Mary Mouser Discusses Samantha's Growth and the Epic Finale of 'Cobra Kai'

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Mary, thank you all for joining me today on Pop Culture Unplugged.

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for having me.

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Exciting times Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1.

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I spoke to a few cast members already.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: One of the first questions I've been asking is like,

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_00]: it feels like it's been a while since we've seen Cobra Kai.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I know, it feels like forever.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_01]: It stays a part of my life even in the off season.

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I run into so many awesome fans.

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER_01]: So it feels like yesterday to me and also it's been way too long.

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Amazing.

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: So like, you know, with the fans tuned in Thursday to watch this,

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: what do you hope to get out of the first part?

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I think the first part of Season 6 is like, to me,

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_01]: it's kind of like the homing device as we go through this kind of crazy to

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_01]: a very tumultuous finale.

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I think these five episodes really set the scene and they are like the foundation

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_01]: that everything else gets built up from.

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Amazing.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So Samantha, you know, we enjoy watching her journey throughout these seasons.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: How would you say she's evolved now from like the first season,

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: last time we spoke also, now into like going on to Season 6?

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh my God.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_01]: She's been through quite a few ups and downs, definitely.

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_01]: But my main thing with Samantha has always been that her why stays really true

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and important to her.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think her why, Season 1, she didn't really have it.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_01]: She was searching for, you know, what was her goal?

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_01]: What was the most important thing to her to hold true in her heart

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_01]: through the ups and downs of young adulthood?

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I think she kind of, she found that in karate and in following her father's

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_01]: footsteps in continuing Mr. Miyagi's legacy.

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think the preservation and respect and care around that idea is kind of her

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_01]: homing device.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_01]: That's her beacon to come back to.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Throughout these seasons, you know, you're playing this character and everything.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: When you're going through the scripts and you're reading it,

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: like how excited do you get seeing her storyline that keeps going?

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_01]: It's a blast.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I like, I truly feel like I'm with all the fans when I get a script.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I get it in my email or I get the hard copy in my hands and I just

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_01]: like devour it.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, I love to read anyway.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_01]: So like I'm already doing that.

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_01]: But I mean, I sit there and I'm like slipping through pages.

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I can't get through it fast enough.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, what is happening to everybody?

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And then I go and pester the writers.

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I seem to take down the episode of them.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Like what, that was just a cliffhanger.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Like now what, what happens next?

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And we get our episodes sometimes a little last minute because there's so

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_01]: many moving pieces to what we do.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's sometimes I'm like, oh my God, I don't even have time to think

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_01]: about it.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I literally just have to jump into this episode tomorrow.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_01]: So I feel like, I feel like all the fans are right there with me as I'm,

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_01]: as I'm reading through it and just like tearing through the pages.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: What do you think is like the biggest challenge like this for this

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: season for Samantha?

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I think Samantha's biggest challenge throughout her arc is kind of

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_01]: really like in a, we get to see it in a microscope in this season,

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_01]: which really is her having learned maybe all the wrong ways to go

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_01]: about trying to do the right thing.

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And hopefully her navigation of saying, you know,

[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_01]: how much is the right thing in my eyes?

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_01]: The most important thing or is it, you know,

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: to what degree can I take input from other people and be malleable

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and have that journey and have that goal morph with me and with the

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_01]: people around me.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: We just say season six has been like the hardest to train for,

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: to prepare for compared to the other seasons.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Definitely.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I think, you know, this season, season four as well,

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_01]: those were our tournament seasons.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think, you know, for at least for my character as well.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So those are definitely the ones that like we approach with

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_01]: the mentality of like, we are preparing for a tournament.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Like we are not just, you know,

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_01]: learning different karate techniques in scenes and then applying those

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_01]: techniques and we're definitely not like street brawling with

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_01]: anybody.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_01]: You know what I mean?

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Like these are the seasons where we have to go into it knowing

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_01]: what matters is what happens on the mat.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, even if I as an actor fall out of the lines of

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_01]: what's, you know, playable on a, on a mat fight,

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_01]: that would technically count against me.

