‘I was just hitting the vibe’: The Australian making history on Netflix hit Cobra Kai

It has been more than 40 years since Mr Miyagi caught a fly with a pair of chopsticks, but it’s a moment that immediately became etched into the memory of every Karate Kid fan. Since then, a long line of senseis have joined the franchise’s dojos – some zen, some conniving, but all very much male.

That is until Alicia Hannah-Kim. In 2022, the Australian-Korean actress became the first female sensei in The Karate Kid universe after joining the fifth season of Netflix’s spin-off series Cobra Kai.

“The role of Kim Da-Eun is such a double whammy,” says Hannah-Kim, whose biggest role before Cobra Kai was as feminist writer Wendy Mah in HBO’s Minx. “Not only is she the only female sensei in 40 years of The Karate Kid universe, she’s also an Asian woman. She’s representing my parents’ culture and their language, so I feel like I’m representing many things at once.”

It goes beyond simply breaking the franchise’s barriers, though. When she was younger, Hannah-Kim didn’t see characters like Sensei Kim on television. Sure, there were badass action stars such as Lucy Liu in Charlie’s Angels, but no one who held as much individual and assured power as Kim Da-Eun – power that matches her fellow male senseis.

“When you’re a young person of colour, and you see any representation of anyone who looks like you, it’ll stick in your memory,” says the 37-year-old over Zoom from her Los Angeles home. “It’ll be a cultural touchstone for you. I’ve gotten so many responses from young Asian women and girls saying Sensei Kim has been really meaningful to them. That hits home the most for me.”

Cobra Kai, which is a modern-day spin on the 1984 The Karate Kid film, has been a hit ever since it launched on YouTube Red in 2018. It moved to Netflix in 2020 and over six seasons it has explored the rivalry-turned-friendship between the franchise’s original villain, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and its hero, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). Known for its massive cast, carefully choreographed brawl sequences, and endlessly shifting rivalries, the show has consistently sat at the top of Netflix rankings in the US and Australia.

As a legacy sequel, it features some of the biggest icons from the franchise, so you would think any Karate Kid fan on set would have been completely star-struck. This wasn’t exactly the case for Hannah-Kim.

“I had never seen The Karate Kid before joining Cobra Kai. I kept waiting for Ralph to yell at me,” she admits between laughs. “But it was a good thing I hadn’t seen it because if I had, I would’ve been way more nervous coming on set. I was just so unaware … I was just hitting the vibe. Ignorance is bliss.”

Last week, the final episodes of Cobra Kai’s sixth and final season dropped, bringing the most recent chapter in The Karate Kid universe to a close. As sad as she is to see it end, Hannah-Kim says it’s an opportunity to reflect on how much her character evolved over two seasons.

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“It was very clear from early scenes that she would be an epic character,” says Hannah-Kim. “Who else enters a show on a private jet with five bodyguards and tempers flaring?

“In season five, I’m purely there as villain material. But suddenly, she finds herself in a romantic comedy situation in Barcelona. I really welcomed it – it’s fun to see someone who’s confident, assured and kind of terrifying be completely undone by the awkward morning after.”

This kind of nuance was incredibly important to Hannah-Kim and the show’s creators, Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. Without it, they ran the risk of reducing her to a “dragon lady” stereotype, an offensive trope sometimes weaponised against powerful, confident Asian women.

“The showrunners were really determined to treat everything in the universe delicately and carefully, making sure it comes out authentically,” she says. “With my character, they were adamant she wouldn’t struggle with English, she would have a very global background. It brought depth and authenticity to a space that previously might have been limited to a stereotype from ignorance.”

This felt natural for someone like Hannah-Kim, who was born in Sydney and studied at the Australian Theatre for Young People. After a few small roles, including on the cop show White Collar Blue, she moved to the US, where she lives with her French actor husband, Sebastian Roché. “I have a billion cultural references in my head,” she says.

Cobra Kai, however, offered a more diverse and inclusive experience than any of the previous work she had done, including a guest spot on Hawaii Five-0, where she played a suspected murderer, and in Crash, a Starz series based on a film notorious for its portrayal of Asian characters.

In contrast, Cobra Kai features a multi-generational and ethnically diverse cast, including Ecuadorian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean actors. This wasn’t always the case – its first two seasons were criticised for appropriating Asian culture with a predominantly white cast. However, it has steadily improved its diversity since season three, including the introduction of Sensei Kim.

“The representation in Cobra Kai was just worlds different from other shows I’ve been on,” she says. “In season six, there were so many Koreans on set. At one point there was just a circle of people eating Shin Ramyun [a brand of South Korean instant noodles]. I actually think it’s the most Korean set I’ve worked on.”

Hannah-Kim has since watched the original Karate Kid, a movie she now recommends to people as an “instant classic”, even if she is about 40 years late to the game.

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“The core of the franchise is rooting for the underdog,” Hannah-Kim says. “That’s irresistible to an audience because we all sometimes feel like the underdog. And then there’s the wish fulfillment, almost fairy godmother, part of it. Everybody wishes they had a Mr Miyagi during tough times. It’s the archetype of the heroic journey, and it’s really easy for anyone to connect to that story.”

Expanding on such renowned lore is no easy feat, Hannah-Kim concedes, but she believes Cobra Kai manages to find the sweet spot between nostalgia and change. Though it introduces a wave of new characters, dojos and rivalries, it always maintains the original film’s heart and iconic soundtrack.

“It would have been impossible for Cobra Kai to establish such a huge audience without the nostalgia and goodwill of the original Karate Kid universe,” she says. “But the creators have just expanded it in such a natural, beautiful way. They’ve continued some of the characters’ stories in a way that speaks to their love for the original.”

With the show over, Hannah-Kim hopes to keep flexing her newfound martial arts skills, something she has discovered is perfect for her endless stores of energy. And as for Cobra Kai itself? Well, there are more than enough characters to warrant a possible spin-off of the spin-off, she says. To borrow a term from the show itself, once you strike hard, why stop striking?

Cobra Kai is now streaming on Netflix.

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