Coldplay teams up with Ralph Macchio for sentimental ‘Karate Kid’ video

If you’re filming a video for a song called “The Karate Kid,” it only makes sense to cast OG Daniel LaRusso in it. On Tuesday morning (November 19), Coldplay revealed the visuals for their song, named in honor of actor Ralph Macchio’s most beloved character, which appears on the extended Full moon edition of the band’s latest 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 shows up on your FaceTime and asks you to help make a video to accompany what I thought was a beautifully emotional and poignant song—one inspired by a film I made over 40 years ago—was there’s only one answer,” Macchio, 63, said of filming the clip, in which he plays a deranged busker. “Having the opportunity to join Coldplay in Australia for 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 I’ve experienced. I am excited to share this with the world.”

The video opens with Macchio lugging his busting gear to a park, where he puts up a cheerful “Shine On” sign and some dancing stuffed animals as he sits down at his keyboard to do some serious banging. “As much as I could, as much as I tried/ I just couldn’t find the light/ The trees for the forest, the wars left and right/ Umbrellas with the rain in them,” the actor lips as everyone around him either ignores his game or laughs while they pass by.

Desperate, Macchio decides to try a different approach and switches to tap dancing for his dinner as Coldplay singer Chris Martin says, “Maybe we could share the rain/ Maybe we could dance again/ Maybe we could make the sky 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 gets a ticket to a Coldplay show, Macchio holds up a sign that says “Let Me Help” when Martin is suddenly struck by vocal problems. The actor triumphantly takes the stage in front of the massive audience for his moment in the sun to end the uplifting clip.

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

Coldplay are on a hiatus from their nearly three-year Music of the Spheres stadium tour, with the group set to return on January 9 for the first of four shows at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi. After stops in India, Hong Kong and Seoul, the tour will return to the US for the final leg of the summer 2025 North American dates, beginning May 31st at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, CA. The billion excursion ends in August/September. with a 10-show run at Wembley Stadium in London.

Watch “The Karate Kid” video below.