Naturally, it was only a matter of time before the iconic villain appeared on “Cobra Kai,” which drops its fifth season Friday on Netflix.
Take for instance his popular role as AJ Quartermaine enjoying two stints on “General Hospital,” as well as his “The Bold and the Beautiful” character Deacon Sharpe, who currently can be seen on sister show, “The Young and the Restless.”
We recently caught up with Kanan to discuss his fleeting memories of Northeast Ohio, martial arts and what it’s like playing a role described as an “iconic villain.” I was born at Mt. Sinai Hospital and we lived in Shaker Heights. I have very few memories. We left when I was 5 and moved to New Castle, Pa. I do remember we lived across the street from one of my best friends, whose dad was a lineman for the Cleveland Browns. Of course, we got into that, “My dad can take your dad” thing and my dad very quickly corrected me and said, “No. Let that go.”I got into it when I was about 15 years old, right around the same time I saw “Karate Kid.
When everybody found out “Cobra Kai” was going to be a reality, of course, I thought it would be great if at some point Mike Barnes was able to make an appearance. It took a minute but it was well worth the wait.I kept up with my martial arts. I certainly have a chance to use it during season 5. It wasn’t that difficult to kind of dust off the proverbial black sleeveless gi. Ralph and I had really great chemistry together. We fell right back into it.