“During springs I silenced the voice in my forefront, begging me to walk away. The voice, the constant rust. Not because of the interpretation itself. But because of the sleeve I had to go through to reach the interpretation,” says the actress, deciding that enough was enough.
Courtney Henggeler may not be a household name, but she has built a solid career over two decades, and even found a new generation of fans with her starring role as Amanda Larusso in Cobra Kai. But she has also decided to step away.
In a Post published at the end of last month that is starting to make the rounds in the media now, the actress said she had made the decision and “hung up my gloves” on Friday, March 28 after more than two decades in the business.
“I called my agents and told them I was calling it quits,” she wrote. “I no longer wanted to be a cog in the machine”.
This despite coming off the most significant role of her career so far as one of the leads in a popular series that ran for six seasons. She even admitted that with this role, she was considered in the industry “one of the lucky ones”.
“I was on a show. A successful show. I made money. My face was on the billboards I had coveted for over 20 years,” she wrote. “I was directed by George Clooney for Godsakes. This by all definitions is the golden swan”.
And yet, now what?
She wrote that her entire professional life has been acting, before correcting herself immediately.
“But not even the art or craft of acting,” she wrote. “All I ever really knew was the hustle. The hustle, the routine, occasionally sprinkled with the odd acting job. Maybe a line or two for TV’s Dr. House – ‘I’m sorry’ (That’s it. That was my line. Genius)”
She spoke of pursuing the “recurring guest star destiny that never seemed to arrive… and that no matter how high or low the success, whether a single line or a starring role, “when all was said and done (or mimed. Sometimes, you have to indulge), it was back to the routine. Back to the wheel. Back to the machine”.
The Big Bang Theory actress, known for her role as Sheldon’s twin, Missy, wrote about how the highs and lows always seemed to turn back into lows: “We survived the crumbs. We filled our cup with possibility; our cups with hope”.
“Our plates were empty, but a golden swan hung over our heads. Today could be the day. Today could be the day I reach the golden swan” She wrote. “Over 20 years of this”.
She wrote that for years she “silenced the voice in my forefront, begging me to walk away. The voice, the constant rust. Not because of the interpretation itself. But because of the sleeve I had to go through to reach the interpretation”.
“What once felt necessary, something I willingly participated in, even celebrated, became suffocating,” she added.
When her agency asked her what she wanted to do if she no longer wanted to be “a cog in the machine,” as she had put it, Henggeler told them: “I want to be the machine”.
And so, she proposed a different perspective, a different way of looking at the machine, or perhaps building an entirely new machine.
“What if we choose to believe we have the power? What if we had it all along?” She posits. “What if we’ve been giving away our power because we’ve been told that’s how it’s done. We lose sight of our own machine, because we are convinced we need another”.
“We wait to be granted power. We run the gauntlets. Run the sleeve, to prove our worth. To earn our place. To be crowned the power” she reflected.
“What if we never needed to run the sleeve?” She concluded her thoughts. “What if we are the sleeve?”
Henggeler’s decision comes after her most significant career role to date, as the wife of the series in Netflix’s Karate Kid Spin-off from May 2018 to February 2025 (the series aired on YouTube Red/YouTube Premium for its first two seasons).
With the end of that series, she was presumably looking to slip back into the “hustle”. Historically, there is no guarantee that anyone coming off a big TV series has a greater chance of future success, or even big roles.
Henggeler had previously enjoyed steady work in both television and film since her first leading role in the 2003 B-Horror film Sweltering Creatures. She would appear in over a dozen films and make guest and recurring appearances on shows including Home, The Big Bang Theory, Criminal Minds, NCIS, Mom, Bones, Jane the Virgin, and Fuller House.
The Karate Kid Universe is set to continue with the momentum of Karate Kid: Legends on May 30, 2025. Starring Ralph Macchio again as Daniel Larusso, alongside Jackie Chan, Joshua Jackson, Ming-na Wen, and others, it is unclear if his wife Amanda, portrayed by Henggeler in Cobra Kai, will appear.
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