Ralph Macchio Was Cast In Karate Kid After This Hollywood Veteran Turned It Down

Netflix's two-part documentary "AKA Charlie Sheen" gives a comprehensive look at the actor's life and career. Perhaps it's not as intimate and personal as what the actor likely has shared with his therapist about his tumultuous life events (like stardom, addiction, and complex family relationships), but in terms of a retrospective doc that we get more and more of lately, this is a thorough one with actual depth. Naturally, most viewers just want to relive the scandals and hear the wildest stories Sheen has buckets of from his decades-long career, but if you're more of a cinephile, there are some really intriguing tidbits in these three hours that will satisfy your curiosity, too.

One of them is that Sheen could've been the original Karate Kid. Luckily for him (and Ralph Macchio), he wasn't. He had a small role in a long-forgotten and truly terrible horror movie, "Grizzly II: Revenge," when he was offered to play Daniel LaRusso in "The Karate Kid." He wasn't committed to his "Grizzly II" role one bit, even though he acted alongside a young George Clooney and Laura Dern, but when he asked his dad, Martin Sheen, for advice about what to do, he got an answer he didn't want to hear at the time:

"I took it to my dad, and I said, 'I got this thing, and it's a life-changing opportunity. They want me in karate training tomorrow.' And he said, 'Well, there's a problem here. You gave this other company your word. I said, 'Yeah, but it's forgettable, and it's like eight lines.' He says, 'None of that matters. You gave them your word. Your word in this business is going to carry you a lot further than one big movie.' So that went away."

Looking back on that decision, Sheen admitted that he was furious at the time. "The Karate Kid" had become a phenomenon, spawned multiple sequels, and turned Macchio into a worldwide sensation and teen idol. All that could've gone to Sheen. But in retrospect, he was glad that he followed his father's advice. He said, "[Macchio] probably made $20 million. However, I don't know that it necessarily opened up a lot of doors to maybe other stuff that he was passionate about. I don't want to say I dodged a bullet. Maybe I dodged a back kick."

In all fairness, Sheen didn't need "The Karate Kid" to become a star. He had a talent, charisma, and screen presence more potent than Macchio's, and that flair undoubtedly presented itself in the films he got to make in the 1980s instead of becoming the face of a teen movie franchise.

Just two years later, Sheen landed a brief scene in John Hughes's beloved classic, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," thanks to his co-star and friend Jennifer Grey, which turned out to be a step in the right direction. Soon after that, he landed the lead role in Oliver Stone's war epic, "Platoon," which was a total game-changer for him. "Wall Street" shortly followed, and Sheen turned into a household name around the world, skyrocketing toward the kind of fame and popularity that every actor dreams of. We know now how it ended, and that he reached levels of all-consuming celebrity he couldn't handle at the time. It overwhelmed him, drove him to drugs, and made him do shameful things. But as far as career opportunities go, and the kind of work an actor of his caliber can be proud of for the rest of his life, he was better off losing out on the role of Daniel LaRusso.