Cobra Kai’s Jacob Bertrand Reflects on Hawk’s Series-Long Journey and ‘My Hero Academia’ Inspirations [Interview]

Over the past seven years, Cobra Kai has become one of the most popular Netflix series due mainly to its dynamic cast — which includes Jacob Bertrand.

Bertrand portrayed Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz in the series. Fans have watched Hawk transform from a quiet, somewhat vengeful introvert to the compassionate and selfless person Demetri saw.

Even though Cobra Kai has concluded, there’s still a lot to unravel with this character. I had the opportunity to speak with Bertrand about Hawk’s development, the inspirations for his arc, and what’s to come beyond the series.

Cobra Kai‘s official conclusion has been a bittersweet experience for both its cast, creatives, and fans. “It feels so odd to be finished,” Bertrand began. “This has been something we’ve been doing for so long and now, I’m just like, ‘What? It’s over?'”

“It’s all good things, but it definitely will take me some getting used to, 100%. I don’t think I can fully come to terms with everything that has kind of been happening and will happen.”

While the show may be over, Bertrand will continue sharing the cast’s diverse experiences on set through his podcast with Cobra Kai co-star Xolo Maridueña. The Lone Lobos podcast has over 90 episodes published and previously featured cast members Peyton List, Tanner Buchanan, Brandon H. Lee, and more.

“When you’re on set, you don’t really talk about the stories that are happening right then and there,” Bertrand said.

“We’re kind of just hanging out, focusing on the day and having fun! A lot of our stuff is [getting] your fight choreo down and making sure you’re ready for this big scene that you have coming up.”

“The podcast has been really fun. To get someone like Brandon Lee on and then we get to hear about all these niche, wild stories that happened on set that we might not have heard about otherwise. That’s kind of cool and fun to get to hear about on those side of things.”

“It’s just getting to know people in a way that maybe we kind of wouldn’t have if we didn’t have the podcast, so that’s been really fun,” Bertrand added.

As the scripts for Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 3 were coming in, it was a shocker to the cast to see Miguel, Robby, Tory, Axel, and more take center stage. Bertrand recalls reading through the scripts and experiencing the finale from his perspective: “Part 3 was kind of insane. It was this big climactic ending, and a lot of us got to sit there and watch the fights. Xolo, Tanner, Patrick Luwis, Peyton and [Rayna Vallandingham], they had a lot of heavy lifting in terms of the physicality.”

“Part 3, for me, was sort of pure reminiscing and getting to hang out with my friends one last time and slowly realizing that, ‘Yeah, this is the end. This is the last hurrah.'”

As for what scenes stood out to Bertrand the most, it was Tory’s final confrontation with Zara on Cobra Kai Season 6 Episode 14, “Strike Last.”

“Almost all of us were at the monitors when Tory kicked Zara’s tooth out of her mouth and said, ‘Welcome to the valley, bitch!'” Bertrand reminisced. “Watching a tooth come out of Rayna’s mouth and then watching the playback in slow-mo, that was a moment where all of us were together and we’re like, ‘Oh shit, that’s so cool!'”

Throughout Cobra Kai‘s run, Hawk’s transformation from antagonist to protagonist has resonated immensely with fans. Bertrand reflected on Hawk’s journey of self-reflection and the shift that the character took early on.

“I think Hawk got the end of his character arc in Season 4 — he got to learn a little lesson of, you can be the best, but you’re going to have off days, you’re going to lose sometimes, and what really matters is what you do after you lose.”

“He really wants the best for Miguel, he really wants the best for Dimitri, even Robby now and Tory and Sam,” Bertrand explained. “I think he does karate because he’s so striving to be an amazing fighter, be the best, but at the same time, he will do everything he can for his friends.”

“I think a big portion of that is the writers. They definitely gave me a lot of cool stuff to work with, and in terms of the collaboration, it’s just so much fun to be the bad guy with your friends.”

“It’s so much fun to get to play both sides of the hero spectrum,” Bertrand confirmed. “We’re all friends and we all get to have so much fun. It’s exciting getting to see other characters go through that — Demetri in Season 6 has a little bit of maybe antagonistic approach to it, in their relationship.”

In addition, in developing Hawk’s personality and physicality, Bertrand looked to multiple sources to help him bring out the best of the character throughout Cobra Kai.

“Muay Thai fighting videos, that’s something that I kind of looked at a lot because early on, I learned that Hawk was going to be doing Muay Thai. Hawk’s going to have a little bit more emphasis on Muay Thai, just because it looks a little bit more gruesome. You got elbows and knees, so I think watching some fighters helped with the physicality aspect.”

One character that heavily inspired Bertrand’s performance was Bakugo from My Hero Academia. “Bakugo was definitely a little bit of an inspiration for Seasons 2 and 3 of Hawk. That’s someone that I tried to implement!”

Furthermore, Bertrand also described his experiences balancing the physicality and emotional traits Hawk developed throughout Cobra Kai‘s run.

“Fighting like that is pretty hard because you’re trained to do everything correctly and that’s what’s been built in you. Then, your slipping up just feels bad and you’re like, ‘Wow, why am I doing this? This is not how I would do it.’ It’s definitely hard, but very fun. It’s a fun challenge to get to do.”

When it came to Hawk and Demetri’s ending on Cobra Kai Season 6 Episode 15, “Ex-Degenerate,” Bertrand was satisfied with how their friendship concluded.

“I thought, ‘Dude, if we do a spinoff, I gotta spend four more years with [Gianni DeCenzo].’ God, that’s gonna be so hard,” Bertrand joked. “I thought it was great. I was going to be so bummed if we ended up in different places. I know it’s realistic for movies and TV shows to do the thing of, ‘Oh, they don’t end up together. Like that’s life, right? Tough cookie.'”

“I don’t care to see that! I want to see people make up. I want to see people get back together. That’s what I want,” Bertrand revealed. “Watching Cobra Kai, how it ended is how I would have wanted it to end as a fan.”

“I don’t want to see Hawk and Demetri be like, ‘We’re going different ways, but we’ll always be friends from afar. We’ll always cherish the memories that we have.’ It’s like, no, don’t cherish them! Hang out. We’re brothers, so be friends.”

As for the most important lesson to keep after working on Cobra Kai, Bertrand says to “put a hundred percent into everything.”

“I’m learning how to utilize my downtime efficiently and actually rest and give myself time to recoup. Now that I’m kind of learning that stuff, I’m like, ‘Well, then I’ll just go 110% in literally everything that I do while I’m working because it just feels right.'”

“That’s something that I got to watch Billy [William Zabka] and Ralph [Macchio] do a lot. You know, Ralph, when he was directing, it was really inspiring to get to see how he worked and how he just put everything into it and, Billy too. That’s something that I want to emulate in my life.”

Outside of Cobra Kai, Bertrand plans to work on a short he’s directed. He also plans to write collaboratively alongside his castmates.

“I just directed my first short. I’m going to start editing that soon, so hopefully, that will be out soon. I’m so stoked to move into that portion of my career. That’s something that I really want to get into.”

“I’m writing with Gianni, actually, so that’s been super fun,” Bertrand added. “He really is like a brother to me. Xolo, Peyton and I, we will travel around. I can’t wait to hop on behind the camera and get some stuff done there.”

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*Interview edited and condensed for clarity.

Feature Image Credit: Irvin Rivera

All seasons of Cobra Kai are now streaming on Netflix.

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