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: So I have to behave just like Samantha would.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_01]: I have to stay alive.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I have to stay present.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I, it's definitely a lot more of an intensive training regimen,

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_01]: but, but for the better,

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I think we all really pushed ourselves this season to hopefully

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_01]: look our absolute best.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I love how this season two, you know, she tries to, you know,

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: to be friends with everybody.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: No, no more, you know, like, like I said, fights and

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: everything like that.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Like how do you, how would you describe like her

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_00]: relationships now with the other key figures in season six?

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_01]: To me, that's like, at me, Mary, that's my most specific thing.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I love the most, you know, I love the martial arts aspect,

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_01]: but I really love all the relationships that I've developed

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: off camera with these people.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_01]: It was nice to finally be in scenes with Peyton where we didn't

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_01]: have to pretend to cut each other up because, you know,

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_01]: she is such a lovely person.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And then so we've been friends off camera,

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_01]: but this was the first season where I really got to

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_01]: interact with her in a different way on screen,

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe not bestest friends right away,

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_01]: but definitely, you know, of the intention and of the journey.

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think Sam is definitely at her strongest when she

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_01]: feels like she is fighting for the greater good.

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And for her, that's all the people she has around her right now.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Now that the five episodes have dropped, would you see,

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: you know, like the cliffhanger on the last episode five,

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_00]: what's your thoughts on that?

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I can tell you that when I went in to do ADR,

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, was when we first get to see it because we go in,

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, move all the sounds that maybe like there was an airplane

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_01]: going over while I said the line, you know,

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and so you couldn't hear it perfectly.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_01]: When we recorded on the day, we go back in studio,

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_01]: we get to see it for the first time on a full-size screen.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_01]: That moment just was like a stab to the heart.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, honestly, the entirety of episode five is such a journey.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I cried my way through filming it and I cried my way

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_01]: through it.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm so excited to see what everybody else has to say.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I feel like none of us knew that was coming,

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_01]: by the way, when we started episode one.

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_01]: We kind of got hints of like, hey, this is, you know,

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_01]: it's not going to go the way you expect it to go.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_01]: But we didn't know quite where it was going.

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_01]: So when that page hit my hand, it hit hard.

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_01]: When we got there and filmed the scene on the day,

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_01]: oh, it was gutted.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think everybody else was too.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think it's going to be,

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm really, really curious about how it's going to go.

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm really curious to hear what the fans think.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, it's been like your,

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I know we can't talk about the second part,

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: but the first part of the season six.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Like what was your favorite scene or moment?

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Um, you know, I really liked, like early on,

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_01]: we have kind of like the peacetime and the valley moments.

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_01]: The group of us, those were really fun just to actually like

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_01]: be in good spirits with everybody.

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_01]: The flag fight was really fun.

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_01]: The flag, those were really fun days because we actually had to

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_01]: run in those little pieces of cardboard on our feet.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Basically these shoes that are not shoes on wet astro turf.

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_01]: So we're just like slipping and sliding everywhere,

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_01]: which was really entertaining.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_01]: But honestly being a scene partner to Peyton in episode five

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and our fight and our,

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_01]: like the martial arts side of that.

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And then also the personal aspect of,

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_01]: of getting to be in the position for the first time where Sam sees

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_01]: the bad thing happening to Peyton or tutorial and not having

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_01]: been the cause of it to really watch that happen on her face

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_01]: and watch her pain was incredibly impactful as a person

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and as an actress and seeing what, what Peyton was capable of.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's just awesome.

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_01]: It was epic, but also as for a character,

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I think that was like a really meaningful scene for Samantha.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Samantha has been trained by, you know, we have Daniel that we

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_00]: have a little bit.

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: You've been trained by Johnny.

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_00]: My favorite moment of one of the episodes was Mike Barnes,

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Sean Kano, which I spoke to him a few days ago.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: He loved doing the whole training thing with you guys.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: That was a little bit about that.

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_01]: That was so fun.

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I feel like that was the, you know,

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_01]: we've got all the bad boys of karate now in one place,

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01]: which is just so bizarre, but like looking up on the deck and

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_01]: seeing, you know, Johnny and Daniel and Mike Barnes is just

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_01]: completely surreal from our point of view, by the way.

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_01]: But he's such a, he's so funny to, to watch his character

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: interact with everybody because like off camera,

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_01]: he's so nice and you know, in such good spirits.

