‘Cobra Kai’ Cast Break Down The Show’s Biggest Moments

[Together] What's up, GQ!

I'm Billy Zabka. I play Johnny Lawrence.

I'm Gianni DeCenzo. I play Demetri.

Xolo Mariduena. I'm Miguel Diaz.

Taylor Buchanan, Robby Keene.

I'm Peyton List. I play Tory Nichols.

Ralph Macchio, Daniel LaRusso.

I'm Jacob Scott Thomas Bertrand.

I play Eli Moskowitz slash The Hawk.

Mary Madeline Mouser and I play Samantha LaRusso.

[Together] And these are the biggest moments of Cobra Kai.

[Billy] Daniel versus Johnny Fight.

[dramatic theme music]

Ready?

Fight!

[Johnny grunts]

[Johnny strikes]

[Daniel blocking] [Johnny strikes]

[crowd exclaims]

I remember I said to Billy at one point, I said,

I wonder what this would go for on Pay-Per-View?

[everyone laughs]

You know, just because we'd hear about it

all the time on the streets over the years

before this show,

and certainly once the show is going on,

When's the rematch?

I recall talking about, Okay, so how could we do this

and it it be honest to where these guys are now?

Like, not us trying to do the teenage

version, like sort of,

fight as men that have been through this,

that are this age,

and we sort of found that in the choreography

and we had a little bit of time,

which often on the show we don't

in the the fight sequences.

We did have enough time to kind of work it

and find all the emotional beats.

And that's what made it not just a rematch.

It was more about we're both fighting

for our beliefs, for what's best for the kids.

I want what's best for them.

What's best for them is Miyagi-Do.

So neither guy was wrong.

And then it ends in the perfect draw

where nothing gets settled. Yeah.

The double-spinning backfist. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Billy] So we knock each other out.

Yeah. So... Which was the only way

that it could have ended, you know?

I mean, it should have been.

It's a good fight. I should've won.

I like that fight a lot,

and I like the music I do, too.

in that fight and the way it shot.

It was...

It's a good one.

[Ali] Fight, Daniel! You got him!

[crowd cheering]

[Johnny hits mat] [Daniel strikes Johnny]

[crowd cheering]

The difference really, I think, is the time.

When we did the Karate Kid,

we had months and months of preparation for that fight.

It was a ballet we knew.

We could have done that blindfolded.

Literally. Yeah. We never...

We barely. We never touched each other.

We always joke now,

Yeah, now we actually Like, we're like,

make contact. Why do we have all these

bruises? Back in the day we didn't.

Because back in the day We had so much training

we had the time time there that it was just-

everything was synchronized to perfection.

It was a tango.

Now it's just like we just learn the thing

and we, you know.

You don't have it in your body yet,

but you still have to shoot it.

Yeah, and it was something that I think

that the writers felt like the fans

were waiting to see happen

and they wanted to see it happen,

and it was the right place for it and the right result.

Yeah. And drove the story forward,

which is what all the fights were supposed to do.

Yep. Is move the plot forward,

not just fight for a fight.

I will say for any of the fans sitting at home

being like, Man, what it would've been like

to stand there and watch

Daniel LaRusso So cold.

And Johnny Lawrence fight.

Sure, it was freezing,

but Xolo and I got to be on the mat

to like, be the referees,

and that was probably like, the pinch-me moment.

Like, that I will be telling my grandkids about.

[Together] The school fight!

[Xolo] And the balcony kick.

[dramatic music]

[Robby and Miguel fighting]

[Miguel smacks lockers] [crowd exclaiming]

[Samantha hits lockers]

[Samantha and Tory fighting]

How did we get to this,

Well... Mary?

[Mary and Peyton laugh]

I hear the challenge Ohh!

in your tone, Peyton List!

Yeah, how did it start? What started it?

So what started it was...

So anyway...

[everyone laughs] And then...

Don't drink before-

Don't drink, kids.

Then none of this would've happened.

You kissed Miguel.

[Bystanders] Ooh!

I...

[crowd murmuring quietly]

I... [dramatic music swells]

That was my first time

getting to fight with Peyton, both of us.

I think that was your first time

fighting on camera or no?

