Continuing where The Karate Kid films left off, Netflix's Cobra Kai has consistently delivered big, ambitious fight sequences. As the classic feud between Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence escalates, a new generation of martial artists has joined in on the action which has led to increasingly bigger fights. With Season 4 slated for release by the end of 2021, and Season 3 earning another Emmy Award nomination for its stunt coordination, the martial arts series has topped itself yet again as it keeps fans invested in its numerous sparring rivalries.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, stunt coordinator and performer Jahnel Curfman revealed the origins of Season 3's climactic battle in the LaRusso house, reflected on her own high-profile stunt work on some of Hollywood's biggest projects, and observed how training the cast for over three seasons has significantly increased their own martial arts competency.
Congrats on the Emmy nomination! I was talking to [fellow stunt coordinator] Hiro Koda ahead of the Season 3 premiere and he said you guys go a lot bigger and you definitely delivered.
Jahnel Curfman: [Series creators] Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg are quite ambitious. They see what we accomplished the season before and now they know what we're capable of and then we just go crazy. Every season somehow gets bigger and bigger; just when you think it can't, it does!
With the big climactic fight at the end of Season 3 in the LaRusso House, you've got all these fighters running choreography, moving cameras, Texas switches, and resets. How was it staging all of that?
The idea with the LaRusso house was it came up unexpectedly. Hiro and I have talked about this in a few interviews but that fight was originally supposed to take place in the backyard of the Miyagi house and because of the weather here in Atlanta in November, we got this huge storm moving through, so we were trying to figure out how to shoot this big finale sequence. Finally, the decision was to just move it into the LaRusso house which is on our soundstages so we'd have control over the environment, daylight, and that sort of thing.
So it came it really quick and we had to rework quite a few things in order to make it work. That house is set up really great anyway, so it was fun to get in there and just sort of tear it apart. [laughs] The goal was to make it longer, we wanted to make it longer and bigger than the high school before. We incorporated more cast into it, every single named cast member from the younger cast was built into the sequence.
Hiro has such a great eye for action, like nobody else that I've ever worked with and he just has this vision of what it's supposed to be and then starts from the beginning. We just work through creating the choreography and we have to do it in the space. We can't go to the studio and figure it out, we have to be in the space and it's not only teaching our stunt team and actors choreography but also our Steadicam operator who has intricate choreography is supposed to be and when. It's so intricate that it really blows my mind when I see it, like, "We pulled that off!"
Like you were saying, everyone gets their own moment to shine in that fight. How is working with the cast to see what they're capable of as you help them build up their competencies?
Well, we've trained them from the very beginning. Hiro started with them in Season 1 training them from the ground up so having been an integral part of their martial arts training. We're very attuned to what they're capable of. That's part of the challenge as well, staying true to the character and staying true to what specifically Hawk or Miguel would do at that moment while telling the story. I think having built that trust with them over several seasons allows us to go in and say this is what we have for you and this is what we have for you to do it.
They trust us that we're going to work on this for a few weeks and they'll be able to do it by the time it comes to shoot. Every once in and a while, we have to tweak something because it's not quite as performance-ready as we would like it to be, but, for the most part, the cast comes in and gives their trust because they know they're going to look good and they know they're going to stay safe.
I know it's tough picking favorites but is there anyone on the cast that surprised you in terms of how much they've grown with their stunt competency?
They've all really grown! Xolo and Jacob have improved so much. Peyton came in in Season 2 and, from the time that I first got her and ran her through her first fight to where we ended up at the end of Season 3, it was night and day. I definitely think that she's the one that has, when it comes to the choreography and action and martial arts, she's definitely improved the most from Day 1 to where she is now.
In addition to stunt coordination, you're still doing stunts yourself in some of the biggest movies in the world. How is it being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in movies like Avengers: Endgame or being in films like Jumanji?
It's one of the things that I love the most about this industry because I get to work on a TV show for a little and then I get to go work on a film for a little bit. It's nice to have a change of pace and scenery and having the luxury to be able to make those choices to do that. But it's different and it's really cool to go from a season of Cobra Kai and do Jumanji or work on Avengers and come back to Cobra Kai and go, "Oh, this feels really comfortable, this is family!" Yes, it's fun to go do big stunts on big movies and work with all these really big-name actors and incredible talent but, at the end of the day, it just feels really good to come back to a family as we have on Cobra Kai.
With so many stunt performers and coordinators moving on to become directors, like the John Wick guys, do you have aspirations to take your career in that direction as well?
I don't see myself advancing in the director direction. I am coordinating right now, which I really, really love, but I think I'll move more to the producing side. I like the organization of it and bringing everybody together for the production as a whole, pulling all the pieces together to make it happen. As of right now, I don't really see myself as a director but I also never wanted to coordinate either so that can always change! [laughs]
After coordinating three seasons of increasingly more ambitious fights, what's the secret behind developing an effective fight sequence?
I think it's choreographing it and implementing it in a way that doesn't sell your fans short and not just throwing flash in there because it looks cool. You want to give credit to your audience and give them that moment where this is part of who this character is and what they'd do. It doesn't only look cool but it makes sense for them to be doing what they're doing. There's a lot of movies that I watch where they throw a flashy kick or a cool trick that looks amazing but doesn't really make sense there and I just feel like that sells the audience short. They want something that is going to help push the story, build the character and make it feel like it fits, not just giving it the icing on the cake for a shiny presentation. There's substance there.
What is one stunt sequence from Cobra Kai Season 3 that you're particularly proud of?
From Season 3, it would be the LaRusso house fight. Although I have to say, the fight in the dojo between Daniel, Johnny, Kreese, and Robby and then they go through the window of Cobra Kai. That was a giant sequence and there was so much involved in that. We're really seeing Daniel and Kreese go at it for the first time ever which just blew my mind. That was amazing for me, from Season 3, that sequence -- our two stuntmen went through that window and that was a big stunt. They went through it onto the concrete together and then we pulled glass out of their skin, cleaned up the blood, patched up the wounds, and then they did it again. It was a big, big sequence.
Do you have your own personal connection to The Karate Kid movies before joining the production of Cobra Kai?
Yeah, those movies came out when I was a teenager and even though I wasn't training in martial arts at the time, I was a gymnast and I was competing. It was like a feel-good sports movie like Rudy or Hoosiers, you watch The Karate Kid as an athlete and you connect with that feeling of overcoming something physically, mentally, and emotionally that you're putting yourself into with this craft and coming out on the other end. It really resonated with me as a young kid and athlete, even though I wasn't a martial artist. My favorite Karate Kid movie is Part 2 and the love story in Part 2, as a teenage girl, was everything!
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