Alicia Hannah-Kim portrays Kim Da-Eun, The Karate Kid franchise’s first and only female sensei, in Cobra Kai. All episodes of the series are now streaming on Netflix.
After a shocking result in the Sekai Taikai, Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai must reckon with their pasts while facing an uncertain future both on and off the mat. Almost 40 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, it’s all been leading to this.
“I felt like she was such an empowering character for the audience, especially the female audience, and that she was herself leaving the franchise in an empowered position because she was sort of following other people’s agendas for a little while,” the actress explained. “It was very much influenced by her family, tradition, grandfather, and her menteeship relationship with Kreese. So I think what I wanted for her was to really end the story empowered, strong, and really standing alone. I think her legacy of being the only female sensei or being that one bit of female representation in that position of power, I think that’s the most important thing to me. I hope that the audience can feel that from her.”
We discussed her character’s significant moments from season 6, her full-circle ending, which plot twists shocked her, the most rewarding part of this experience, and much more.
Watch my interview below:
