“Cobra Kai” Star Quits Acting: “I Want to Be the Machine”

Hollywood can be hard for everyone; even those on a hit Netflix series.

After 20 years of acting, Courtney Henggeler decided to hang it up. This comes after the “Karate Kid” spin off “Cobra Kai” ended its six season run on Netflix. She starred as wife Amanda LaRusso to Ralph Maccio’s Daniel LaRusso.

I Walk From My Machine

The announcement came via Henggeler‘s Substack where she posts a weekly newsletter.

Henggeler starts the note by telling readers she called her agents and said “I no longer wanted to be a cog in the wheel of the machine… I want to be the machine.” 

“Cobra Kai” was her biggest role to date. According to IMDB, every show she landed on since her perceived start in Hollywood has her listed as a featured actor for one episode or recurring for a handful.

Henggeler notes how tough breaking into the industry can be. And how staying takes more effort than ever.

“All I’ve ever known in my professional life was acting. But not even the art or craft of acting. All I’ve truly ever knew was the hustle,” she continues. “The hustle, the grind, sprinkled occassionally [sic] with the odd acting job. Perhaps a line or two to TV’s Dr. House – “Sorry” (that’s it. That was my line. Genius).”

After the bit parts, it was always “Back to the wheel. Back to the machine,” she adds.

No Mercy

The letter is drenched with Henggeler’s frustration. She adds in a metaphor about living off crumbs the industry feeds actors and always being famished. This is not the first time she’s thought about walking away – the notion has been a constant thought. But the pressure of more or less faking it became too much.

“For years I silenced the voice in my head, begging me to walk away. The voice, the constant gnawing,” Henggeler writes. “Not because of the acting itself. But because of the gauntlet I had to run to reach the acting. What once felt necessary, something I willingly participated [sic], even celebrated, became stifling.”

While Henggeler leaves life in front of the camera, she doesn’t necessarily leave out the idea of working behind it. The letter ends with her questioning if those without power originally gave it away not because they wanted to but because they had to. 

“We wait for power to be bestowed upon us. We sign up for the gauntlets. We run the gauntlet, to prove our worth. To earn our place. To be crowned the power,” she writes. 

“What if we never needed to run the gauntlet? What if we are the gauntlet?” Henggeler concludes. 

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