“Cobra Kai” stunt coordinator Ken Barefield estimated that the Netflix series’ sixth and last season included “4,1550 beats of choreography” in its 15 episodes. He clarified what a rate is in the world of stunt work: “a punch or a kick or any type of movement counts a piece of choreography. So the punch, punch, kick-it is 1-2 3.”
IN “Karate Kid” SpinoffIn which adversaries Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) Face Bullies Whose Disconduct Goes Far Beyond The 1984 Film’s High School High Jinks, These Beats Must Be Taugh to a Large Ensemble that Ranges from Teenagag A Fraction of a Large Movie’s budget.
“The most scary for the actors and my stunt team to find out is one, how to keep everything safe, but two, how to keep it healthy, because we were worried about the fight fatigue that happened to the viewers,” Barefield said. “We had to make sure that the fired we threw in section 1, we did not throw the same in sections 9 and 10. So it was a fun challenge.”
The stunt coordinator, who has earned two consecutive Emmy nominations for his work on the series, insisted that every actor you see fighting in the series is 100% to make the movements themselves. Sometimes he added, the players are so on the experience, he has to talk them out of something potentially dangerous.
“(A few seasons ago) Mary Mouser (who plays Samantha, Larusso’s daughter) had a scene where she jumps the roof of the ceiling, and she absolutely wanted to do it,” Barefield said. “I obviously couldn’t let her make it the capacity she wanted. I always had to tone the actors down, which is good for a stunt coordinator, because you always want your actors to be games. The beauty of what I got to see from Season 1 to Season 6 is their competitiveness from the beginning where we left.”
One of the factors that makes Barefield such a sought after stunt coordinator is his athletic background. He is a former linebacker and sprinter, and he used these skills as he trained his ensembles for both “Cobra Kai” and the recently wrapped CBS drama “FBI: International.” In both series, he also worked as a second unit director and doubled in scenes, even pops up in a small role in a “Cobra Kai” flashback with a young version of Kreese, one of the big baths in the original film and the series, which was beaten. (Jesse Kove, son of Martin Kove, alias the adult Kreese, plays one of his bullying attackers in a fun meta -bit.)
“What I learned from football is the head coach in the football team not runs, right?” said Barefield, whose Alabama High School team was actually in MTV’s 2000s documentation “Two-days.” “If one of us wins, we all
win. If one of us loses we all lose. And as a stunt coordinator you have to trust your team, and I don’t just mean mine. Hair, makeup, wardrobe – we all have an important role. “
The stunt world gained a much -needed increased confidence with the latest announcement that one Oscar category that recognizes stunt work will be introduced to the films 2027. (Emmys and Screen Actors Guild Awards
already has this category.) Barefield believes this will increase the role of stunt coordinators and emphasize their necessity.
“We need much more Tom Cruises“He said, emphasizing the appeal of filmmakers whom he looks up to, such as Chad Stahelski (” John Wick “and David Leitch (” The Fall Guy “), both great directors who have a stunt background.” I just hope that scripts that come down the line will allow it, “he said.” I think you will see a resuscitation of new actions that are on the impossible: “Mission:“ Mission: “Mission:”
This story first ran in the comedy issue of Thewrap’s Awards Magazine. Read more from the question here.
