Robyn Lively's return to Cobra Kai has been met with great enthusiasm by fans. The actor, who first appeared opposite Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid Part III, isn't just returning as a long-lost friend, either. Instead, it turns out that Jessica and Daniel kept in touch after the third Karate Kid movie, and it was Jessica who introduced Daniel to her cousin, now his wife, Amanda. In a way, Cobra Kai only exists because of Jessica Andrews. Lively's return as the character in the highly-anticipated Season 5 of Cobra Kai is a win for fans of the franchise and gives audiences a new perspective on some long-running characters.
CBR had a chance to talk with Robyn Lively about stepping back into the role of Jessica. She dove into sharing the screen with Courtney Henggeler and provided some much-needed perspective on the now-adult Terry Silver.
CBR: It's so great to see you back! Were you waiting for a call to be part of Cobra Kai?
Robyn Lively: Well, it ended up being such a compliment because they wanted to make sure that they brought Jessica back in a way that wouldn't disappoint fans. So I knew it was going to come. I didn't know when, but apparently when I spoke with [Directors] Josh [Heald] and Hayden [Schlossberg] and Jon [Hurwitz], they were so excited about the return of Jessica and brainstormed and had so many ideas, and they came up with this. Weaving her into the LaRusso family the way they did, making her Amanda's cousin, I think, was absolutely ingenious.
It's funny because the fans had these wild ideas about everyone being related to everyone, and I don't know that this is what they expected.
Who would have expected this? Not in a million years. I saw some fans saying, like, "Oh, I thought that Jessica was going to be Peyton's mom in the show." I saw that one going around quite a bit, but I think this one is so wonderful. The backstory is just perfection, right?
It lines up perfectly. Not just who your character was, but the experience she had with Terry Silver, which she could bring into what Amanda was feeling.
Right, and she kind of serves as, again, the voice of reason and backing Daniel and reminding Amanda like, "Hey, he's a really good guy, and this is what we went through" -- things that she had no idea about. I think it was such a smart way to do it. I'm so impressed by the writers and the creators.
Right, because when you think about it, you think, "Well, these two people married. She probably knows everything that happened," but we watched the movie. It's not like she got to watch the movie and knows every detail about it.
Right, of course. I read on social media so many comments of people saying, "I screamed when they opened the door, when she opened the door, and it was Jessica." Honestly, I had the exact reaction. I screamed when I read it and saw that I was her cousin. Courtney [Henggeler] is so wonderful -- what an incredible human being she is. We hit it off instantly. So having those scenes together, it was perfect.
You guys could really be cousins -- or sisters!
There's a photo of the two of us, and I looked at it, [and] I was like, "My gosh, we literally look like family." We do. We look like we could be sisters. It was the perfect pairing of two people and the story. The backstory is so interesting, and it lends itself to so many opportunities for Season 6.
You guys got to get into a bar fight, too!
Highlight, highlight. Amanda and Jessica can scrap, okay? It's in our blood. We scrap, apparently. I thought it was so great, and then Elizabeth-Anne Rooney, what a fun Easter egg that was, right?
The show has always been really good at giving fans what they want without giving fans what they want in the way they want it.
Yes. They've figured it out. Nostalgia is such a huge part of the show, and I think they do it so beautifully. Karate Kid was such an incredible franchise and so beloved by so many people and so many generations, and the fact that they (now) have such a surprise hit... When you see the show, you're like, "Oh, of course. This is genius, the way they've done this."
Going back to the bar fight, what was the preparation like for that?
We depend largely on the stunt women that were in the scene. So all those women that you see that we're scrapping with, they were all stunt women, and they were very good at what they do. So, for instance, when I got her by the head, it's such a cool trick because I grab her on the back of the head, and she grabs my arms, so it gives her stability. So she's really doing all of that while she's holding my hand, so it looks like I'm doing all of the motions, and she's exaggerating it all. So really, all of the credit goes to them and their hard work and their professionalism.
Then you see Sam coming in, and it becomes a family affair. Now we just need Jessica to go visit the LaRussos in Season 6.
That's what I'm hoping for. I'm hoping for scenes with Ralph, with Daniel. Jessica and Daniel need to share the screen again, for sure.
They had a super-interesting dynamic in Karate Kid III because it wasn't romantic. It was friendship, and we were still rooting for that.
I think that the backstory is so satisfying and it's so interesting, and I couldn't imagine a better way to bring Jessica back. So I'm excited. I'm excited to be able to finally share with everyone. I'm excited for what it lends itself to in the future, potentially. The opportunities and storylines are endless.
We've gotten to see Jessica with Amanda, obviously, but it would be interesting to see her with Carmen, too.
Yes, she's great. I would have loved to have had some scenes with her as well. She's a wonderful woman. I got to meet [Vanessa Rubio]. I didn't get to have scenes with many people, obviously, but I did get to meet a lot of the cast while I was there, and they were so great.
The women of Cobra Kai are really the grounding force, so Jessica would be a great addition to that.
I didn't know what to expect as far as how people were going to receive the return of Jessica. I was hoping they would be excited, but honestly, it has surpassed my greatest expectations. People have been so... The comments on social media have been so charming and so delightful. I read them and literally just laugh out loud. I'm, like, oh, I'm so happy.
Finally, Jessica sort of comes with perspective about Terry Silver, but it isn't just perspective because she was there, but it's also the perspective of adulthood. How was that?
Yeah, I think that's really cool because it gives an opportunity for Amanda to be able to see it from a different lens and a different experience. I love the callbacks. I love the flashbacks. I thought it was such a cool way to bring Karate Kid back into Cobra Kai. I loved it.
Catch Robyn Lively's return as Jessica Andrews in Season 5 of Cobra Kai, now streaming on Netflix.