Cobra Kai's Dallas Dupree Young Reveals What It's Really Like Working With Martin Kove And Thomas Ian Griffith - Exclusive

As the Miyagiverse continues to expand through the Netflix series "Cobra Kai," more unique characters are introduced to the saga that kicked off with the 1984 classic film "The Karate Kid." Among them is Dallas Dupree Young's Kenny Payne, who was introduced to "Cobra Kai" in Season 4 and takes on a bigger role in Season 5.

Of course, the foundation for the Miyagiverse was laid with the intense rivalry between high school teens Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and their respective senseis, Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita) and John Kreese (Martin Kove). After Daniel defeated Johnny in the All-Valley tournament at the conclusion of "The Karate Kid," the bad blood carried through to "The Karate Kid: Part III." It's there where Kreese's longtime friend and fellow soldier Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) is introduced, and the duo concocts a plan for the martial arts expert to corrupt Daniel.

Season 4 of "Cobra Kai" established Terry as a core character in the series who uses his money and power to shore up Kreese's Cobra Kai dojo in an effort to bring down Daniel's Miyagi-do and Johnny's Eagle Fang dojo. One of the big twists in Season 4 came with the unexpected behavior of Daniel's son, Anthony (Griffin Santopietro), who bullies Kenny. But unlike the path Daniel took in "The Karate Kid," Kenny is drawn to the "No Mercy" mindset of Cobra Kai to learn karate as a way to get even with Anthony. Naturally, since Kenny joined Cobra Kai, many of Young's scenes were opposite Kove and Griffith, and it created enough memories to last him a lifetime.

In an exclusive interview with Looper, Dallas Dupree Young said his first interaction with Martin Kove — whom he referred to as "Mr. Marty" — during Season 4 was intimidating, mainly because of the aura he radiates as the indomitable John Kreese. Young quickly discovered, however, that there's a big difference between the actor and the character Kove plays.

"He's such a strong and powerful figure, looking at him. I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, I don't want to go up to him. What am I going to do?'" Young recalled of meeting Kove. "He saw that I was really nervous to talk to him. He comes up to me, he's like, 'Hey, I'm Martin. Nice to meet you. Happy to have you on the show.' I was like, 'Oh, nice to meet you too, sir. Can't wait to go on this journey with you.' I was so giddy and excited. I could say he's a gentle giant because he looks so intimidating, but he's one of the nicest people you could meet. He's so full of energy."

If that weren't enough, Young also got to share scenes with Thomas Ian Griffith in Season 4, and even more in Season 5.

Dallas Dupree Young told Looper that "Cobra Kai" Season 5 was about Kenny's evolution from a boy to a man, which is facilitated by his training in the Cobra Kai dojo. As such, Young shared more scenes with "Mr. Thomas Ian Griffith" — Young is big into formalities — and he called his time with the veteran actor "unbelievable."

"[Thomas] played such a prominent role in my character development. He is such a nice person," Young enthused. "He is very serious about his work, too. That's so important in that environment. The good thing is, he's really good at karate. He's been doing karate since the 'Karate Kid' days. He also got to teach us a little bit while we were on the set for Season 4. That was really cool."

All five seasons of "Cobra Kai" are streaming exclusively on Netflix.