Ralph Macchio talks about being in the running to play Marty in BACK TO THE FUTURE

Ralph Macchio is synonymous with The child of karate how Michael J. Fox and with Back to the Futurebut apparently, Macchio almost got both roles! The child of karate it had just come out in 1984, and Back to the Future had been chosen by the director Robert Zemeckis and manufacturer Steven Spielbergso it makes sense that Macchio was in talks to join, as everyone involved in the project was at the top of their game.

In his new book, Waxing: Me and the karate guy, and also in an interview with / Film, Macchio talked about his meeting with Zemeckis and Spielberg to talk about the possible hiring of the role, and said in his book that he remembers meeting them in a New York hotel suite for what he describes as a “fast-paced, upbeat and positive” conversation. Macchio had already read the script for the film and wasn’t auditioning, but before that he was just discussing the focus of what they were looking for in an actor to play Marty. Macchio recalled two points on which they particularly struck:

“One was the importance of an all-American quality to the character, as it was written in the script. The concern was that I had a New York accent that should have been held back for the character and a distinct East Coast ethnicity. apples and, as I said in chapter 3 of this book, I invented Fore cannoli “.

Macchio remembers trying to show that he can get rid of his “New York-ness” during the meeting by stating more and slowing down his speech patterns. “I guess it came out as a hilarious train wreck,” he confesses in his book.

He also recalled that he was asked about the infamous subplot where Marty’s mother develops a crush on him as a teenager, saying, “I wish I could say I had an insightful answer, but I think I just tap-danced and expressed the my opinion that as long as it’s been fun, it should be fine, “admits Macchio.

While he was told that the team behind Back to the Future he wasn’t “sure” if he was suitable, he was even given the chance to audition for the role with other candidates. But at that point Macchio was preparing for the part of him in Walter Hill’s musical drama Crossroads and had to turn The karate boy part II in the summer of 1985.

It is possible that Macchio was able to come up with his program if The child of karate And Back to the Future it was not based in different studios. He explained: “Hollywood politics came into play, with one franchise at Columbia Pictures and the other at Universal Studios, and, in short, the discussions about ‘Back to the Future’ didn’t go any further.” He also notes how funny it was that, after all that talk of Marty McFly as an “all-American, apple pie role”, it eventually went to a Canadian actor.

Everything worked out perfectly, though, as Macchio built an epic franchise within The child of karateand Fox was the perfect Marty McFly. Macchio agrees, as he said in his book: “I said it before and I repeat it … the right actor got the right part”.