‘Cobra Kai’ Season 5: Mary Mouser Says ‘I Still Fall Over a Lot’ Doing Karate
Cobra Kai made Mary Mouser a Karate kid, but she didn’t start out that way. In season 1, Samantha LaRusso (Mouser) had moved on from Karate. Once she went back to the family business in season 2, Mouser has been training ever since. Samantha represented Miyagi-Do in the women’s division at the All-Valley Karate tournament, but Mouser said she still stumbles during Cobra Kai Season 5 training.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet attended roundtable interviews with the cast of Cobra Kai Season 5 on Aug. 26. Mouser explained the Karate bloopers you don’t get to see on the show. Cobra Kai Season 5 premieres Sept. 9 on Netflix.
Can Mary Mouser do Karate?
Just like Ralph Macchio, the actor who plays her father, Mouser didn’t start practicing Karate until she got the role on Cobra Kai. She has improved every season, but would hardly call herself a master.
“This has been the thing that literally it feels like a relationship in my life,” Mouser said. “It feels like something I got to have a little tumultuous meet cute with and then figure it out a little bit later as I’ve kind of gotten my feet under me a little bit. Metaphorically speaking only. I still fall over a lot.”
‘Cobra Kai’ requires Karate and acting
Mouser added that one of the challenges of Cobra Kai is practicing Karate while still having a full time acting job to do.
I will say that the training is something that I’ve grown to really enjoy. I like challenging myself but the reality is a lot of it is on the fly. Meaning we’re constantly moving because we are still at the same time as we’re doing a Karate show, we’re still doing a show. We’re still making television so we’re learning dialogue and we’re getting scripts and we’re fitting and we’re doing all the other aspects that come along with just getting that part done. The training itself is very extensive though. I think we all care a lot about the respect of bringing a martial arts show to life and also what that’s meant for each one of our characters and our own journeys with martial arts.
Mary Mouser, Cobra Kai Season 5 roundtable, 8/26/22
The Karate regimen intensified by ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 5
Mouser indicated how much training the Cobra Kai cast does when they’re not filming. Mouser even goes above and beyond on her days off to make sure she learns the Karate choreography.
“At this point, we’re training a couple hours a day, any day that we’re not working at least,” Mouser said. “There’ve been times throughout the season though, where we get thrown a fight that we weren’t expecting or things get shifted around. That’s meant training on the weekends and stuff like that which I absolutely love. Any minute that I can be in the dojo I am because I have so much fun with it but it definitely is, it’s very extensive. It’s very demanding in the very best way possible and it’s taught me a lot about discipline just like it has Sam.”
