Lewis Tan on ‘Cobra Kai,’ Acting Craft, & Favourite Films

When he saunters onto the screen as Sensei Wolf, a domineering martial artist with a murky past, Lewis Tan plays a convincing villain: abrasive, cruel, and camera-commanding. Speaking over the phone, however, there’s an ocean between Tan’s affable character and the antagonist he plays on screen. The 37-year-old actor is thoughtful and introspective; gratitude spills into every sentence. Of course, he’s got plenty to celebrate. After lighting up the box office with 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, Lewis Tan flew north to film Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, an ensemble comedy featuring James Marsden, Vince Vaughn, and Eiza González. Plus, season six of Cobra Kai is set to premiere its third (and final) instalment on February 13th. It’s an action-packed schedule, to be sure, but never chaotic. Look at these projects together, and they’ll tell a larger story — Lewis Tan is building a legacy.

“It’s crazy, because I’ve grown up in that world and I know it so well,” Tan says of the Cobra Kai set. Filled with cutthroat sparring, the series shows off Lewis Tan’s extensive martial arts training. As much as the two differ in personality, Wolf and Tan share the same physical prowess; Tan’s fighting skills bring an authentic edge to his performance. Raised in California’s San Fernando Valley — the setting of the Emmy-nominated series — the actor has plenty of firsthand experience. “I used to personally fight in those tournaments,” Tan explains. “I’ve been there before, and I know exactly it feels, what it smells like.”

Tan recalls these years with fondness, looking back on local tournaments and training sessions. None of his teachers had the hardcore methods of Sensei Wolf, though he remembers a certain old-school sensibility — physically strict, but charming, too. “I took a lot of influences, from all of these experiences that I’ve had in my life, to carefully build the character,” he explains.

Navigating the distance between the world of Cobra Kai and his own, Tan’s performance becomes all the richer. His fighting experience portrays action as realism, grounding Sensei Wolf’s villainous bravado. “Sensei Wolf was strange because it was so personal, and I know this world so well. It was tricky to build this character into something unique — [something] that wasn’t exactly personal — because I wanted him to have a mystery about him,” explains Tan. “When the show first came out, I got a lot of people asking me, like, ‘Where’s Sensei Wolf from? What’s the accent you’re doing?’ But I think there’s a nice mystery to it that makes him interesting. You’ll see, as the season progresses, that there’s a reason why I built that mystery around him.”

Describing his craft, Tan references an age-old dichotomy between personal and performative. To act is to evoke real emotion in unreal conditions — or, as acting instructor Sanford Meisner once put it, “Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” Like potters and painters, actors take their medium — emotion — and rearrange it. Feelings are stretched, sculpted, and shaved until they resemble something new.

“It’s strange, you know? Like, there’s a part of you that in every character that you play,” says Lewis Tan. “Even if you’re playing a really horrible character — a murderer or something — there are still parts that you can at least try to understand and empathize with.” These roles are an opportunity for self-discovery, too. Each character has aspects that resonate, says the Mortal Kombat star. Challenging roles sharpen his understanding of himself and those around him.

“You want to be as truthful as you can. When you’re an actor, the number one goal is tell the truth. Live in this character as much as you can, but then, also: don’t be boring,” Tan explains. “As an Asian actor, like, you really need to stand out, or else no one’s gonna look twice. When I was younger, I was doing guest star roles and smaller parts, and I was like ‘Okay, how can I stand out? What kind of action can I do? How can I make my body language interesting in this? What character quirks can I have, that people will think about and remember?”

Part of the work, Tan explains, is about observing others. He names idols like Benicio del Toro, Joaquin Phoenix, and Steve McQueen. But he finds inspiration outside of the industry, too. “I travel so much, I see so many… intriguing things that people are doing, and I’m always asking myself, ‘Why?'” says the actor. He jots down memories in his phone, keeping them in his back pocket for future roles.

Sometimes, these notes manifest visually. In Cobra Kai, for instance, Tan mentions that a childhood figure inspired his costume. “My character, he always wears prayer beads. They’re not practical to fight with, but my sensei used to wear them. He used to always have them underneath his Gi. I remember distinctly, because when I was young, he would throw me on the floor — you know, we’d be doing martial arts — and I could feel the beads, like, pushing against me on my skin, and I was always like, ‘Why are these beads there? They’re just going to snap off,'” he recalls. “I put the beads on Wolf in honour of him, but it also adds something intriguing, you know? If you look close enough in the character, you can see it.”

