Inside Cobra Kai star Ralph Macchio's life from 'insecurities' and real-life feud with co-star to injury that left him 'eating through a straw'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Cobra Kai wouldn’t be the same without original Karate Kid star Ralph Macchio back as Miyagi-Do sensei Daniel LaRusso.Season six of the Karate Kid spin-off is wrapping up on Netflix with just five episodes left to air before it's time to say goodbye to the hit action-packed drama for good.From the very beginning, Daniel LaRusso star Ralph Macchio has played an integral role in Cobra Kai, from his love-hate relationship with Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabka) to passing down Mr Miyagi’s (Pat Morita) invaluable lessons.With the Netflix series coming to a close, subscribers are curious to know all there is about the man behind the Karate Kid himself.Born in November 1961 in Huntington, New York, Macchio was the son of a half Italian and half Greek father and an Italian mum with a younger brother called Steven.Sadly, from a young age, the Cobra Kai actor struggled with his self-confidence.Speaking to CBS Sunday Morning, Macchio shared: “I think maybe I had certain insecurities.“I always looked young for my age which is now paying dividends or so far so good, despite my lower back not getting the memo or my knees.“But I think there was a bit of growing up.

I was always kind of the smallest in the class, the youngest looking and when everybody else was maturing and being the star football player or the greatest looking or whatever, I was kind of a little scrawny kid.“Arguably kind of cute but scrawny so I had a bit of insecurities about myself and I used that when designing Daniel LaRusso, using those elements I put up this cocky front to cover something that I might have felt when I was going through adolescence.“That I might have had a little inferiority that I wasn’t as tall or strong or masculine.