Yeah, my first time fighting on camera for sure,

and and the first time I remember hearing about Samantha,

Mary's character,

was from Miguel

and I think there was instant jealousy

Mm-hmm. about Sam.

But

yeah, I mean she...

Sam accuses Tory of robbing her mom at the country club.

I mean, to be fair, [Peyton giggles]

she just spoke about stealing like five minutes

before something goes missing.

She's like, I steal! She did!

But look, yeah, Sam was a little hotheaded.

She should have taken her time.

I see that now with age and maturity.

Okay, we're getting to the root of the problem.

[Hawk takes punch and grunts]

[Hawk and Miyagi-Do student fighting]

[Robby hits lockers]

[Robby and Miguel scuffle]

[lockers clank]

The waters like where the scariest stuff happens,

you can't mess anything up.

The water one was really fun.

Yeah, there was a lot of,

a lot of like, rehearsals of it.

There was a lot of

what felt like a lot of takes,

but realistically like six takes is not many to get

of something that intricate.

But we all, like, there was no...

Because there were no cut points,

and because it wasn't linear,

like, it didn't move in one direction,

nobody could take a break.

So it wasn't like you got to do your part

and then quit

and wait until the end of the take and start over.

Like, everybody was fighting in the background

of everybody else's fight

so even though the camera wasn't on you anymore,

you had to keep moving and keep fighting

and making it look like you were involved

and alive the entire time.

[Robby yells] [dramatic music]

[Robby elbows Miguel]

[crowd exclaims]

[Robby strikes Miguel]

[Robby kicks Miguel]

[Miguel hits banister] [crowd murmurs]

Miguel!

I mean, I'm happy with where Miguel is now.

I think he had to get his comeuppance a little bit.

For Miguel, karate is such a central core

of who he was and I think

having that aspect taken away,

there was a big learning curve

and

getting to ease back into things

was something different to explore in the character.

Something that I definitely didn't think

going into the first season of the show,

was gonna happen, but...

Sent him to the hospital. You were in a hospital.

[everyone laughs]

[Xolo] Right.

It was maybe not the wisest decision in the moment,

but in the long term showing

Right. mercy pays off

because it comes around.

You could have

not had mercy, I mean, you were

I wish he knew going to get-

a pressure point or something like that.

Yeah, right? [everyone laughs]

No, but showing mercy was the right move

and in the tournament you didn't show mercy,

and you won the title, which...

Won the title but it's like,

Is Cobra Kai good or is it bad?

Like, you won but through a dark way.

You won the battle but you lost the war.

Yeah, that's why, you know,

Johnny's not so happy at the end of that season

and drank some scotch

and then in comes Kreese who is the root of it all.

So you made a right choice.

I'm proud of you for having shown mercy,

and in the long run, look... You know?

Look at what you did to me!

[Gianni] Hawk breaks Demetri's arm.

Oh no, no! It's fine! I'll go!

I'll go! [dramatic music]

[Cobra Kai members voices overlapping]

[Eli snaps Demetri's arm] [Demetri screams]

[Samantha whimpers] [crowd exclaiming]

[Demetri groans]

Dude, he breaks my arm! [Jacob laughs]

I mean, he shatters it!

Like, these guys encourage-

Well no, just you, actually

of this whole group

Guilty. encourages him

[everyone laughs]

and there was no discussion Yeah, Tory,

between our characters! how did we get here, Peyton?

Do it! Do the roar!

We do not talk about that. [everyone laughs]

I know, I just get so angry that I black out.

I don't remember Yeah.

any of it. I just forgive you

out fear that you're gonna do it again, maybe?

I really think I don't know.

you don't know who he is. [Gianni laughs]

I really think that you don't even recognize

that he's the kid who got his arm broken.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm just like,

Violence? Yeah.

[everyone laughs]

You just know me as like Darwin.

Something. Some random name. [everyone chuckles]

Yeah man, I mean this is the lowest point

for the Binary Bros, I think.

Yeah, you wanna talk about how violent you are?

It's probably the most powerful Hawk has ever been

No... at this point.

I mean... I mean, I have

twigs for arms that are... That's true.

