Jewelianna Ramos-Ortiz on Maria Alvarez, Stunt Work, and Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2

[00:00:09] Juliana, thank you all for joining me today on Pop Culture Unplugged.

[00:00:13] Hey, thank you for having me.

[00:00:15] Exciting times. We have Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 is out right now, but for you, it's like you've been all over the place between stunts and acting and a lot of martial arts background. You've been busy.

[00:00:28] I have been so blessed in the film industry the past few years, and it's really nice that a lot of stuff is coming out so close to each other so we can kind of just celebrate it all.

[00:00:42] That's awesome. How do you go from like, you know, how did you decide you wanted to go into the stunt world, you know, with your martial arts background?

[00:00:48] And then how from there did you decide you wanted to like jump right into acting too? Or was that always the plan, a little bit of everything?

[00:00:55] It actually wasn't necessarily the plan. I did musical theater when I was in high school. I started martial arts when I was three.

[00:01:05] So they kind of ran into each other. And being that I loved both so very much, it was neat that in my adulthood, while my husband and I were running martial arts schools,

[00:01:17] we were like, Oh man, this thing that I loved, but I didn't know what to do with place for it. And it's called stunts. And it's here where we live, like what a serendipitous thing to happen.

[00:01:29] And so when the Cobra Kai auditions for season three, the open auditions happened in Atlanta, we had friends that were stunt performers, because obviously being a martial artist, you kind of run into each other.

[00:01:43] We were like, you guys should go. And we were like, no. And then we finally did. And we were like, Oh man, we love this. And so it's been history ever since.

[00:01:53] Yeah. And you've been doing stunt work. I wrote some things down. You've been doing some stunt work for a while now in the film and TV industry.

[00:01:58] You know, like one of them was lately was the Beetlejuice movie.

[00:02:01] Yeah.

[00:02:02] How was that? Can you tell us a little bit about that?

[00:02:04] Dude, that was such a good experience. By far, Jenna Ortega is my favorite actress to double to date.

[00:02:10] She is so kind, so sweet. She's hardworking. She makes everybody feel special.

[00:02:17] And she really just let me get in there and be Astrid. She told me like, Hey, that's all you like what, what would she would ask me?

[00:02:28] She was like, what would Astrid do? She was going through a fence and smacking that tree.

[00:02:32] And I was like, well, you're right. Okay, let's yeah. And so we, we tackled those things together and timber in at the end of it.

[00:02:41] So it starts with the bike scene coming down the hill. And then we've got your miss with a car backing up.

[00:02:49] So I drift really hard. I lose traction and then I miss it. And just as I go to miss it, I'm now head on with a garbage truck.

[00:02:56] Now that garbage trucks brakes were not going to be able to stop if I fell off my bike, which I did a few times in rehearsals.

[00:03:03] So I had to make sure I was able to roll out of the way or get out of its way.

[00:03:07] Um, and then once we were done with the garbage truck, we hop on a curb through some bushes, through some grass.

[00:03:15] And then we go through a wooden fence, which those wooden planks would smack my head so hard every time.

[00:03:22] And then down a dirt, like a loose dirt hill that was so hard to keep traction on and then smack right into a cement tree.

[00:03:32] It was made out of steel bars and cement.

[00:03:35] And then they like art department would texturize it to make it look like a tree.

[00:03:39] As we needed to keep the actor that was up in it safe.

[00:03:43] And so that's, that was, that was a neat one.

[00:03:46] Tim stood up in video village and like started clapping.

[00:03:50] He was like, fantastic.

[00:03:52] Forgot to yell cut and walked out in front of camera.

[00:03:56] And his AD was like, Oh, I think that's a cut.

[00:03:59] And then he hugged me and he was like, he looked at me, he put his hands on my shoulders.

[00:04:02] And he was like, that was so good.

[00:04:05] I'm not going to make you do it again.

[00:04:07] And I was like, thank you.

[00:04:10] But for you, I'll do it as many times as we need.

[00:04:13] That's awesome.

[00:04:14] As a stunt performer, like how, do you, do you get nervous before you try to go do a certain stunt?

[00:04:21] Or do you just like tunnel everything out or just go for it?

[00:04:25] I think that I've had enough training that I am confident in my abilities and in my skill to one,

[00:04:34] have contingency plans.

[00:04:36] If things go wrong, I know how to save myself and be safe.

[00:04:39] I also have enough body awareness to do what is being asked of me.

[00:04:44] I won't say yes to a job that I'm not confident I can do safely.

[00:04:47] So I don't necessarily get nervous for stunt jobs much anymore.

[00:04:51] Really?

[00:04:51] It's more of the acting stuff, actually, that really gets me.

