THE KARATE KID Actor Shares Secret to 38 Years of Marriage
By Movieguide® Contributor
THE KARATE KID star Ralph Macchio is sharing how he’s made his 38-year-long union to Phyllis Fierro last.
When Fox asked him the key to his long marriage, he joked, “Oh, man. Stay out of Hollywood!” In seriousness, he said, “I’ve always kept one foot in and one foot out. And a lot of that goes to my wife, who both grounds and elevates me and my kids as well.”
In another interview, he said, “Without her and without the foundation and the family we established, ‘one foot in, one foot out’ would have been very, very difficult on my own because there would not be balance.”
Macchio met Fierro when he was 15 at a birthday party in his grandmother’s basement, of all places. She was a friend of his cousin’s. That night, he and Fierro talked, laughed and shared a dance together. After that first encounter, they were inseparable.
READ MORE: WHAT’S DOLLY PARTON’S SECRET TO HER 58-YEAR MARRIAGE?
Macchio and his daughter, Julia Macchio, both star in THE KARATE KID spinoff, COBRA KAI.
“She knocked me out of the park,” Ralph told Fox at the COBRA KAI finale premiere this week. “I was a little bit nervous, you know? I was like, you gotta do this, you gotta do that. She’s like [stop]. ‘Just give me a shot.’ And she nailed it. It was a lot of fun. Very proud.”
Julia first joined COBRA KAI in Season 4, in 2022. Macchio recalled, “I was the proud father on set that day. As soon as she ran our first take, everybody was like, ‘Holy crap, she’s got this character.’”
The show just wrapped up its sixth and final season on Thursday. Julia shared on Instagram Feb. 13:
Cobra Kai Finale Premiere! 🩷✨ What a blessing and a joy this entire ride has been. I am so inspired by everyone involved in this big, beautiful karate family. The last 5 episodes are out on Netflix now. I hope you enjoy and feel all of the love that went into making them! 🫶🥹”
READ MORE: JACKIE CHAN, RALPH MACCHIO TO STAR IN NEW KARATE KID MOVIE
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