Coldplay Team Up With Ralph Macchio For Sentimental ‘The Karate Kid’ Video: Watch

If you’re filming a video for a song called “The Karate Kid” it just makes sense to cast the OG Daniel LaRusso in it. On Tuesday morning (Nov. 19), Coldplay revealed the visual for their song named in honor of actor Ralph Macchio’s most beloved character, which appears on the expanded Full Moon edition of the band’s recent Billboard 200 No. 1 album, Moon Music.

The Chris Candy-directed clip was filmed in Melbourne, Australia during Coldplay’s recent run of stadium shows. According to a release announcing the video, the band reached out to Cobra Kai star Macchio after he said he thought “The Karate Kid” was a “beautiful track” when it was released last month.

“When Chris Martin pops up on your FaceTime asking you to help create a video to accompany what I found to be a beautifully emotional and poignant song – one inspired by a film I made over 40 years ago – there was only one answer,” said Macchio, 63, about filming the clip in which he plays a down-and-out busker. “Having the opportunity to join Coldplay in Australia at one of their legendary live shows to collaborate on this music video was nothing short of a career highlight. The synergy with Chris, the band and our director Chris Candy was as pure as any I’ve experienced. I’m excited to share this with the world.”

The video opens with Macchio schlepping his busking gear to a park, where he sets up a perky “Shine On” sign and some dancing stuffed animals as he sits down at his keyboard to croon the earnest ballad. “As much as I could, as much as I tried/ I just couldn’t seem to find the light/ The trees for the wood, the wars left and right/ Umbrellas with the rain in,” the actor lip synchs as everyone around him either ignores his playing or laughs as they walk by.

Dejected, Macchio decides to try a different approach, shifting to tap dancing for his dinner as Coldplay singer Chris Martin croons, “Maybe we could share the rain/ Maybe we could dance again/ Maybe we could make the sky turn blue/ Oh Daniel knows how to make a dream/ How to make a dream come true/ Oh Daniel/ Could I be the one for you?”

When he chances into a ticket for a Coldplay show, Macchio hoists up a sign that says “Let Me Help” when Martin is suddenly hit with vocal issues. The actor triumphantly takes center stage in front of the massive crowd for his moment in the sun to end the uplifting clip.

Fans were losing their minds during the Oct. 31 show at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, where Martin did a fine acting job pretending to lose his voice as he welcomed surprise guest Macchio to the stage. Macchio first played karate newbie LaRusso in the original Karate Kid movie in 1986, as well as in the 1986 and 1989 sequels and returned to his signature role in 2018 for the Cobra Kai series, now in its sixth season; he is also slated to star in the upcoming Karate Kid: Legends film due out next year.

Coldplay is on a break from their nearly three-year Music of the Spheres stadium tour, with the group slated to hit the road again on Jan. 9 with the first of four shows at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi. After stops in India, Hong Kong and Seoul, the tour will return to the U.S. for the final run of summer 2025 North American dates beginning on May 31 at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, CA. The billion-dollar outing will conclude next August/Sept. with a 10-show run at Wembley Stadium in London.

Watch “The Karate Kid” video below.