Not that tough. Was it kind of funny

fake breaking your arm?

Like, screaming on the ground and you're like, Ahh!

Dude, dude! [voices overlapping]

On the day when I went to break it

and the way Gianni screamed, I was like,

Eww. Really?

[everyone laughs]

We joke about it now, That was pretty disturbing.

but yeah, it was, that was rough.

[Together] LaRusso house fight.

No Mercy!

[suspenseful music]

[Tory punches Miyagi-Do member]

[Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai members fighting]

[table thuds] [Miguel yells]

Tory is bringing all of the Cobra Kais

to the LaRusso house.

And they capped in matching outfits?

[everyone laughs]

In color-coordinated outfits.

[everyone laughs]

All Cobra Kai color-coordinated

and maybe some snake skin.

There was a group chat [everyone laughing]

and she was like, Not that.

Wear the other shoes. Yeah, exactly.

If you're not wearing black, don't show up.

[everyone laughs]

Yeah. But that was never supposed

to be the LaRusso house.

Little... Yeah.

behind the scenes. Oh, because...

Really? We had five,

we had to finish up shooting that season

and the forecast was for five straight days of rain.

That was supposed to be

the Miyagi backyard, Yeah.

[Together] and this was a Oh!

last minute, What are we gonna do?

We can't be shooting this in the pouring rain

and in

the sort of terrain of that backyard,

and they came up with the, you know,

tossing a kid through the kitchen window.

That would've looked sick, though,

if it was in the pouring rain.

No, it's way better in the house.

I mean, taking weapons off the Miyagi-Do wall

and breaking Miyagi's picture was probably the-

[Billy] I love that they invaded their space.

I mean just, Yeah.

it brought the battle right to your home.

Yeah. I mean, don't like

to talk about Jacob so much,

but that one kick that you did was super sick.

That one where you're flying through

and you do a double-kick on the guy?

Oh, you take 'em both down, Oh!

the Binary Brothers. Yeah!

[Billy] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, he's got that twist where he's like,

Okay, I broke his arm but now I'm gonna save his life.

[Jacob laughs]

My favorite part of all that was the behind the scenes

of making the oner work involved Xola and Joe,

who were fighting in the background of the scene,

picking up and moving the coffee table out of the way

for the camera coup to get through,

then moving the coffee table back,

setting it down, and then resuming their fight

in the midst of the rest of the thing happening.

They had to move the coffee table

and stand it up on its side

and they're standing there like,

waiting for the second to be like...

Bring it in, set it down, Put it back.

and then immediately go back to fighting.

Oh it's like [indistinct]. [Mary laughing]

Yeah. It's like

theater ensemble.

Yeah. [giggling] Yeah.

Yeah, you got...

I like how that whole fight happened

and everyone visibly gets hit,

but you are Yeah, you are

bloody! just messed up.

And then we had the really bloody kiss

because Xolo was supposed to have a bloody nose

and they were like,

You guys are gonna have

this really romantic kiss at the end of it.

And we were like,

Okay. And then we went and did the kiss scene

and as soon as we do I like turned away

Oh. and my mouth was

just covered in blood and they were like,

So that's never being used.

Oh. [everyone laughs]

[Together] The first All-Valley Tournament.

[dramatic music]

What do you think you're doing?

Coaching my student.

Somebody needs to be there for him.

You think this is funny?

Do you see me laughing?

You're gonna regret this when it's over.

Yeah. Right, like this will ever be over.

What was weirder than reading it

was actually walking onto the set.

Yeah. I think, the first time,

and seeing the big poster

of Daniel Lewis doing the crane kick.

There was no poster of Johnny Lawrence

taking the crane kick, [everyone laughs]

which I'm still upset about.

But just the walking into that with the...

It was so surreal.

Yeah. It was just really

like a flashback in time.

It really was and then all that stuff

felt very Karate Kid

in the scope of that first season,

you know, being there on the sidelines,

which I was thankful for for the most part

until I got, you know, back in shape.

It was, yeah, it was surreal is the word.

You know, because, and nostalgic is another word.

It's massive that we feel, Billy and I,

and a lot of the OG original characters from the movies

feel all the time.

