Karate Kid Star Admitted To Being Rude To Ralph Macchio While on Set

Getty Ralph Macchio is photographed at 'The IMDb Show' in 2019.

As fans of the Karate Kid franchise are aware, race car driver Chad McQueen portrayed Dutch in the first film. In the movie, the karate student, known for his bleach blond hair and merciless attitude, continually harasses Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) along with his fellow Cobra Kai team members.

Arguably, Dutch is one of the meanest members of the team. For instance, during the Halloween scene, the character encourages Johnny Lawrence to continue physically assaulting Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) even though he is close to being unconscious.

Dutch also shoves Daniel and tells him he’s “dead meat” before the 1984 All Valley Tournament. When they face off during the tournament, the Cobra Kai student immediately kicks the New Jersey native in the head.

McQueen Admitted To Being Rude To Ralph Macchio

YouTubeDutch (Chad McQueen) attempts to face off Daniel (Ralph Macchio) in “The Karate Kid.”

McQueen seemed to share his character’s trait of being intimidating during the film’s production.

In a 2018 Sports Illustrated interview, the cast and crew of The Karate Kid talked about making the iconic martial arts movie. 

William Zabka, who is best known for his role of Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai, revealed that he was not close with Ralph Macchio while they were shooting the film. 

The actor described those who portrayed the Cobra Kai members as “a little fraternity, a clique.” 

“It was like going to college and having your first new batch of buddies. We were the Cobra Kai snake, all one piece,” said the actor. 

He also revealed that the movie’s director John Avildsen had purposefully “separated [the Cobra Kai actors] from Ralph.”

Late actor Rob Garrison, who played Tommy, stated that he was confused by Avildsen’s decision to alienate Macchio. He told the publication: 

You’d wonder: Why is John doing this? But onscreen it brought out a real-life quality. Not being able to hang around Ralph, it was a lot easier picking on him in the movie than it would have been if we were buddies. 

McQueen then revealed that he was rude to Macchio whenever he interacted with him on set. 

“I never really talked to Ralph. If I did, I’d say something nasty,” disclosed McQueen. 

Macchio & Zabka Shared Similar Information in a 2018 Interview

Getty“Cobra Kai” stars William Zabka and Ralph Macchio strike a pose together during the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.

Macchio and Zabka shared similar information while on a panel for The Jenny McCarthy Show in 2018. 

 “John didn’t want us to get chummy… He encouraged me to hang out with the Cobra Kais where I belonged apparently,” said Zabka. 

Macchio went on to say that he usually did not rehearse with Zabka and the rest of the Cobra Kai actors. 

“And then we would have a lot of scenes to shoot because I had the Miyagi side of the story and the Ali side of the story besides [the Cobra Kais] … beating the crap out of me. So we didn’t get to hang out that much,” said the actor. 

He then admitted this separation caused him to have doubts about interacting with his co-stars while they were having lunch.  

“I would always joke when I was at the lunch table time I’m like do I even belong over there?” disclosed the actor. 

Upon that revelation, William Zabka stated he was unaware that Macchio “felt like that.” 

“Oh I wish I knew that,” said Zabka. 

Macchio humorously replied that “Dutch was staring [him] down,” implying that was why he was uncomfortable. 

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