After his time on Disney XD playing Kirby Buckets, actor and CHS senior Jacob Bertrand will be starring in the new TV series “Cobra Kai” on YouTube Red. “Cobra Kai” is based off of the original “Karate Kid” movies, telling the story of Johnny and Danny LaRusso and their rivalry between each other. The new series follows Johnny and all of his struggles as he trains his students for the All Valley Karate Tournament at the reopened karate dojo. Bertrand plays Eli, also known as Hawk, and is involved with major characters’ arcs and many action scenes.
Bertrand came across the new series due to his agent calling and telling him about the show. He was excited about the audition and was looking forward to something new, as he has never worked with YouTube Red before. During his audition, he had discovered that when he had arrived, he was sent the wrong script. Bertrand was given about ten minutes to read the correct script, then immediately went back inside to do his audition.
“About three hours later, I received a call from my agent saying I had booked the role,” Bertrand said. “The whole situation felt pretty surreal.”
Although “Cobra Kai” marks Bertrand’s first time ever in his career working with YouTube, he feels that the company is easy to work with as they are very organized and professional. As previously stated, he worked on his own show called “Kirby Buckets” with Disney XD, playing the titular character. He also appeared in the Nickelodeon TV movie “Marvin Marvin.” Along with movies and TV shows, he did commercials and voice overs when he was younger, and from there he worked his way up. Compared to YouTube, Bertrand feels that Disney XD and Nickelodeon both worked at a little faster pace, but this is due to the fact that his hours were much shorter because he was still a minor. When he was on “Kirby Buckets”, the show was a single cam shot and not a multi-cam shot opposed to what is used most commonly now. YouTube is a lot slower, so there is a lot more time to work on lines and relax.
“While offset the guys are really cool. Billy Zabka (main character Johnny Lawrence) is hilarious and a really great actor,” Bertrand said. “Xolo Mariduena (Miguel) is my best friend on the show and man that kid is funny and great to hang out with. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”
Overall, Bertrand is super excited and happy to be working with YouTube Red. He is open to new types of opportunities like YouTube, feeling as if he has truly benefited from the experience. In the end, CHS is looking forward to watch their fellow classmate in “Cobra Kai,” eager to see his coming accomplishments.