I

wasn't expecting to fight at all

during the first season,

Oh come on! to be honest.

What? I really wasn't!

You're a bad boy!

[everyone laughs]

I love that we established like,

Robby the Bad Boy,

like in the first like, couple of episodes,

Yeah. and you're like,

you like flannel shirts

It's my fuckin' dad. and like, long hair,

your ring's on and everything,

and then after that you're just like...

You're like, you're fine. You're not that bad of a guy.

I'm just a skater boy at that point.

You were headed towards juvie until you bumped into

your old dad again.

He did go to juvie, though.

[voices overlapping] [everyone laughing]

I think the only rememorable moment is

just you jumping up onto the mat.

[everyone laughing]

I mean, that was fire. Yeah.

That's my little anime add-in.

Yeah. Hawk is sick, you know?

I got to take my shirt off for the first time on camera.

[Mary giggling]

That was really fun. [everyone chuckles]

I was super nervous for that on the day.

Yeah, I got to do a lot of fighting, you know.

I got to elbow someone in the face.

I got to injure Robby.

You know, really,

I think I paved the way for Miguel to win.

The season one tournament.

I remember being like so excited to just, I was like,

Yeah, I'm just gonna like sit

and watch people do a bunch of karate.

This is gonna be awesome!

Which is basically what I got to do.

Plus I got to watch Ralph Macchio teach

Xolo Mariduena how to do a crane kick.

That's right. While Xolo held

a cup of hot chocolate, I think,

That's right. in his hand.

Do you remember that? Trying to do

That's right. the crane kick.

[Billy] When Johnny finds out

that he's back at the dojo

and Johnny comes and kicks the door in

and finds that Kreese is taking over

or actually he already took it over.

Now what is it? Did he take it over?

That's gotta be the title.

Good Lord. [everyone laughing]

Anyways. That has to be it.

She's just looking for you to tee up the story.

Yeah, so Johnny's coming in

and seeing his son

under the spell of John Kreese,

which just sets him off and

Kreese tries to lure him in I'll say it.

one last time [everyone laughing]

Well before it's Daniel and Johnny fighting Kreese,

it's Johnny fighting Kreese

and then Daniel saves his life

'cause Kreese is about to kill him again.

I only have one thing to say! One thing to say.

I was, I shot a video of... [everyone laughing]

Of me showing Ralph being my hero

coming in and standing over

Aw! and that's when you go

through the glass with Kreese,

Exactly. Exactly. right?

That was the first I know, but I only

have one thing to say.

Just, one thing.

Johnny and Daniel fight John Kreese.

[everyone laughing]

Oh, is that what you wanted me to say?

This isn't how I wanted this to end.

[dramatic music]

[Johnny grunts and falls]

[dramatic music]

You sent them to my house!

You came after my daughter.

You wanted her to fight, you son of a bitch!

Now you go one!

[dramatic music swells]

He comes in to save Johnny Lawrence

and you start to begin to see these two

guys that are quite different,

but often the same,

coming together, and I thought that was a,

Yeah, I know it made- you know, a strong,

it had that great, you know...

That he's choking him out,

which is a sort of,

you know, a replay on him choking him out

in the beginning of Karate Kid Part 2,

and so it was a kind of them coming together

for the first time

to join forces at the end of season three.

You can't trust him!

And I can trust you?

Robby, please listen to me.

You know, all those years you weren't there,

I blamed myself.

Sensei Kreese is right.

I can't be my own worst enemy,

but you could be!

Well I'm seeing Robby go down the road

that led Johnny into the darkness

and he's desperate to save his son from that.

Robby doesn't see it yet,

and so Johnny goes all crazy on Kreese

and then in comes Daniel

and what I was trying to say

is while we were filming that,

I got my little phone out

'cause as I'm on the ground being choked out,

I see Daniel LarRusso's feet and it's really surreal

as Johnny Lawrence to be on the ground and see,

in character, Daniel LaRusso coming to help me out.

So it was kind of a real like,

honest moment where I was like,

this is kind of cool, you know.

And then they went through

the plate glass window together and,

you know, it was the first time

Johnny and Daniel are...

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

There was like a moment,

a bridge slowly coming together.

