Whether they were Cobra Kai bullies or Daniel's inner circle, each member of the Karate Kid
cast gave something to the production that helped make it a classic.
Here's a look at what the stars of the film have been up to over the years, and what they
look like today.
Ralph Macchio got steady work as a young actor before The Karate Kid, including a prominent
recurring role on the sitcom Eight Is Enough.
But 1983 and 1984 brought a powerful one-two punch that would cement him as an icon of
'80s pop culture.
In '83 he joined a fraternity of young actors in The Outsiders, and then in '84 he was cast
as Daniel LaRusso in Karate Kid.
The massive success of the latter film led to three sequels, with Macchio returning for
two of them.
Macchio continued to pick up regular acting work in the '90s and 2000s, including roles
in My Cousin Vinny and The Secret of NIMH 2.
He also landed a sweet TV gig in 2008 with a recurring role on Ugly Betty.
Besides returning to the Karate Kid franchise for YouTube's Cobra Kai series in 2018, Macchio's
also made time to poke fun at himself, playing versions of "Ralph Macchio" on everything
from Entourage to How I Met Your Mother.
"Shut it, Ralph Macchio! …why don't you go have a party with Luke Skywalker, and Harry Potter, and War Horse,
And all the other movie bad guys and stop ruining mine!"
William Zabka's first major screen acting work was an episode of The Greatest American
Hero in 1983.
His second was the role of Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid, which cemented him as one
of the best, and perhaps most misunderstood, villains of 1980s cinema.
He went on to other major '80s films like National Lampoon's European Vacation and Back
to School.
He also returned briefly as Johnny for The Karate Kid Part II.
Zabka continued to work regularly throughout the '90s and 2000s, particularly in action
films like Shootfighter: Fight to the Death and Descent Into Darkness.
In 2013 he re-entered pop culture mythology in a major way by playing a version of himself
in How I Met Your Mother.
And in 2018 he returned as a down-on-his-luck Johnny Lawrence for Cobra Kai.
"It was an illegal kick."
"Oh Illegal come on, really? Come on, what about that elbow to my knee?"
"Yeah, I got a warning you got the win."
"Woah woah woah. No fighting in the showroom, guys."
Of all the young actors in The Karate Kid, Elisabeth Shue is the one who arguably came
away from the film with the highest-profile career.
With only a handful of credits to her name when the film was made, its success granted
her numerous opportunities in the coming decades.
Unlike the other leads in the franchise, Shue did not return for any of the sequels.
But she did go on to appear in other '80s classics like Adventures in Babysitting, Cocktail,
and as the recast role of Jennifer in Back to the Future Part II and Part III.
In the '90s she gained acclaim as a major dramatic talent, earning an Oscar nomination
for Leaving Las Vegas.
These days, Shue continues to work regularly, most prominently in television.
In 2012 she became one of the stars of CSI, and she'll next be seen in Amazon's original
superhero series The Boys.
Randee Heller had nearly a decade of steady work in television to her name when she landed
the role of Daniel's mother Lucille in The Karate Kid and became one of pop culture's
most beloved movie moms.
She returned for The Karate Kid Part II and Part III, and in between she filled the '80s
with roles in a variety of TV series with names like Mama Malone and Boys Will Be Boys.
Heller has gone on to have an essentially unbroken streak of roles in major TV series,
whether one-off guest appearances or recurring roles.
Mad Men and Desperate Housewives are just two of the many shows she's popped up in.
In 2018, she reprised the role of Lucille on Cobra Kai.
Martin Kove had already been acting on screen for more than a decade by the time The Karate
Kid came along.
One of his most important breakout roles came in 1975, when he was cast as Nero the Hero
in the Roger Corman-produced Death Race 2000.
In The Karate Kid, he was flawless as John Kreese, the ruthless sensei of the Cobra Kai
dojo.
Kove returned as Kreese for both Part II and Part III, and he's continued to act regularly
in film and TV.
In 2017, he appeared as "Master John" on a Karate Kid tribute episode of the '80s-set
sitcom The Goldbergs, and then a year later, he reprised the role of John Kreese on Cobra
Kai.
One of the things that makes The Karate Kid such an enduring classic is its willingness
to add color to supporting characters, particularly Johnny's friends at Cobra Kai.
They're never just one-dimensional goons, and that's particularly true in the case of
Ron Thomas as Bobby.
Though he went along with what Johnny and Kreese asked of him, there was an always some
reluctance to Bobby's role in bullying Daniel.
Thomas' acting career is relatively sparse beyond The Karate Kid.
But outside of the film world, he's continued to pour his passion into martial arts.
Today he's a champion martial artist, martial arts instructor, author, and motivational
speaker.
He holds a sixth-degree black belt, and he's a National Rank Examiner for the United States
Judo Association, among many other accolades.
He's also a ten-year veteran of Universal Studios Hollywood stunt shows, including the
"Conan Sword and Sorcery Spectacular" and the "Miami Vice Action Spectacular."
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Looper videos about your favorite stuff are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.