Jacob Bertrand is one of the many Cobra Kai actors who perform a lot of martial arts moves. And because of that, the 20-year-old is now on track to be a martial arts master. PopCulture.com recently caught up with Bertrand, and he talked about how he’s now active in martial arts because of Cobra Kai.
“I started doing Muay Thai again and more Brazilian jiu-jitsu,” Bertrand said to PopCulture. “I got really into UFC and MMA during the offseason because we’re around a lot of the stunt guys all the time and they’re super into it. Just by associating with them I kinda got into it. I love being active and martial arts is something you can do on your own.”
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If Bertrand is like Hawk when it comes to martial arts, he would not be a person to mess with. Hawk has emerged as one of the strongest characters in Cobra Kai as fans saw him break Demitri’s (Giannai DeCenzo) arm in Season 3. And while that was a dark moment for Hawk, he did make amends with his binary brother at the end of the season.
“There’s just so many dimensions to the kid,” Bertrand said when talking about his love for playing Hawk. “I love getting to bring back parts of Eli while I’m Hawk. It’s almost like two different characters because there is such a big split between them. But they have the same insecurities and it really is the same kid at the end of the day.”
One of the big reasons fans tune into Cobra Kai is the young actors like Bertrand. Another character who has become dangerous is Tory, who got the better of Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser) in Season 3. Tory is played by Peyton List, who has a connection with Bertrand. Before Cobra Kai, the two worked on different projects for Disney.
“[Peyton List] had texted me and was like ‘Oh my gosh, I just read for a character on Cobra Kai,’” Bertrand said about List, who joined the cast in Season 2. “I was like ‘No way. That’s crazy.’ A couple of weeks went by and one of the writers, John, came up to me, and he was like ‘Hey, tell me about Peyton List. Is she cool?’ And I was like ‘Nah, she sucks. She is so lame. What a loser.’ And then I was like, ‘She’s really cool. Very professional, super hard working.’”
The roles Bertrand and List play in Cobra Kai are something very different from anything they did for Disney, which is a good thing. “I knew her from Disney,” Bertrand stated. “I’ve never known her in a role like this before. I was like ‘This is pretty cool.’ Both of our roles are not anything like what we have done before. I was super stoked.”
