Robert Downey Jr.’s Famous Father Couldn’t Help Iron Man Star Land One Major Franchise That He Lost to Ralph Macchio Before Becoming Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr. is a globally famous actor who stepped foot in show business at the young age of five in his father Robert Downey Sr.’s movie Pound. Following his infamous battle with addiction which landed him in jail several times, he gained worldwide recognition due to his portrayal of the superhero Tony Stark/Iron Man in the 2008 MCU movie with the eponymous name.
Robert Downey Jr. could have gained fame much sooner if he could have landed the role of Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid franchise. The role went to Ralph Macchio who enjoyed great success due to the Karate Kid spin-off series Cobra Kai. Macchio revealed that the Sherlock Holmes actor was also there to audition for the role.
Robert Downey Jr. Lost The Major Role to Ralph Macchio
The 1984 martial arts drama The Karate Kid was a commercially successful film as it grossed $100 million upon release and has an 89 percent approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The movie follows the story of a young Italian-American teenager (portrayed by Ralph Macchio) who is bullied by some guys when he moves into a new neighborhood with his widowed mother and is taught karate by war veteran Mr. Miyagi (portrayed by Pat Morita).
In an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Ralph Macchio debunked fan theories and rumors and revealed that there were several other actors who auditioned for the role of Danny LaRusso in The Karate Kid. He said:
“It was like one of those test deals where you’re not in yet. And I remember walking by and seeing Charlie Sheen hanging outside Jerry Weintraub’s bungalow. [I was like] ‘Good to see you [Charlie]. What are you doing here? You don’t look like an Italian guy from Jersey.’
Despite initially trying to escape the premise of this martial arts movie, Macchio did a great job at portraying Danny LaRusso so it would be hard to imagine Robert Downey Jr. or any other actor, for that matter, playing the character.
Robert Downey Jr. Lost Another Role To Ralph Macchio
Ralph Macchio had risen to prominence just the year prior to the year he starred in The Karate Kid. He had won the role of Johnny Cade in Francis Ford Coppola’s coming-of-age 1983 crime drama film The Outsiders. The movie also starred many other future stars of Hollywood including Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, and Diane Lane.
In the same interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Macchio revealed that Robert Downy Jr. had auditioned for that role too. He said: “Robert Downey Jr. also did the workshop of the part I did in The Outsiders.” This, however, did not hinder Downey’s rise to fame as he portrayed the titular character of Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 biopic Chaplin.
Source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
