Gianni DeCenzo shines as Demetri Alexopoulos in one of the most talked about shows on Netflix, “Cobra Kai.”
”Cobra Kai” takes place over 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament with the continuation of the inescapable conflict between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Following the shocking results of the All Valley Tournament, Season 5 finds Terry Silver expanding the”Cobra Kai” empire and trying to make his “No Mercy” style of karate the only game in town. With Kreese behind bars and Johnny Lawrence setting karate aside to focus on repairing the damage he’s caused, Daniel LaRusso must call on an old friend for help.
”Cobra Kai” is written and executive produced by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg via their production company, Counterbalance Entertainment. Will Smith, James Lassiter and Caleeb Pinkett executive produce for Westbrook Entertainment along with Susan Ekins in association with Sony Pictures Television. Ralph Macchio and William Zabka also serve as executive producers. The cast includes: Ralph Macchio (Daniel LaRusso), William Zabka (Johnny Lawrence), Courtney Henggeler (Amanda LaRusso), Xolo Maridueña (Miguel Diaz), Tanner Buchanan (Robby Keene), Mary Mouser (Samantha LaRusso), Jacob Bertrand (Hawk), Gianni Decenzo (Demetri), Vanessa Rubio (Carmen), Peyton List (Tory) and Martin Kove (John Kreese) with Dallas Dupree Young (Kenny), Oona O’Brien (Devon), Griffin Santopietro (Anthony), Yuji Okumoto (Chozen) and Thomas Ian Griffith (Terry Silver).
Check out our interview with Gianni!
So season five Demetri is not the same guy that we met in season one. What has it been like playing him across the seasons and watching him grow?
Gianni: Yeah, honestly, Demetri is very different now, at least his situation has. The cool thing about Demetri is, no matter what happens to him, he always kind of seems to stay his nerdy self, which I love. But the cool thing about playing a character like Demetri for so many years is that he really kind of develops into his own person. You know, this is the first time I had the chance to play a character for so long, and the more you go, the longer you go, you really discover new things about the character that you never would have thought of. It’s really cool. I like what Demetri has become and like you said, he’s been on one heck of a journey going from, you know, being in the cafeteria, trying to stay low, only having one friend to now almost winning the All Valley and having the hottest girl in high school. Yeah, life is going very well for Demetri. But it’s been awesome.
That is awesome. You mentioned that this is the longest that you’ve played a single character. Is this something that you would like to do again in the future or would you prefer to stay with characters for a shorter time?
Gianni: It’s always difficult to decide because I love doing both. I love doing these one and done things where you play a character, you get to have a lot of fun, and then you move on to the next thing. But it’s also really great to have a group and kind of a community for so long. I mean, we’ve been doing “Cobra Kai” for so long that I like to consider us kind of like a little karate family. I think we do a lot more fighting than the normal family. At least I hope, I mean, we’re beating each other up. But it’s a lot of fun. I don’t know. I definitely would like to do a another show in the future. Maybe next time I won’t be as nerdy but who knows? That’s kind of who I am at my core. So we’ll see about that one.
With season five, what were some of the biggest surprises for you regarding Demetri?
Gianni: He got a summer job! He’s a man of his word. At the beginning of the season, he’s like, ‘well shoot, I guess I’m gonna go get a job,’ and sure enough. I mean Demetri, he doesn’t let idle time go by. He works. I’m proud of my boy. I’ve actually never had a summer job personally, so it’s kind of nice living vicariously through him. Although he’s a lot smarter than me, I could never get a job in tech. So, good for him. I just like seeing how Demetri is, you know, really developing as a more confident person. It’s just really cool to see him grow.
I agree. I really liked seeing him this season. And you get to come back because season six was just announced. How does it feel that that was just announced?
Gianni: It’s crazy. I mean, I was always trying to ensure that we do another season just because of the way that the last season left off. It’s like, ‘Okay, we got to do another one.’ I mean, I don’t know how the writers do it, but they always seem to top it. So yeah, here we are. I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen yet. I know that we have the Sekai Taikai coming up. And all I know is I gotta start, you know, training in real life and getting more flexible. That’s always been my biggest thing. So yeah, I gotta get ready for that. But it’s exciting. I’m just happy to get back to work.
That’s great. So, production hasn’t started yet?
