While Cobra Kai has thrilled millions of fans around the world with its escalating, martial arts-fueled rivalries, the Netflix original series has maintained sight of its emotional core. Among the most emotionally grounding characters in the entire series is Carmen Diaz, the mother of Miguel and a growing love interest for Miguel's sensei Johnny Lawrence. Portrayed by Vanessa Rubio, the character provides much of the heart for the series, maintaining that foundation even as the fights become bigger and stakes are raised to new heights.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Rubio shares how she found her chemistry with her karate co-stars, bringing the truth of her own experiences to inform her performance and the success Cobra Kai has enjoyed since arriving on Netflix from its original home on YouTube.
How has the fan feedback been worldwide since Cobra Kai Season 3 premiered at the beginning of the year?
Vanessa Rubio: It's been so lovely and beautiful, from around the world; it's been incredible! The first two seasons came out [on Netflix] in August 2020 and that was a nice, big wave and since Season 3 came out, [it has been] crazy but in a really good way! [Laughs] The fans love it and they're really genuine with those feelings.
Carmen has been on this emotional journey watching Miguel, but she really goes through the wringer at the start of Season 3. How was it finding those emotional depths for your character?
Rubio: I just went along for the ride! She's presented a whole lot to deal with, and Carmen is really a character that is very heart-centered. She feels a lot, and she just has to kind of go moment-by-moment, especially in Season 3 because she's dealing with her son in the hospital, being a caretaker, paying the bills, all this stuff. And finally, in the middle of this season, we can see her relax a bit.
I just had to stay true to the circumstances and what rang true for me and making it real for myself, that's just the way that I work. If it doesn't resonate deeply with me on some level, it's not going to resonate with other people. I just work the way that I work and thank God I've had good teachers who have taught me well to keep on digging in and going along.
You've got two great scene partners in Xolo Maridueña and William Zabka, and you've only grown closer as the series has continued. How has it been working with them?
Rubio: It's so fantastic, Xolo is such a jokester and with a beautiful way about him. He's always making me laugh, sometimes to the point where I'm like "Xolo, not right now, I have to do the scene!" [Laughs]
And Billy is just remarkable. I consider myself lucky to have been paired up with him, I work with him the most, really. He's just such a professional, very generous; probably one of the most generous actors that I've ever worked with. He's just so present and good-natured and it shows. I consider myself very lucky working with the both of them.
One of my favorite scenes with your character was towards the end of Season 2 with an impromptu double date with the LaRussos. How was filming that with everyone?
Rubio: That was so fun and a lot too because any table scene is a lot of coverage. But there were a lot of extras too and the dancing, it was just so much fun. We actually had a giggle fest at the table at one point, eating too many tortillas or something, we just lost it. But I was certainly a little nervous at first because that was my first scene with Ralph Macchio; I met him before but I never acted with him. That was kind of a surreal moment for me on set, definitely [but] once you settle in, it's just like any other acting experience. So I think we settled in nicely and, once we got to dancing, we were just having fun.
With The Karate Kid being such an iconic thing, what was it that attracted you to this project and role as a performer?
Rubio: Honestly, I approached it like any other role. I just put myself in there and did my work and it came from a good place; I think it came naturally. I'm certainly a child of the '80s and grew up watching The Karate Kid and [Part] II...I think it's just woven in, I know this kind of character. Me growing up with parents who were from Colombia, making their way in New Jersey and providing for their family, I knew what that was like, I saw that. It was these things that I knew about that I could bring forth in a character, which is really what you can only hope for with portraying a character.
Carmen is very back-and-forth with Johnny Lawrence over how he has worked with her son and what that's brought. How do you approach that sometimes contradictory balance?
Rubio: I think it's very indicative of us as the viewers too; one second, we love Johnny and then he says something and we're like "Oh my God..." [Laughs] I think it's very real in its portrayal because Carmine's not expecting to be drawn to this character, she even has an aversion to him at first. And I think that's very natural to a lot of relationships, wondering "Why does this person bother me, why are you still in my life?" [Laughs] I think they evolve with each other, and they're neighbors so they're constantly in each other's life. For Carmen, she's looking to trust him and he sometimes doesn't prove himself worthy of that trust and so she has to do this dance with him.
Your other major scene partner is Rose Bianco and I love your characters' banter in Spanish. How was it forming that chemistry with her?
Rubio: I love Rose, she's great! She's hilarious, definitely experienced as an actor, and whenever we're together on set, we settle into this thing where we're just talking quietly on the side. It does feel very organic, being borne from that and, when they're together, they feel like their own little unit, and I feel like that's very empowering to Carmen, especially. Family is very important to her and her relationship with her mom, who blurts out more information than Carmen is willing to give.
How quick was it to find that chemistry with Xolo and Billy?
Rubio: Pretty quick, even quicker with Xolo, especially in Season 1; he was working so much, so that was really on-the-fly. I had more grounded scenes with Billy, right from the get-go. One of the first scenes that we did [together] was his monologue with Carmen, when he opens the door and we think he's talking to somebody else but he's talking to Carmen. That was a very grounded, vulnerable scene and we built from there, it was a great scene to begin with. It was very emotionally honest and present, so we could only get better from there.
We touched on this at the beginning but, with the first two seasons premiering on YouTube, how has the transition to Netflix been?
Rubio: It's been incredible, kind of like watching something blossom and grow. It took on such a wider audience worldwide because Netflix is so accessible, and they translated it into more than thirty languages, which is amazing. The reception really grew, and it has just been really lovely, people really love the show.
What are you proud to bring to this wacky world of crane kicks and martial arts rivalries with your performance as Carmen?
Rubio: I say God bless Carmen! [Laughs] She's holding it down there and providing a lot of love and support for her son and maybe more for Johnny and always trying to speak from her heart. And I hope that she just continues to do that, even with more strength and more conviction because she really has good intentions and good intuition in this mix of other characters whose intentions aren't so good, so we'll see what transpires.
Cobra Kai stars William Zabka, Ralph Macchio, Courtney Henggeler, Xolo Maridueña, Mary Mouser, Tanner Buchanan, Jacob Bertrand, Gianni Decenzo, Peyton List, Vanessa Rubio and Martin Kove. All three seasons are available to stream now on Netflix.