Posted in: Cobra Kai, Netflix, TV | Tagged: cobra kai, the karate kid

Cobra Kai Creators on Why Hilary Swank Return Didn't Happen

Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg discuss efforts to get Hilary Swank to appear and why it didn't happen.

You can argue that no creative has done more to invigorate a franchise than Cobra Kai creators and showrunners Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, as they have for The Karate Kid. Since their epic six-season run on Netflix, they set out to bring back as many faces from the theatrical franchise as possible from bringing back the stars of the original 1984 film in Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, and Martin Kove to the surviving key figures from the sequels in 1986's Part II and 1989's Part III. They even arranged with Pat Morita's estate for his digital resurrection in the final season with a mix of a physical stand-in, CGI, and AI to replicate his voice to fight alongside Daniel-san (Macchio) once more. The one white whale they couldn't secure was the star of 1994's The Next Karate Kid, which marks Morita's final appearance in the franchise, in Hilary Swank, who played Julie Pierce. Upon the announcement of the trio's latest project, a sequel to the John Cho and Kal Penn-starred stoner franchise Harold & Kumar, they opened up about their attempt to secure the two-time Oscar winner for Cobra Kai.

Cobra Kai Creators on Failing to Land Hilary Swank, Who Wasn't in a Place to Return

"We did reach out in the very early days before the season to see if there was a path [for her to appear]," Heald told Entertainment Weekly. "We had an inkling of an idea about how she could come into this story and not have to commit to 10 episodes or something. It was going to feel like it could be a one- or two-episode arc, similar to what we did with Elisabeth Shue, where you can bring Ali back in at a pivotal moment and affect an important relationship."

Shue reprised her role as Ally Mills from the 1984 film, the center of the love triangle between Daniel and Johnny Lawrence (Zabka), which Daniel won. The actress was written out for the John G. Avildsen sequel to make way for Daniel and Nariyoshi Miyagi's journey to Japan to make way for Tamlyn Tomita's Kumiko, who also made an appearance in the Netflix series. Hurwitz, Heald, and Schlossberg allowed Shue's Ally to provide her perspective on what led to the breakup with Daniel in season three since Macchio's character was given a line in the 1986 film to explain her absence.

Heald explained that they had "the beginnings of a genesis of an idea" and tried to reach out to Swank's team "to find out if we could have a discussion with her about it and introduce ourselves." Sadly, it would never pan out. "On her end, it was very respectful, but we never got that opportunity to sit down and pour our heart out the way that we typically do when we bring back characters from the legacy," he continued. "She was just in a place where she wasn't looking to do that. She had had babies. I think she was in production on something at the time, and it was a respectful pass on even the idea of a meeting. She didn't want us to go through the trouble of flying out to her and putting our heart on the sleeve because it just wasn't something she was ready to do at that moment."

The Cobra Kai showrunners were also able to secure villain-turned-protagonists in Part II star Yuji Okumoto to reprise his role as Chozen Toguchi and Part III's Sean Kanan as Mike Barnes at a recurring capacity; and they were able to convince Thomas Ian Griffith to come out of his on-screen retirement to reprise his role as Part III's primary antagonist, Terry Silver, who had a substantial role in shaping the final three seasons. On top of reestablishing the original stars in nuanced roles, the trio also vault the newer stars in Xolo Maridueña, Mary Mouser, Peyton List, and Tanner Buchanan as the core youths and potential spinoff focuses.

As much as the trio has tied up the loose ends as much as possible, they're far from finished with new shows being developed, and who knows? The door is likely not closed on bringing Julie back to the Miyagi-verse as well as the potential dream of working with Jackie Chan's Mr. Han, now that he's officially a part of that with Karate Kid: Legends (2025).

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