[00:04:58] Live talk shows.

[00:04:59] Oh my goodness.

[00:05:00] I sweat.

[00:05:02] I get so much anxiety.

[00:05:03] Really?

[00:05:04] Really?

[00:05:05] Yeah.

[00:05:07] After all these interviews you're going to do, you'll be fine.

[00:05:09] Thanks.

[00:05:11] So let's jump into Cobra Kai.

[00:05:13] You said, was it originally, did you, was that an audition for stunt or behind the scenes?

[00:05:19] Or did you go in for Maria right away?

[00:05:22] No.

[00:05:22] Well, so the open auditions were back in 2018, 2018.

[00:05:30] And it was just for stunts.

[00:05:32] Like for a long time, I just saw myself as a stunt performer.

[00:05:36] I was a martial artist and I wasn't going to be showing my face and saying lines on camera.

[00:05:42] I was going to be portraying characters with my physicality and through my body awareness and action.

[00:05:48] And that was it.

[00:05:48] And then just recently was when the doors started to open for stunt acting roles.

[00:05:56] And they were like, hey, you can do both.

[00:05:59] Specifically a short film that is in the film festival run at the moment.

[00:06:05] And he, the director, Agbar, he looked at me and he said, no, you wouldn't.

[00:06:11] We're not talking to you to double the lead actress.

[00:06:13] We want you to be the lead actress.

[00:06:15] We think that you can act and we think that you can do the action.

[00:06:20] Are you in?

[00:06:21] And I was like, oh my goodness, this is a total like game changer, like a mind shift for me.

[00:06:26] Because you're right.

[00:06:28] I don't know why I doubted myself, but you're right.

[00:06:30] I can do both.

[00:06:31] And then later on came the talks about bringing in Maria.

[00:06:36] And she was going to be the team captain of Brazil because the world tournament was psychitech.

[00:06:43] I was going to go to Rio de Janeiro.

[00:06:47] And so I did my audition with a Brazilian accent.

[00:06:50] And little did I know it was going to be changed to Barcelona, which is a Spanish accent, which I'm much more comfortable with.

[00:06:57] And that's when I realized like, oh, yeah, this is this is it.

[00:07:01] This is endgame.

[00:07:02] I want to do more of this.

[00:07:03] That's awesome.

[00:07:04] And everybody loves the scene with you and Johnny dancing.

[00:07:09] I had him on a few weeks ago when he talked about that.

[00:07:11] He's like, she got me in trouble.

[00:07:13] She got me in trouble.

[00:07:14] That's how you kept saying it.

[00:07:16] They are so funny.

[00:07:18] So both Jacob and Johnny, they would be like if camera was on me and they were behind camera as my eye lines, they would like be making funny faces or they would be like saying jokes or like, nah, man, that's not it.

[00:07:32] No, do it again.

[00:07:33] And I would just I have to be dancing.

[00:07:35] There was no music because they needed my mics to work or sometimes they would play music.

[00:07:40] But.

[00:07:41] It was just so off, like for hours, like so many takes.

[00:07:45] I was just.

[00:07:48] Like by myself, just so that we could get the shot.

[00:07:53] And then when camera would be facing them, I was like, oh, OK, if you can.

[00:07:59] You can dish it.

[00:08:00] I'm going to serve it.

[00:08:01] So I was doing it right back.

[00:08:02] And then we would try to get each other to break character.

[00:08:05] But it actually just made our acting better.

[00:08:07] I think we had a great time.

[00:08:10] What did you enjoy about Maria?

[00:08:12] I loved that.

[00:08:17] Maria is a high caliber martial artist, but she still has some emotional depth.

[00:08:22] So she doesn't have a lot of lines, but I was able to really tell this story of she's a really high caliber martial artist.

[00:08:31] You see the way she kicks, the way that she goes into fights.

[00:08:33] She's got that confidence because she's earned it.

[00:08:36] You don't get that confident on accident.

[00:08:38] And so she's coming in with this confidence of like, yeah, I'm I'm a winner and I know I am.

[00:08:44] But then when she's confronted with somebody that humbles her, she gets really in her head and frustrated.

[00:08:49] And I had to tell that story to highlight how strong Zara and Quan were by letting them see she's really good fighter.

[00:08:59] But Zara's just running circles around her.

[00:09:02] So I got a deep.

[00:09:04] Character with little lines, and that was that was a fun challenge.

[00:09:09] But it was that was my favorite part.

[00:09:12] Would you say Zara was like one of your favorite that you had a chance to fight with in the series?

[00:09:16] How awesome is she?

[00:09:18] She is really awesome.

[00:09:20] So I've known of Raina for years.

[00:09:23] We came up in like kind of like parallel martial arts worlds.

