'Cobra Kai' Star Vanessa Rubio Reacts to Being Promoted to Series Regular for Season 4 (Exclusive)

Vanessa Rubio will be featured more in Cobra Kai. The fourth season will premiere on Netflix Friday, and Rubio has been promoted to a series regular after being a recurring character for the first three seasons. PopCulture.com recently spoke to Rubio about her reaction to the promotion, which was announced earlier this year. 

"You know, it kind of comes with like a game-changer for an actor and their team, whoever that may be with them," Rubio told PopCutlure. "So me and my manager and my agent were kind of like, okay, well we should re-strategize how we were going to approach it next year. 

"So it was a welcome change, I think, definitely about time. And I was just like, I was just very happy to welcome that new experience in, and then also it's a series regular, rather than a recurring, you're just so much more able to delve into your character, delve into the collaboration work that happens with the production and the writing, all that stuff. So, it's a richer creative process and then also you have the opportunity to be with your co-stars on a much more regular basis. So that just builds as well to the creative output."  

Rubio plays Carmen who is Miguel's mother. While she hasn't been seen a lot in the series compared to the other regulars, Carmen plays a big role in the story as it's similar to Lucille LaRusso (Randee Heller), who is the mother of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) in The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai. Carmen is also the love interest to Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), which be a top storyline in Season 4. It makes sense for Rubio to be a series regular since Carmen is a major character. 

Season 4 of Cobra Kai was filmed earlier this year and it was the first time the cast and crew got together since Season 3 ended production in November 2019. Rubio revealed the challenges of filming Cobra Kai while dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"It's just so bumped up," Rubio said when discussing Season 4. "And to think that we did that in the midst of these challenges too, with the wearing masks and the constant testing and navigating each person's level of comfort as well. And then the crew also being fatigued. So to think that we pulled that out of such challenging situations, I was like, wow, this story or whatever is happening has some pretty powerful life force that will not be stopped."