How did that come about?
How did you get involved?
I’m the best fighter on the show, so they wanted me.
I thought it was super cool.
I really loved all the Miyagi-Do stuff.
I like wearing all white.
It was pretty sick.
The Cobra Kai joggers are pretty sweet.
I was like, “Yeah.
This is awesome.”
I love Champion stuff.
It was pretty fun.
What’s your favorite piece in the collection?
I’d mix and match.
I probably wouldn’t wear them together, but I’d mix and match.
Have you worn them out in public yet?
I’ve worn the hoodie out in public, but I haven’t worn the joggers yet.
That’s something I lounge in.
If you wear the “Cobra Kai” Champion gear, does that draw attention?
Do people recognize you even quicker than they would ordinarily?
You know what’s funny?
He looked up [at] my face and was like, “Wait.
I laughed and I was like, “Oh yeah.
What’s up, man?”
He was like, “Oh [crap].
Oh my God.”
He actually asked, “Dude, I want this hoodie.
Where can I get it?”
I was like, “Oh, I need you to goChampion.com.
I think it’s up right now.”
He was like, “That’s awesome.”
It was pretty funny.
You’ll probably have more encounters like that.
Yeah, I know.
It was pretty funny.
What can you share about it?
What can I say without getting fired?
There’s lots of cool fights.
Johnny has probably one of the coolest story lines of any season, in my opinion.
I’m really excited for people to see his story arc.
It is really cool, and there is …
This is what I can say.
There’s a move in a fight that I had to practice for, like, two weeks because …
It’s crazy kicks and it was really hard to get down.
I’m excited for people see that.
Is there anything specifically for Hawk this season in terms of his journey that people can look forward to?
I don’t know if I can [say] anything without spoiling anything.
I don’t know I take my shirt off a lot.
I can say that.
That’s something I can safely say: my shirt will come off at some point.
Is that a fair thing to say?
Yeah, I definitely see that.
Whenever we’re not filming, we’re training.
We’re out in Atlanta.
Sometimes, it’s not even learning choreography.
They’re really good about training us and making sure we feel really safe.
It is a lot of work, actually having to learn everything.
I completely forgot everything except for up-block.
I didn’t really have much experience going in.
How did they prepare you?
They started us off like we were six-year-olds in a karate class.
We started learning the basics before we went out there.
We trained with [seventh degree black belt and stunt performer] Simon Rhee.
He’s from “Best of the Best.”
Even Billy [Zabka] and Marty [Kove] would train.
How are you feeling about it now?
The main thing that came from that is I loved playing the villain so much.
The writers are so smart and they see a hundred miles ahead.
They totally know what they’re doing and I’m super on board with getting to win a tournament.
That’s super fun.
What about the fan response to that whole situation?
What have you heard about that?
That’s like the main thing that people come up to me about.
They’re like, “Oh my gosh.
I stood up and I was cheering when you switched sides and shaved Demetri.”
I was like, “Oh, really?
Aren’t they going to hate me?”
[At the] beginning of season four, they hashed all that stuff out.
It was a great little arc for my character.
Like I was saying, they see it a hundred miles ahead.
Did you ever expect that it was going to become as big as it has?
Xolo [Mariduena] and I used to joke about it going Netflix.
He’d be like, “Ha ha ha.
Wouldn’t that be hilarious?”
And then it actually did.
We’re like, “Oh shoot.”
Over the pandemic, it started blowing up.
We’re like, “Wait, what the heck is happening?”
I don’t think anyone expected that.
Now we go to Comic-Cons and meet fans and stuff.
It has become pop culture-y.
What’s that been like for you to experience that, to be part of something so popular?
I didn’t experience it too much.
Now, starting to go out more, eating out, the guy recognized me with the Miyagi-Do hoodie.
And the mom’s like, “I hated your character.
You were so evil.
Oh my goodness.”