Roles like these are layered, demanding psychological and physical preparation. For Tan, these two components work in tandem. “When I’m filming, I’m always training, and that helps a lot,” he says. “Martial arts is a very interesting thing, because it’s all about being truthful in the moment. For instance, just simply put: if somebody’s throwing a punch at your face, and you don’t move out the way, you’re gonna get punched in the face. So you have very, very simple things to think about, and I think that it almost becomes a meditative type of thing for me.”

When production wraps, Tan makes a point to process his experience. It’s not an elaborate routine, he explains, but just a moment to decompress. “After I finish a series or film, I’ll take a week off and I’ll go somewhere. I’ll just spend time meditating and processing the experience, you know? It’s not just getting rid of a role or whatever — you’ve had an experience. You’ve met 100 new people. You’ve been in a new city, been living there for six months or a year, and a chunk of your life is now that film, or that show, and you need to process it,” he says. “If you don’t process those experiences, I think it can build up and take a toll on you.”

Film is a part of Tan’s downtime too. As a viewer, Tan calls the cinematic experience “sacred,” counting French New Wave classics (Les Quatre Cent Coups, Bande à Part) and turn of the millennium staples (Kill Bill, The Matrix, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) among his favourites. “I really do feel like films can change you. I’ve had that experience,” he says.

On that note, Tan mentions a few recent trips to the theatre. “I watched Dune 2 in IMAX, and I left the theatre just like ‘…Oh my God.’ Just the way that Denis shot it, the sound design, everything; it blew me away. I remember watching it in the theatre with all of these people, and everyone was shook. You could feel the energy — and yeah, I love those moments,” he says. Anora left an impact, too, he adds: “Anora was incredible. The whole theatre was laughing, people were crying. I love those experiences — they just make you feel like you’re part of the zeitgeist, and you’re a part of things moving. The art is alive.”

At home, Tan dims the lights, checks the sound quality, and turns his phone off before pressing play. It’s part of the experience, he says. “Whether it’s a film or a series, give it that moment to be sacred and let it impact you the way that it’s supposed to impact you,” he says. Lewis Tan says his father, Phil Tan, sparked his fondness for cinema. Phil, a fight coordinator and stuntman, would show action films at home. “He was introducing me to Peter Sellers, to Sidney Poitier, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Cary Grant, Jackie Chan — all the people — [when] we would sit and watch films,” Tan explains. “He’s one of the reasons why I love movies.”

Phil Tan included 1984’s The Karate Kid on the marquee. So, when Lewis Tan joined the cast of Cobra Kai — a sequel to the massive Karate Kid franchise — it was a full-circle moment. “It was kind of a surreal, nostalgic feeling, fighting Billy [Zabka] and Ralph [Macchio] at the same time,” Tan says. “I grew up watching The Karate Kid. My father loves those movies so much, it’s like a part of my childhood. Then, I’m standing in front of them.”

That said, Lewis Tan isn’t limited to action. He’s interested in roles that challenge him, searching to build a portfolio that he’ll be proud of. “I think that if the work is good — if I’m doing my best, and I’m putting in all the effort — then I’m doing the right thing,” Tan says. Of course, he adds that he wants to make his family proud, too, but that comes from making his own decisions; Tan chooses his own roles based on instinct. If there’s any pressure, he says it comes from within. “For me, it’s more of a personal thing — personal growth, being proud of my work.”

With that, the conversation shifts to Tan’s upcoming role in the new Andrew Lazar comedy, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice. Details are scarce, but Tan tells me as much as he can. The cast is filled with glamour, led by Swingers star Vince Vaughn — whom Tan calls “super nice, charming, and very quick-witted; exactly as you’d expect” — alongside James Marsden and Eiza González. “People are going to be surprised when they see this movie,” says the actor. He describes it as having a nostalgic, 80s-90s quality to it — there’s no cheesy needle-drops or references to TikTok. “And,” he adds, “I didn’t have to hurt anyone!”

Even closer on the horizon is the third instalment of Cobra Kai‘s sixth season. As showrunner Jon Hurwitz confirmed on X (formerly Twitter), the third part will be the final chapter for the series. Scheduled to drop on February 13th, the premiere will mark the end of a prolific action franchise. Tan says viewers will see a softer side of Sensei Wolf. In fact, as he peels back the layers of his character, Tan’s performance on Cobra Kai becomes a microcosm of his work as a whole. For Tan, acting prompts self-reflection; each role enriches his connection to those around him. With the third instalment of Cobra Kai, he hopes that viewers will share the sentiment, and, as he puts it: “understand a more intimate part of me, and what I’m trying to do, just by watching the work.”

The third and final part of Cobra Kai, Season 6 will be available to stream on Netflix starting February 13th, 2025.

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