[00:09:27] She comes from A.C.A. and I come from Nazca.

[00:09:30] And so we've people had always kind of like brought her up and been like, oh, have you seen her?

[00:09:37] She like you guys remind us of, you know, you two and you guys should meet.

[00:09:42] You guys should meet.

[00:09:43] But she was over in L.A. and I'm over on the East Coast.

[00:09:45] And so we had never met in person.

[00:09:47] And so when we got cast for this and we knew we were going to have stuff together, it was like when we finally saw each other, it was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:09:54] We're here.

[00:09:54] We're here.

[00:09:55] We're here.

[00:09:55] We made it.

[00:09:55] We made it.

[00:09:56] And so for like the stunt stuff, because I was cast as a stunt actor, I was a part of the stunt team.

[00:10:04] And so that was kind of like really fun to be delegated a lot of Zara's choreography where it was like, hey, can you make some of Zara's fights for this and that?

[00:10:16] And so I would like call or text Raina and be like, hey, is there like a specific kick or a specific move that you want to do to like highlight your strengths?

[00:10:24] Like, is there something that you want on camera?

[00:10:26] So we really worked together to make each other look good.

[00:10:30] And that was a lot of fun.

[00:10:32] Did I read some of your husband is part of the team also?

[00:10:35] Yes.

[00:10:36] Yeah.

[00:10:36] How is that working with you next to your husband?

[00:10:39] It's always such a fun time.

[00:10:41] So we had worked together on Blue Beetle.

[00:10:45] We had worked together on Superman that is coming out in 2025.

[00:10:49] We worked together on the Humming Girls, which is in the film festivals.

[00:10:53] And so getting cast as actual characters that were written basically very similarly to our martial arts backgrounds was really fun because we were just being us.

[00:11:06] And so for that to be immortalized in a universe that is such a big deal to us and what we came up in, it was ideal.

[00:11:16] And he could be honest with me.

[00:11:19] He was like, hey, that kick, that wasn't your best kick.

[00:11:21] Let's change it for this one.

[00:11:23] Or, hey, you should probably try sticking this.

[00:11:25] It'll look better.

[00:11:25] So having somebody that's really with your best interest at heart on your team and getting to play together, there's that instant chemistry and you get the best out of each other.

[00:11:35] Wow.

[00:11:36] What's your thoughts on the big brawl that you guys filmed?

[00:11:38] And how much were you involved with that?

[00:11:41] Oh, my goodness.

[00:11:42] The brawl.

[00:11:43] So the brawl, coming up with a lot of the choreo in the stunt dojo before we even made it to the brawl, there was this massive white board with just the teeny tiniest handwriting.

[00:12:00] And it looked like a psychopath had gotten a hold of it.

[00:12:03] And he was like covered from edge to edge with just scene notes of moments and fights and choreography that had to happen in the brawl.

[00:12:12] So it was a huge undertaking that we choreographed.

[00:12:16] And then getting to the brawl, obviously, there's a ton of background fights.

[00:12:19] So the funnest part of being in the brawl was, one, watching the other people do their choreography and be like, we have to make this look real and messy and chaotic, but still hit beats.

[00:12:31] While also, we're just in the background improv fighting.

[00:12:35] And that's how you know you had the most talented stunt team.

[00:12:40] When they could be like, hey, I need you guys to fight in the background.

[00:12:43] And everybody knows how to sell for camera.

[00:12:47] You can just look at each other and be like, take this.

[00:12:50] Now hit me.

[00:12:51] And then you're just kind of going, feeding off of each other and just reading really big movements.

[00:12:57] And you're really just going at an improv version of what you already know how to do.

[00:13:03] And that was fun.

[00:13:05] Now, did you know about Quan's death?

[00:13:07] Or was that one of those things where you just witnessed it when it was happening?

[00:13:10] Were you aware of that?

[00:13:12] No.

[00:13:12] No.

[00:13:13] We got scripts, especially like the stunt team, because scene moments have to be choreographed so far in advance.

[00:13:21] We were getting script way along and we had to read through it so we could help choreograph.

[00:13:25] So we knew about Quan's death for a very long time.

[00:13:30] And it was to tell this grand story, really elevate Quan, make everyone fall in love with him.

[00:13:37] We did.

[00:13:38] And then tear it all down.

[00:13:40] And that was like a really strong storyline for stunts to also help take part in showing.

[00:13:47] Yeah, I spoke to Brandon a few weeks ago, too.

[00:13:50] He said it was a very emotional scene, what he said.

[00:13:54] It was the hardest secret to keep also.

[00:13:56] It really was.

[00:13:59] Because it's not easy to see one of the most talented actors, stunt guys, like martial artists that you know get taken from a story that you're so bought into.

