Cobra Kai co-creator Josh Heald has revealed the show invited Hilary Swank to return to her role as Julie Pierce from 1994’s The Next Karate Kid, but the Oscar winner turned them down.
Cobra Kai ran for six seasons and serves as a sequel or spin-off to the Karate Kid film franchise, with Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprising their respective roles as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence.
The show has also featured guest appearances from actors such as The Karate Kid star Elisabeth Shue.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Heald revealed that Swank is their one-that-got-away.
"We did reach out in the very early days before the season to see if there was a path [for her to appear]," he told the publication, noting that it was “disappointing” Swank’s return couldn’t be worked out.
"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."
Heald, who created Cobra Kai along with Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, said the team approached Swank with “the beginnings of a genesis of an idea... to find out if we could have a discussion with her about it and introduce ourselves.”
However Swank, who has twice won the Best Actress Oscar for 2000’s Boys Don't Cry and 2005’s Million Dollar Baby, reportedly passed on the series before the showrunners got the chance to pitch her.
“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,” said Heald.
“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."
While Cobra Kai officially concluded with its sixth season in February, Heald said he hasn’t given up hope of convincing Swank to return for a potential further spin-off.
“It's a big piece of the Miyagi-verse that's still out there,” he said. “For us, it was a little disappointing because we like getting everybody, but at the same time, we didn't sacrifice any huge story that we had fully developed. It's more fruit on the vine for if we can revisit this universe going forward.”
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