‘Cobra Kai’ Star Vanessa Rubio Has Plenty of Karate Experience, Even If She Hasn’t Used It in Netflix Series (Exclusive)

With Season 3 of the Netflix series Cobra Kai set to start streaming on New Year’s Day, and fans are looking forward to what happens next with star Vanessa Rubio’s character, Carmen Diaz. And while Carmen has not been in any fight scenes, that doesn’t mean Rubio knows nothing about karate. PopCulture.com recently talked to Rubio, who revealed she has her share of karate experience.

“I certainly wasn’t the only one,” Rubio said when talking about getting into karate when she was very young. “There was this karate craze and I think it was from The Karate Kid. I’m the youngest of three siblings. I was pretty young when I took it but I did get up to high brown belt. But then, I was a foolish teenager, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to go for black belt.’ I think it really instilled some really good things in us with discipline and just working within a group.” With Rubio now back in The Karate Kid craze with Cobra Kai, it’s possible she could get her black belt in the near future.

“My roundhouse kick is still awesome,” Rubio stated. “I do love the sequential form movements. I think any type of choreography is good for my brain. So, yeah I think I can get back into it.” In the meantime, Rubio is focused on Cobra Kai, which has been a huge hit for Netflix. She has gained a lot of recognition for her role as Carmen but is no stranger to the acting world. In 2019, Rubio appeared in the Netflix series Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings and had the opportunity to meet the county music legend.

“I loved that project so much,” Rubio said. “Working on a Dolly production is what you expect. She’s so loving. …You see it as soon as you walk into the production building. You see her logo and you see her mission statement. You already kind of get a sense of her throughout the production. They had a family-style dinner with everybody, producers and Dolly included, and it was really nice.”

Rubio also appeared in the Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina earlier this year where she played the role of Nagaina, a role she was able to book while on vacation. “It was nice working on that production,” Rubio revealed. “It’s such as gothy retake of this ’90s show, which I loved.”

Once Season 3 of Cobra Kai starts streaming, fans will be seeing more of Rubio in another Netflix series very soon. “2020 was a slow year,” Rubio said. “But just before locking down, I did a few episodes on the second season of Bonding. It was a great project to work on and a really wonderful character I came to love. We shot it right before lockdown in New York, so it was pretty fortunate.”