‘Cobra Kai’s Jacob Bertrand Says Goodbye to Hawk

At 17, Jacob Bertrand — like many high school seniors — was considering college. But unlike many high school seniors, Bertrand was already an accomplished actor with dozens of credits, ranging from Bubble Guppies to Community, to his name. Would he have more to learn by enrolling in film school, or by joining the cast of the Karate Kid sequel series Cobra Kai? Bertrand’s mother bet on the latter, and the rest is history. 

Since starting its life as one of the few pieces of original programming on YouTube Red that anyone even knew about, Cobra Kai has survived the shuttering of the platform it launched on and jumped to a wildly successful run on Netflix. Though its premise initially revolves around the redemption of a middle-aged Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), who hasn’t grown much since his time as The Karate Kid’s troubled teen villain, the scope quickly widens to a new generation. Now Johnny and his former nemesis Daniel (Ralph Macchio) have kids, and those kids are into karate. But will they learn the defensive style Daniel learned from Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), or the “Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy” version Johnny decides to revive after seeing his young neighbor Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) attacked by bullies? (NO, they can’t just decide they might prefer basketball. This is the Valley!)

When Johnny opens his Cobra Kai dojo, it fills with recruits who, like Miguel, tend to be the kinds of victims Johnny and his entourage preyed on back in the ‘80s; and finding a way to relate to them is one of the first tests Johnny passes in Cobra Kai’s début season. One of those kids is Eli (Bertrand), targeted all his life for the scar from a cleft lip surgery. The confidence Eli gains from gaining skills at Cobra Kai drives him to a radical reinvention of his image. With the addition of a mohawk that adds several inches to his height, “Eli” is out, and Hawk is in.

Over the seasons, Hawk has found himself on both sides of the bullying line, not to mention among the students at the Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang dojos. He’s suffered the low lows of getting his signature mohawk shaved off by his former friends, but also enjoyed the high highs of dating one of the school’s cutest girls and winning the All Valley tournament. But now, our time with Hawk is ending, as Netflix drops the third and final part of Cobra Kai’s sixth and final season. I recently talked to Bertrand about wrapping up his Hawk era, the podcast he started with his co-star Maridueña and what he might study at college if he does decide to go someday.

Netflix’s decision to break the final season up means you’ve been saying goodbye to the show for months at this point. What is it like to know this is really it? 

I mean, it’s sad to think that this is really it, but it doesn’t feel like it, only because we have been doing it for months — going to different premieres, doing press stuff, flying here, flying there. It’s been so much fun to get to do that, but I think, in a couple of months, it’ll really hit me: “Oh, damn. This shit is really ending.”

Other than launch events, parties and stuff, have you and your co-stars done anything together to commemorate the end of this time you all shared?

Not anything specific. During the last season, we just tried hanging out together as much as possible and just getting to enjoy each other’s company while we were filming. Xolo, Peyton (List, who plays Tory), and I, we travel around together a lot. We just went to Sundance and got to hang out there together. I hang out with Gianni (DeCenzo, who plays Demetri) a decent bit as well, so getting to see him is always a blast. But nothing too specific, honestly. We just make a point to hang out with each other.

The show is set in the Valley, but you mostly shot in Atlanta. In the final season, though, William and Ralph filmed scenes in and around the real Encino. Were you bummed that you didn’t get to shoot there too?

Yeah, I’m a little bummed I didn’t get to go. I was going to go just to hang out that day. My mom went, actually.

How was her day?

She just got to hang out with Billy and Ralph and had a great time. It was funny, I got pictures from a lot of the crew members like, “Judo with your mom.” I’m like, “Oh, God.” My mom is very popular.

You and Xolo are best friends, and the co-hosts of a podcast, but you might not have ever known each other if not for Cobra Kai. What do you remember about the first time the two of you met?