That was the first turning point, I think, for that.

Listen, when Kreese came back,

I remember reading the script

and the way he took over the dojo,

and we didn't know that was gonna happen,

and at that point the show was built on

Here's the new Cobra Kai and it's moving forward.

So when I read that Kreese is actually,

literally gonna take over Cobra Kai,

I was like...

I had a real strong feeling about that.

Like, Wait, what? No, this can't happen.

It was like in character feeling that way.

And then what's gonna happen next?

Which is, you know,

the genius Eagle Fang Karate,

the dojo that

saves us all.

[Robby striking Johnny] [dramatic music]

[Robby grunts]

[lockers clang] [Robby thuds on floor]

Shit.

My dad threw me into a locker.

[everyone laughs]

No, I mean it was super cool,

but to be honest, it is true.

My dad threw me into a locker.

I didn't- Wait, I didn't throw

you into a locker!

You came charging me at me like a bull in a China shop

and I tried not to hit you

and used your own power against you

[everyone laughs]

with this wonderful sidestep swat move

and you fell into the locker. [everyone laughing]

If it was a pillow, You ran into-

it would've been a pillow. you threw yourself

into the locker. Yes.

[Billy] I didn't throw you in a locker.

It was pretty incredible, but to be honest,

a lot of it I had to be

knocked out Unconscious.

so I didn't actually get to see

any of it until it was on screen.

So I got... Tanner's like...

I know!

There was couple times that I had to like,

lay there and kind of keep my eyes open a little bit

because I wanted to watch,

but I didn't get to experience like any of it.

[everyone laughing]

Did you check on your son

after you threw him into a locker?

That's, yes. Oh, okay.

[Ralph] Terry Silver versus Daniel LaRusso.

This guy wants to break you! Humiliate you!

[Daniel grunts] [board snaps]

Stomp you into the ground! [board snaps]

And what are you going to do about it!

Do about it! [echoing]

[suspenseful music]

[Terry kicks Daniel] [Daniel groans]

[suspenseful music]

[Daniel groans] [bone crunches]

This was a big...

This season five, another episode five,

which is always kind of like our mid-season finale.

It was fun for me 'cause Daniel LaRusso

was going down this kind of rabbit hole

of like,

his wife had took off with the kids

and

he's the only one who knows who Terry Silver is

so he looks like the crazy person

and he's drinking scotch for breakfast

and Chozen comes in to try to, you know,

point him back straight

and then he's

off his axis and Terry Silver just, you know...

Psych warfare just manipulates him

into his situation

because LaRusso's operating from anger.

He's operating from knee-jerk instead of balance,

you know, he's lost all

his code of centered Miyaginess,

and fighting Thomas Ian Griffith,

who's a true martial artist,

I play one on TV,

and then he's six foot what?

Six, five? Whatever. He's like, six, six.

He's like, fighting He's seven, eight.

like a buff preying mantis.

[everyone laughs]

He's 12. You know? And so he...

Fortunately his control is spectacular

and he didn't, you know, ever hit me really

but it was...

It was an exciting fight,

and left Daniel in a really tough place.

I mean, it was disturbing to see

this sort of protagonist of this original movie series

now be, you know, just pummeled

to the unknown unconsciousness, you know?

So I'm always punching up at six foot five, you know?

I can only look so cool.

[everyone laughs]

He just had to put his hand on my head,

and I'd have been like... [everyone chuckling]

But I had a few good ones in there.

I get a few, a few good ones.

It was a good fight.

You know, you have to hit bottom

to bounce back up and this was clearly bottom.

And

it's also at the point of that season

when all the characters,

you know, Johnny and Chozen and Robby,

you know, Sam, obviously,

she's always has Dad's back,

but you know,

they're really strong, strong elements

where all of Miyagi-Do comes together to say,

Yes, you were right.

This guy is bad and we have your back.

[Together] Thanks, GQ!

Be sure to watch season six of Cobra Kai now

[Together] on Netflix! Woo!

[Mary giggling] Whoa!

Dun-dun! Dah-doo!

[giggling] Dah-doo! Dah-doo!

[everyone laughs] [Gianni claps]

[upbeat music]