonate somewhat. So you
Speaker 1: deal with the typecast the best you can and uh,
Speaker 1: and just try to continue doing good work. And you
Speaker 1: can't control at all. All you could control is the
Speaker 1: amount of focus, energy, passion you put into anything you do.
Speaker 1: I have I've been a victim of the Late for
Speaker 1: Dinner movie because of my cousin Vinny multiple times. I
Speaker 1: really like that analogy. I'm gonna start using that. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: because it's one of those wands. Listen, you turn it
Speaker 1: on and like you said, Ralph, like this movie. It's great.
Speaker 1: This is a classic part. Don't move no, Okay, we're
Speaker 1: supposed to eat at seven, we end up eating at nine.
Speaker 1: That's right, because it's the payoffs. They they they the
Speaker 1: setups all payoff and lead into the next and it
Speaker 1: and the hurdles get bigger and bigger for the for
Speaker 1: the protagonists, for the Joe Pesci charriage. Karate Kid has
Speaker 1: that too, where you just you know, everything that's set
Speaker 1: up at the the chores on the waxing the car
Speaker 1: and sending the tech and painting pay off, and Mike
Speaker 1: cousin video you know, interestingly has those parallels, but in
Speaker 1: a comedic way. All right, listen, you have an open invitation,
Speaker 1: as you should know, and I hope you do know
Speaker 1: by now, to Carmere, to the facility anytime you want.
Speaker 1: You're gonna come to the game. I know you're a
Speaker 1: busy man. We're gonna be checking out The Deuce season two,
Speaker 1: and that's on HBO where you're playing a cap um
Speaker 1: and also Cobra Kay is coming out in the spring.
Speaker 1: You're working hard on that someone. We know obviously you
Speaker 1: got a demanding schedule, but you are a passionate Jets fan,
Speaker 1: so you are welcome home anytime you want. And my
Speaker 1: last question for you at Ralph Machio on Twitter is
Speaker 1: what are the secrets to looking so young, so youthful
Speaker 1: at your young age? Yeah? Know, and I have a
Speaker 1: birthday around the corner and literally within the next couple
Speaker 1: of days. Uh, it's I blame my parents. It's their fault,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean, I would love to have the
Speaker 1: magic potion. Um, a decently clean lifestyle. Decently I enjoy that.
Speaker 1: I enjoyed that adult average when I you should have
Speaker 1: and I do, and certainly on a football Sunday it's
Speaker 1: so he's the sweeter. But for the most part, try
Speaker 1: to lead a clean, healthy life best I can. And uh,
Speaker 1: but it's good jeans. I mean, I just, um, you know,
Speaker 1: my parents are in pushing eighty and they look like
Speaker 1: they're in their mid sixties, you know, and so uh
Speaker 1: so I got I got cursed with that blessing. Let's
Speaker 1: put it that way, all right, with that curse, keep
Speaker 1: on living clean, Ralph. But when you come up here,
Speaker 1: I'll buy you a couple of pops because you deserve.
Speaker 1: I look forward to that. I wish I wish I
Speaker 1: had more week to get up to this year. I
Speaker 1: love getting out to the games and being there for
Speaker 1: the warm up on the field, and I brought my
Speaker 1: family out a few times and we have some great
Speaker 1: memories from that, and we will do more of that
Speaker 1: when I'm when I'm back up there. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: Great catching up with you, all right, guys, enjoy man
Speaker 1: you will all right there. You have it. Make sure
Speaker 1: to stay tuned. As he said, we got inside the
Speaker 1: Jets every Monday, we got the game preview later in
Speaker 1: the week, and then of course now we got the
Speaker 1: celebrity section here recover all your bases on the Official
Speaker 1: Jets podcast. That's all we got for Eric Allen, Ralph Maccio,
Speaker 1: anything Greenberg,