Hilary Swank refused to take a bite out of “Cobra Kai.” The Oscar-winning actress opted to not entertain the idea of returning to her roots with a cameo in the Netflix series. Swank previously starred in 1994’s “The Next Karate Kid” in the lead role.
Josh Heald, who co-created the “Cobra Kai” series with Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, told Entertainment Weekly that they approached Swank about reprising her role of Julie Pierce in the sixth and final season. “We did reach out in the very early days before the season to see if there was a path [for her to appear],” Heald said. “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.”
While the “Cobra Kai” team were going to tell Swank the “beginnings of a genesis of an idea,” they did not get a chance to have a meeting with the actress. “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,” Heald said. “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 added that Swank “was just in a place where she wasn’t looking to do that,” and she gave them “a respectful pass on the idea of even a meeting.”
Heald admitted, “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.”
“Cobra Kai” stars Ralph Macchio in his original role. The feature “Karate Kid: Legends,” which is yet another continuation of the franchise, will also bring back Macchio and Jackie Chan.
Swank isn’t the only Oscar winner who opted to not reprise a former teen role: Jodie Foster said no to making a cameo in “Freakier Friday.” Foster starred in the original “Freaky Friday” film, which was later remade with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in 2003.