Actress Alicia Hannah-Kim also confirms that yes, Kim Da-Eun’s ponytail really, really hurts.
Warning: This article contains spoilers fromCobra Kaiseason 6 part 2.
That honor goes to… her character’s extremely tight ponytail.
Yuji Okumoto and Alicia Hannah-Kim in ‘Cobra Kai’ season 6 part 2.Netflix
“It was so unexpected,” says Hannah-Kim.
“I just didn’t think that was in the cards for her at all.”
ALICIA HANNAH-KIM:I was really looking forward to reading that script.
Yuji Okumoto and Alicia Hannah-Kim in ‘Cobra Kai’.Netflix
But I just had not expected that wild plot twist in her relationship with Chozen.
I was really, really looking forward to seeing how it would unfold.
It’s me and Chozen, and we’re getting it on!"
Martin Kove and Alicia Hannah-Kim in ‘Cobra Kai’ season 6.Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix
I think they did such an amazing job.
It’s got this kind of wild,Hangovervibe.
Everyone’s in Barcelona, and everything’s just going wild there.
All bets are off.
They start talking, and then they start fighting… and then they start kissing.
What do you think was going through Kim Da-Eun’s mind as that conversation progressed to a clinch?
[Laughs] She’s on vacation, she’s in a different mindset.
He’s out there on his own looking for the kids; she’s out there on her own.
They’re both senseis, they’ve just been on opposing sides.
Then on that night, they’re going on this parallel journey together.
For myself as an actor, I think she sort of started to go down that slope.
You just knew exactly where it was going.
Of course, their foreplay was fighting.
Tell me about rehearsing that scene.
I loved learning that fight with Yuji, because it’s like a waltz.
There’s a lot of circular movement there.
Sensei Kim’s flirting is fighting.
That’s how she expresses herself.
She’s a weird one.
[Laughs] I loved learning the fight with Yuji.
And I was like, “Oh, yeah, cool.
I’m just packing in the gum and hoping for the best.
But I tell you what, that first moment where it all came out was so thrilling.
Up until now, Sensei Kim has been such an internal, composed character.
What was it like for you pivoting to this onscreen kiss and this romantic arc?
It was so unexpected.
I just didn’t think that was in the cards for her at all.
It’s really fun and silly to get to do that with a fellow actor.
I got so carried away with it.
Oh man, we made out a lot.
[Laughs] I was really out of breath.
I think we’re hitting an hour mark and Yuji and I just looked totally disheveled.
Each take got progressively funnier.
Jen Celotta, our director, wanted us to fall out of frame kissing.
I think we smacked into a pole one time.
Yuji tried to climb me.
I mean, it just got funnier and funnier.
How did you get through that without laughing?
I think that was Jen Celotta, our amazing director’s idea.
We kept having to hold for sand.
It was really hilarious.
I knew I nailed it when Jen was laughing behind the monitor.
It’s a really cute moment for someone as austere as Sensei Kim.
I did not know that was going to happen for her.
Speaking of Kim Da-Eun’s hair, was it nice to have your hair down in those scenes?
Because that ponytail she always wears looks like ithurts.
Oh, it does.
It was such a relief.
I cannot tell you.
I think it was out for a couple of days.
We had a couple more scenes to shoot with it, and I was just thrilled.
So I felt much more free.
It was strange to go to work and not have to sit for hours in hair.
I’m like, “Oh, this is what it’s like to be a man.
You just come to work, have breakfast, and then roll onto set with absolutely no problems.”
I just really envy the low-maintenance hair guys on the show.
Kim and Kreese’s relationship is so complicated.
What’s disturbing for Kim is when there’s a loss of control.
Kreese doesn’t have that same fear, and so she does start to feel that instability.
What can you tease about how Kim Da-Eun will think about this question moving forward?
She really sees so much of herself in her.
I think that’s what breaks through to Sensei Kim and moves her.
For all the Chozen/Kim Da-Eun shippers…
We’re called “Kimzen” now!
[Laughs]
Love that!
I think Kimzen shippers are going to have to wait and see.
Their dynamic is really continuous and fun.
You never know with Kimzen.
Cobra Kaiseason 6 parts 1 and 2 are streaming now on Netflix.
