Ralph Macchio Responds to Criticism That 1984's Karate Kid Cast Was 'Too White'

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Ralph Macchio is addressing criticism that the cast of his 1984 film The Karate Kid was "too white."

Last week, the actor, 60, told Australia's Stellar magazine that the classic movie, set in Los Angeles, has been criticized for its "very white cast" and "that it didn't dive into the Asian story."

"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," Macchio said in the interview, via the New York Post.

Macchio added that costar Pat Morita, who played Mr. Miyagi, "always said the scene" when his character reveals he lost family in an internment camp "earned him his Oscar nomination."

The star also noted that Morita was taken to an internment camp for two years during WWII in a similar manner to his on-screen character. "So," he said, "it had double meaning and some depth."

Macchio told GQ last month that it was "so important" to Morita to be "authentic" to the Japanese American heritage in the movie. He added of the movie, "It's kinda ahead of its time. Certainly in The Karate Kid, the whole Japanese internment camp, that was the first major motion picture, Hollywood studio movie that ever addressed that sort of dark time in our history."

"As much as you could talk about Karate Kid being a 'popcorn movie' of the '80s, it had those elements, and that's what separates it," he added.

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Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Ralph Macchio

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Last Tuesday, Macchio released a memoir titled Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me, in which he tells his life story "from the unique perspective of walking in these shoes for close to 40 years now," he told PEOPLE in March.

Macchio wrote in the memoir that the scene in which Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel about his past almost did not make the final cut.

"They felt it took too long," Macchio wrote in reference to studio executives, according to the Post. "The studio's main concern was that with the movie running over two hours they would lose a daily screening time and, essentially, money in the process."

Macchio said director John G. Avildsen told him "they all shut up once we screened it for them with an audience," according to the newspaper.

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"I segue into the humbling afterlife of the late '80s and '90s with humor and honesty, zeroing in on a few do-over's I might have wished I'd had," Macchio told PEOPLE in March of the new memoir. "Touching on the theories and debates from the original film that play into the huge success of the current Cobra Kai series was enjoyable to tackle in the writing process."

"The Karate Kid has remained relevant for decades. It has been the gift that keeps on giving," he added. "With Waxing On, I get to share my perspective on all of it."