I just remember that my mom couldn’t say his name right. She kept mispronouncing his name, and I was just dying of embarrassment. No, but it was good. Looking back at it, it’s kind of weird to think, “Oh, wow, this kid I am talking to right now, I’m going to be hanging out with him a ton later in life.” It’s just interesting to think about. Xolo and I really bonded over Spider-Man 2. We played a lot of the Spider-Man 2 video game together, and I think that’s really what did it.

You should plug the podcast for people who need something to get them through Cobra Kai withdrawal.

Our podcast is Lone Lobos, and we just shoot the shit. We talk about everything — from pop culture to behind-the-scenes stories on the show. I mean, all of us are friends, so a lot of the Cobra Kai cast come on as guests pretty frequently. If you’re looking for a Cobra Kai itch to scratch, it’s a good place for you to go, but then stay and you can just hang out with us week to week.

You’ve also said that because the show came along when you were also thinking about going to film school, Cobra Kai was like your college. Now that it’s over, are you thinking about film school again? 

I actually just directed my first short film. Film school would be really fun and really awesome, I just don’t have the patience to do all of the general ed. I don’t think I could sit through biology again. That’s the only problem that I have with college. I’m like, “Dude, really? I got to take fucking stats again? Like actually?” My mom really wants me to get a degree, so I’d probably try to get some sort of architecture degree, make her proud that way, and keep trying to direct, act and be as creative as I can.

If you’re interested in architecture, I have to ask if you’ve seen The Brutalist?

I have seen The Brutalist. I mean, I loved it. It was really cool. I love that movie for how just bold it is. Putting a 20-minute intermission in the middle of your movie is so gutsy, and I fucking love that. Adrien Brody, so awesome in that movie. Guy Pearce is really awesome. Just hearing what the budget was and the amount of time that they filmed that in is worth so many awards just off what they accomplished.

Brady Corbet started out as a child actor, too.

Damn. Well, so I could be half the man Brady Corbet is. He probably has a PhD. He looks like he does.

If you had to teach a class about something that you learned doing Cobra Kai, what would it be?

Flying elbows. I can do some pretty good flying elbows. Anything aerial, I have a good domain over. I could teach a class like that.

You’ve said you like playing a villain from time to time on the show, and that you even had an idea for a spin-off in which Hawk really goes hard to the dark side. Is there a little part of you that’s sad Hawk is ending the show a hero?

I mean, selfishly, yeah. As a fan of the show, I absolutely love when Hawk is an asshole and is evil. It just fits him so much better. I’m a little bummed that he’s ending on the good side, because who doesn’t love a little drama? Having him end as the hero is just a better ending. He gets a full arc. If I had it my way, he would just be a villain forever and constantly ripping people’s heads off.

You did say you wanted Hawk to kill someone.

I thought it would’ve been cool if Hawk murdered someone, is on the run for half the season, gets caught, and then the final episode is: you find out he gets sent to the same prison as Kreese. I mean, you could figure out what happens from there.

Speaking of your villainy, you’ve made it clear in the past that you’re taller than William Zabka. You may not get many more chances to trash-talk him, so if you want to, I’m giving you the floor.

Oh, man. He stinks. He’s so stinky. That’s something that doesn’t come across on the screen. It’s just like, man, that guy is smelly. We had a whole deodorant station just for him, and every 20 minutes after takes, he would have to walk over to the deodorant station. You know those movies where they’ve got to decompress when they’re out through space and they blow a lot of sterile air at you? That’s basically what would happen to Billy every 20 minutes.

Is he… okay?

Yeah. You can’t even fight next to him because he smells so bad. (Note: I’m pretty sure this is a joke? William Zabka, please don’t sue us.)

You came up through Disney and Nickelodeon shows. Are there any characters from that era that you think could give Hawk a fair fight?

I could tell you the worst one: Dylan Sprouse from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.That guy would absolutely get mauled by Hawk. He would be destroyed. The best, maybe… Alex from Wizards of Waverly Place. Selena Gomez. She would be pretty good.

With or without magic?

Either. She could hold her own forever.