Original Karate Kid actor rejects critics' claims that the film was ‘too white’

While critics have slammed the original 1984 Karate Kid for being “too white,” Ralph Macchio, who starred as Daniel LaRusso in the film, rejected the claims, saying it was actually “ahead of its time.”

“People have said it’s a very white cast, that it didn’t dive into the Asian story,” Macchio, 60, told Stellar Magazine. “But I always say this: The film was ahead of its time because it was a popcorn movie that talked about Japanese internment camps during World War II.”