Gianni: It has not yet. Now we will see when that happens.
And you’ve been a series regular since day one. I heard that season six is going to be the final season. How does that feel?
Gianni: It’s really bittersweet because on the one hand, I feel like we’re going to be ending on a really strong note. And, you know, any great thing has to eventually come to an end. You don’t want to go past its expiration date, so to say. But it’s bittersweet because I also don’t want it to end. I don’t want to, you know, have to say goodbye to this character. But who knows? I mean, there’s always talk of spin offs. I’m not guaranteeing anything, but we’ll see in the future. And I’m always going to stay connected with everyone. I think we’re kind of like a big family now. So as much as I hate them, I’m stuck with them. No, I’m kidding. I love them. Yeah, it’s crazy.
If you had your way with the final season, what would Demetri do?
Gianni: Oh, man, I don’t even know. I mean, I just want to see him, like really give his all in the Sekai Taikai. I mean, if they want him to win, that’s totally fine with me. I’ll be fine with that. I think Demetri definitely has a good shot at winning because, like I said, he almost won the All Valley. I was surprised he was able to go as long as he did with Robby. I’m just proud of my boy no matter what happens. I just kind of want to see him, you know, work on his karate, become stronger, maybe work on his Kamas a little bit more. I really had a fun time doing that in season four. It took me three months to work on that one Kama routine and it was a challenge, but I like doing weapons demonstrations. I’ve learned that now. So, maybe we’ll do that again. Or maybe he’ll break out the katana. We’ll see.
Either way, it’s gonna be cool. Is there anything from Demetri that you are going to take with you in future projects?
Gianni: I think the biggest thing is just learning how to work with people. Being on a show this long, you really develop those relationships and you learn how to work with people for so long and communicate. And I think that’s something I’m going to take with me to different sets because it’s super valuable, especially in this industry to learn how to collaborate with people. And then also just working on a character. Like I said, you know, I’ve never really had a character this long that I’ve been able to work on and so I think it’s taught me a lot about developing characters. I think I’ll always carry a piece of Demetri with me in some way. Hopefully not the, you know, sarcastic version of him that gets beat up all the time, but maybe that’s stuck with me (laughs).
What about the karate and the physicality of the character? Are you going to try to do roles that are just as active?
Gianni: I can if they want me to? I did do some Krav Maga prior to a Cobra Kai, which is like an Israeli sort of fight form that they use in the military. It’s more like street fighting though, so it’s not as flashy. We don’t have as many spin kicks or anything like that. So, I was kind of prepared going into “Cobra Kai,” but I definitely learned a lot more. I’m going to keep up with that and just try to stay in general shape and hey, if they want me to be an action hero like The Rock, I can totally do it.
Yeah, you’ll be ready for it.
Gianni: I’ll be a nerdy Rock.
So, in this wait time between season five and season six’s production. Are you working on anything else?
Gianni: I have a couple of projects in the works. A couple of things. You know, as an actor, things can always kind of be in the air, or you could be super stagnant for a while and then all of a sudden, you get so many different things happening at once. It’s always kind of like feast or famine in this industry. So yeah, there’s some stuff in the works, but we’ll see what happens. And then also, most recently, I’ve been working on some projects of my own. I would eventually want to produce a couple of TV shows and movies, but get back to me on that one. We’ll see what happens there. Hopefully it works out.
In the meantime, if people want to follow you and stay up to date with your work, what social media platforms can we follow you on?
Gianni: I have been most active on my Instagram but I do occasionally post on my TikTok, although I’m very bad at TikTok. It’s just @gianni_decenzo on both so yes. See me there and I do a lot of dumb things.
Is there anything else you’d like to add about your time on “Cobra Kai”?
Gianni: Just that, you know, it’s been kind of an honor. I mean, going into this, I did the one audition for Demetri and then that week, they told me to fly out to Georgia. And ever since then, it’s just been a crazy whirlwind of stuff. Yeah, it’s just been an awesome opportunity to be a part of something that so many people enjoy. I love doing it. I love meeting people that enjoy it too. Whenever I go to a convention or something like that, you see people from all walks of life. Like you’ll get children like five years old to like people 80 years old, like it really brings, I would say just about every generation and every kind of person together. Which I love. It’s really cool. So yeah, I’m very grateful.
