Patrick Luwis Talks ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6, Axel’s Character Growth, and What’s to Come in Part 3 [Interview]

It’s all been leading up to this moment for Cobra Kai fans. The final episodes of Cobra Kai Season 6 are arriving very soon, and this era of the Karate Kid franchise is nearing its end.

Both Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso have come a long way from where they were back in Season 1. While the Cobra Kai dojo found itself in a rut, the Miyagi-do dojo was able to withstand the challenges of the Sekai Taikai. However, it came at the cost of a deadly brawl that killed Kwon on Cobra Kai Season 6 Episode 10, “Eunjangdo.”

With only a few episodes of Cobra Kai Season 6 left, fans might be wondering who might be a major player in the finale. One of these characters is Axel Kovačević, one of the captains who led the Iron Dragons in a heated faceoff against Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai.

I spoke with Patrick Luwis about playing Axel in Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2, Axel’s blossoming bond with Samantha LaRusso, and what’s to come in Part 3.

With Cobra Kai getting as popular as it is now, along with the Karate Kid franchise as a whole, it can be somewhat of an intimidating experience. However, Luwis said that being a part of one of Netflix’s most iconic series has been very fulfilling overall.

“I think for the character I was playing and the arc that I got to have and down to the crew and the cast members and the executive producers and creators of the show, everyone I got to work with, it was just a wonderful experience,” Luwis began. “On top of that, just being able to be a part of this massive show that has such a big legacy, it’s really fun.”

“I feel like they really went out of their way to make [Season 6] epic, and I think that’s extra cool just to kind of help wrap up the show and keep telling the story,” he said.

However, in order to really get into the mindset of Axel, Luwis went through very rigorous training with an intensive regiment. Due to the choreography of Cobra Kai being new to Luwis, it served as a good challenge.

“It was very busy nights where I didn’t sleep just because of the stress of what I knew I had to do the following day,” Luwis explained. “There were a lot of time spent in the training dojo as well as on set training and then also just in my hotel room blocking out fight scenes.”

“In terms of all the choreography and understanding how to fight and look like a fighter, I was very new to that stuff,” he continued. “I really feel like that was always kind of at the forefront of my mind because it was so important for the character to look like he really knew what he was doing.”

Moreover, when it came time to film the Sekai Taikai tournament, Luwis worked with Rayna Vallandingham to coordinate those duo fights. While there were several challenges that Luwis and Vallandingham faced, the hardest thing was understanding each other and creating that flow.

“You’re learning how to react to their moves, and you’re not just learning the moves that you’re dishing out,” Luwis said. “You have to get into this flow state.

“It’s similar with acting: you’re kind of bouncing off each other, but with the fight choreography and when we were actually doing those scenes, you really had to have an understanding of the person you’re working with.”

Additionally, Luwis also cited that his performance improved with the help of his co-stars, including Tanner Buchanan. “It was interesting because some people you would fight, they would be, for instance, when I had the fight with Tanner.”

“With the Robby character, the energy he brought because he was very intense and he was going very hard, which I think in a lot of ways made me better,” Luwis said.

Luwis and his co-stars were able to overcome the difficulties of preparing those specific scenes once they did it on-screen. “Although we kind of got bruised up as we were practicing it, and when we actually did the fight, I think that intensity made it look that much more realistic.”

As the Sekai Taikai tournament was being filmed, one of the biggest moments that stuck with Luwis, and with many fans, was Kwon’s death.

“The timing of it all and how we were going to make it happen, it was kind of fun getting to that place and working with the stunt guys, trying to figure out the best way to make that happen,” Luwis recalled.

“What they landed on was really fun and kind of crazy; the double spinning kick was just pretty epic,” he continued. “I was excited because it meant that the character I was playing got to be involved in something that’s pretty was new for the show.”

However, Luwis knew that fans would be shocked during this moment. “I hated to be the guy who was involved somehow with Kwon’s death because I love [Brandon Lee] as a person,” Luwis said. “I love Kwon as a character [and] I know a lot of people resonate with that.”

“When you read it, too, you’re like, ‘Oh, man, I hope that people don’t hate me for being involved in this in some way,'” Luwis joked. “But I think people obviously understand.”

Although Axel maintained a sense of stoicism throughout Cobra Kai Season 6, he found himself opening up to Samantha on Cobra Kai Season 6 Episode 8, “Snakes on a Plane.” Fans got to see a new side to Axel, which Luwis really enjoyed exploring.

“It was cool to go from how I was when I was on the mat and in the fight sequences and then transition to that and have just these like very vulnerable, like fun connected scenes as just an actor where it was great,” Luwis said. “I think it was really fun that [was] probably unexpected for a lot of people to see the character that way.”

Furthermore, Luwis believes that Axel isn’t really a bad guy, but he’s learning those morally good and bad sides. “He just doesn’t know he’s sort of learning the difference between right and wrong in many ways.”

Much like Axel, one similar role that Luwis took up was Ivar in Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire, who’s very battle-hardened. Luwis compared Axel and Ivar’s personalities and what he realized about these two characters.

“I think you find similarities between characters that you play, because ultimately, it’s just all coming from you,” Luwis said. “So, it’s all a part of you to begin with.”

“It’s fun to go from a character like Ivar to playing a character like Axel, because I think in a lot of ways, there are some similarities,” he continued. “But, it’s also a totally different world, and he really is a different guy at his core in many ways.”

“That was a huge joy in playing Axel for me: it was something that initially I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do. You don’t want to confine yourself too much, because you can surprise yourself sometimes.”

Given everything that Axel has gone through in Part 2, the stakes for him on Part 3 have never been higher. Luwis also gave us a little tease of what Axel might face with these final episodes.

“You can expect to see a little more growth as a character and maybe just a better understanding of himself and what he wants, what’s important to him,” Luwis hinted.

“[I] got to keep it tight. They’re watching me!” he joked.

Although Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 3 might mark the end of watching the Miyagi-do and Cobra Kai dojos, fans still want to hold on to this universe. When asked about how he’d envision a spinoff, Luwis said he’d love to see a series focused on the other dojos.

“It would be really cool just learn a little bit more about these other dojos that are in the [Sekai Taikai] tournament [like] the Iron Dragons, for example.”

“It would be cool to see kind of maybe either where they go from here or where they were before this and how they got to this place and what they were like in Hong Kong,” Luwis added. “I think it would be kind of cool to just explore the characters further with, really, any of the dojos.”

However, that may be unlikely right now as Karate Kid: Legends is set to propel the franchise forward. Still, Luwis still has hopes that he could return to this universe in the future.

“I’d love to stay in this universe too if there’s anything else – spin-offs or any other ideas that could be fun to continue with the character or play a different character in the same universe,” Luwis said. “It would be really fun!”

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*Interview edited and condensed for clarity.

Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 3 begins streaming Thursday, February 13th on Netflix.

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