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_01]: And then as soon as they call action, I mean it's like, wham.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_01]: And he's just while pacing up and down those lines and giving

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_01]: us the lecture.

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I was, I was intimidated.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to lie.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I was like, oh, it was such a tech.

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I might be more intense.

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought it's great too.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Cause the one of the things he told me was like, you know,

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_00]: when he filmed karate kid three, he goes, I'll,

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll be afraid of this guy the way he acted back then.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like, it's like such a different one, you know,

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_00]: 360 of him goes, this guy would have bullied the hell out

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_00]: of me.

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So now like with Sam, what's been your favorite thing about

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Samantha throughout these seasons?

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Um, you know, I love that, that Samantha gets knocked

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_01]: down a hundred times and gets back up a hundred more.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I think she's, she's extremely resilient.

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Um, and I think she's, uh, you know, like I said,

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_01]: she, she's on the journey of wanting to do the best she can

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and probably going about it all the wrong ways,

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_01]: but didn't we all as young people and don't we all,

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_01]: and you know, in life in general?

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I love that she doesn't let it stop her as many times

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_01]: as she takes the wrong path.

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_01]: She navigates back to find the right one.

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Amazing.

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I've asked this question through the last two weeks now,

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_00]: like, you know, the creators and have talked about possible

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_00]: spin offs.

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Would you want to see a Samantha spin off?

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: What would you like to see?

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I would love to.

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I, I,

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Samantha will be a part of my life forever regardless,

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_01]: but I would love to,

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_01]: to never have to say goodbye to Samantha.

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I think I've had such a blast.

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Um,

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I can see a million different, uh, versions of,

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_01]: of where Samantha could go or where she could end up.

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_01]: But I think most of all, you know,

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_01]: as long as, as she stays true to her, to her heart and her, um,

[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_01]: her pillar of self, which I think really comes back to Daniel

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and to martial arts, uh,

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_01]: any direction she goes, I think would be really fun to play out.

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Amazing.

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's end this by like,

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_00]: what's one thing you want to tell the Cobra Kai fans?

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Cause you know, like they're going to be heartbroken when

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_00]: the series ends.

[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I am. I'm one of them.

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I am too. Don't worry.

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I, I solved my way through every last onset.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I, you know, I would go,

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_01]: this is the last time you're punching me.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_01]: This is the last time I'm going to try and kick you. Like,

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, like every single last was as far as we know though,

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_00]: as far as we know, this is the last time you never know.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what I was going to say for all the times that I said,

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_01]: this is the end, you know, Ralph or Billy or, um,

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_01]: one of our producers would go, well, maybe, you know,

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe it's not, not goodbye forever. Goodbye for now. Um,

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_01]: so I think that's, that's the thing that, you know what?

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Ralph himself has, has talked about how, uh, he, you know,

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_01]: he's like, I've always been Daniel or so, you know,

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_01]: it's, it's always been a part of my life from the time that I did the karate kid to

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_01]: now. And that's a lot of years to be away from that character and still carry it with you.

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, I, you know, I believe the same. And I think that that's true for all of us,

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_01]: as long as we all keep, you know, the, uh, maybe not the strike first,

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_01]: try card, no mercy.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_01]: But maybe like some find balance, like Miyagi, no wisdom we can all hold on to

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and keep our fingers crossed and hope for more opportunities.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Is there one thing that you kept from the set? Can you tell us?

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I kept a couple of things. I'm not going to lie, but specifically there was

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_01]: like foam fingers, but they were karate hand shaped.

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay. And they had the different dojos names on them. So I did,

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I did take one of those.

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Mary, how come the listeners now, the viewers find you on social media to keep up with you?

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I know you've been posting upcoming, you know, teasers, pictures and everything.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_00]: How can they, how can they find you?

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, I'm mostly on Instagram at Miss Mary M. Mouser.

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And then I'm also a little bit on Tik Tok. I don't know.

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm more of a viewer of social media than I am good at participating in it,

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_01]: but definitely around these times I get really excited to see what all the fans think.

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm in the comments in there guys. I'm reading them.

[00:12:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I want to be serious.

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Mary, I want to thank you for giving me minutes. Good luck with the series.

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_00]: I can't wait for it. Everybody to check it out.

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much.