[00:14:17] And he was doing just such a good job at being that kind of villainous but also likable villain that it's like, dang, where would we ever be able to replace that?

[00:14:29] And so he was a key part in us being like, this is going to be a great season.

[00:14:38] Definitely.

[00:14:39] And one of the things I told him was like, the fans are going to be mad.

[00:14:43] And they were.

[00:14:43] They still are.

[00:14:44] They're still talking about it a week later.

[00:14:46] Oh, my God.

[00:14:47] My TikTok is ridden with, did Kwan really die?

[00:14:52] This can't be real.

[00:14:54] Please, please respond.

[00:14:55] Is Kwan back for real?

[00:14:57] Please tell me Kwan's going to be in part three.

[00:14:59] And I was like, I don't know how to break it to you.

[00:15:04] But you don't really recover from.

[00:15:08] Right, right, right.

[00:15:10] What's been your favorite moment in this series that you filmed or you've been part of?

[00:15:15] Honestly, that final brawl moment with Furia de Pantera teaming up with Miyagi-Do at the end.

[00:15:27] And like watching the Hawks that just had this like kind of like tension of not liking each other because of the Hawks.

[00:15:34] Yeah.

[00:15:34] And then, which also a ton of their scenes of like that building that tension was cut.

[00:15:41] And I wish you guys got to see like the looks they exchanged.

[00:15:44] Like Diego at one point in the middle of the fight, he hits Dimitri.

[00:15:47] And then he points at Hawk and he goes, vosigues, which in like Spanish says like you're next.

[00:15:53] And so like we lost a lot of that tension building.

[00:15:57] And then at the end to see them like team up and like headbutt and kind of look at each other and be like, you know what?

[00:16:02] You're not so bad.

[00:16:04] And then like Maria kind of, she doesn't know about Yasmin.

[00:16:08] She doesn't know about that guy.

[00:16:09] Right, right.

[00:16:10] She's like pursuing her heart.

[00:16:11] And then to see Dimitri like, yeah, wait, no, no, no.

[00:16:15] That got me in trouble last time.

[00:16:17] Like that was such a funny little moment that I loved.

[00:16:21] What can you tease about Maria for part three?

[00:16:24] Can you give us any, a tease or anything?

[00:16:28] Unfortunately, Justin and I were booked on Superman right after we ended for part two.

[00:16:35] And so we couldn't really turn down Superman.

[00:16:40] And so we, I don't know how much of Maria and Diego you guys are going to see.

[00:16:47] Hey, maybe if Gianni goes to MIT, we see you.

[00:16:51] What I will say is there is a lot of fans and people saying that they want to see more of Diego and Maria in part three or like a spinoff or something.

[00:17:03] Get some of that origin.

[00:17:04] So John Hurwitz, Hayden, if y'all hear this and y'all want to write some more Diego and Maria, we will clear our schedules and we will be there.

[00:17:14] I think we're going to see a lot of spinoffs happening.

[00:17:17] What do you think?

[00:17:18] I hope so.

[00:17:20] Let's run it home.

[00:17:21] Let's, let's run it home.

[00:17:23] What's next for you now?

[00:17:24] Anything other, I know you mentioned Superman.

[00:17:25] Is there anything else that you can tell us about?

[00:17:27] Are you about to go work on?

[00:17:29] Yeah.

[00:17:29] So I actually just wrapped this week.

[00:17:32] I've been doubling Sol Rodriguez as Sasha Bordeaux on DCU's Peacemaker.

[00:17:39] So that'll be coming out in 2025.

[00:17:43] Also, there is a clip of a little stunt acty soccer jewels in Back in Action, which is an action movie with Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx coming out in January.

[00:17:58] And if you guys haven't already watched Red One, the Christmas movie with The Rock, you can see me as Agent Penguin.

[00:18:06] But also in Aruba, I have a few falls and stunty and de-stunty stuff going on in that movie.

[00:18:14] Amazing.

[00:18:15] Jules, how can the viewers now find you on social media?

[00:18:17] I know I've been following you for a while now.

[00:18:19] You've been posting a lot of videos and pictures.

[00:18:21] I have.

[00:18:22] I've been trying to share as much as I can.

[00:18:24] And I know that you guys are eating it up.

[00:18:26] And it was such a freaking fantastic experience.

[00:18:29] I share a ton of BTS of the film industry in general on TikTok and on Instagram at karate.jules.

[00:18:38] Jules, this was amazing.

[00:18:39] Thank you for giving me a few minutes today.

[00:18:40] Let's get you back on with your next projects.

[00:18:43] Thanks.

[00:18:44] Thanks.

[00:18:44] Thanks.