The comedy-drama series, Cobra Kai, is a great watch for those who grew up watching The Karate Kid films by Robert Mark Kamen. The television series tells the Karate Kid narrative from Johnny Lawrence’s point of view who is played by William Zabka. One of the most prominent parts of the show has been its bullying, something that almost every kid at West Valley High School has experienced.
Cobra Kai has never shied away from exposing the harsh reality of bullying. In the show, each character takes turns bullying the other, including Tanner Buchanan’s Robby Keene and Xolo Maridueña’s Miguel Diaz. However, there is one character who has managed to maintain his calm throughout the seasons despite taking the brunt of it all – Gianni DeCenzo’s Demetri Alexopoulos.
Gianni DeCenzo is Glad His Character Never Bullied in Cobra Kai
Cobra Kai is moving into its sixth season which will be released in three parts, the first of which is coming out today (July 18).
The fifth season was released in 2022 and Slash Film had the golden opportunity of participating in a roundtable discussion with Cobra Kai’s cast members including Dallas Dupree Young (Kenny), Griffin Santopietro (Anthony), Gianni DeCenzo (Demetri), and more.
When the topic of bullying was ignited during the discussion, Santopietro and Young opened up about the power shift between their characters. The former stated,
I think kind of the biggest change with Dallas and I is that we completely switch when I go from the bully to the victim, and Dallas beats me up all the time now. So I think we have had a lot of fun getting to switch.
On the other hand, Young is just glad that his character (Kenny) standing up to the bullying inspired the viewers to do the same in real life. He added that while he does not promote violence in any shape or form, he will always advise kids to tell a trusted adult if anything wrong happens to them.
The good thing about my character is that a lot of people relate to this, and it is such a difficult topic. A lot of people have come to me, and they’ve talked about the fact that I have inspired them to stand up to bullying, and not in a physical way, but to go to … a trusted adult, especially that.
And they’ve said I was able to stop my bully. Honestly, that’s so special to me, and it means a lot to me, but that’s the message that I’m trying to give off with Kenny, is that you can’t allow your bully to affect your life. And I do not promote violence, but just tell a trusted adult.
Adding to the conversation, DeCenzo joked that it felt good to play a character (Demetri) who was always “in the right” since he never resorted to bullying anyone despite being on the receiving end of it tons of times.
He said,
It’s very relieving to always be in the right. I enjoy it quite a bit.
Demetri often stands up against bullying and even though he has come face to face with challenges and confrontations with people, especially Hawk, the guy never stoops down to misusing his karate skills. He’s a great example of how you can maneuver through your problems without taking the route of aggression and intimidation.
In a world full of Robbys (Tanner Buchanan) and Miguels (Xolo Maridueña), let’s strive to be a Demetri!
Demetri is a Confident Introvert and Gianni DeCenzo Agrees
In an interview with What’s on Netflix that took place earlier this year, DeCenzo learned a new term, “Confident Introvert,” and he realized that there’s no better term out there that could be used to describe Demetri.
The interviewer stated that Demetri was one of his favorite characters since he comes across as a “confident introvert” and because of his journey of gaining the ability to defend himself.
To this, DeCenzo replied,
Yeah, I like that. I’ve never heard of a confident introvert, but that’s totally, that’s spot-on. He knew who he was from the very beginning. It was just a matter of being willing to step outside of himself.
In the interview, DeCenzo also stated that he only wants to see his character grow even more in season six and although he couldn’t give out any spoilers, he reassured the fans that the new season will be great.
Stream Cobra Kai on Netflix.
