In a stunning revelation, Cobra Kai alum Courtney Henggeler decided to pull the plug on her acting career.
The 46-year-old New Jersey native made her announcement in a heartfelt blog post entitled “20 Plus Years” on March 30, leaving fans reeling over her unexpected departure.
“I called my agents and told them I was tapping out. I no longer wanted to be a cog in the wheel of the machine. When prompted to know what I did want to do, I simply replied, ‘I want to be the machine,'” Henggeler shared.
Stepping into the limelight as Amanda LaRusso in the hit TV series Cobra Kai, Henggeler’s decision may come as a shock to those who viewed her as a fixture in the entertainment industry.
Yet, she candidly expressed a sense of disenchantment with the grind of showbiz. “But not even the art or craft of acting. All I’ve truly ever knew was the hustle. The hustle, the grind, sprinkled occasionally with the odd acting job. Perhaps a line or two to TV’s Dr. House – ‘Sorry.’ (That’s it. That was my line. Genius),” she reflected.
Despite enjoying success on a beloved series, Henggeler felt this part of her career felt “stifling.”
“For years, I silenced the voice in my head, begging me to walk away. The voice, the constant gnawing. Not because of the acting itself. But because of the gauntlet I had to run to reach the acting. What once felt necessary, something I willingly participated, even celebrated, became stifling,” she shared.
Dropping fiery truth bombs, the Big Bang Theory star lamented the “recurring guest-star” roles that never truly panned out.
“And when all was said and done (or mimed. Sometimes, you gotta mime), it was back to the grind. Back to the wheel. Back to the machine. We survived off the crumbs. We filled our cup with the possibility; our mugs with delusion. Our plates were empty, but a golden goose hung over our heads. ‘Today might be the day. Today might be the day I reach the golden goose,'” she wrote.
Closing the post, she challenged the conventional wisdom of Hollywood: “What if we choose to believe we have the power? What if we had it all along? What if we have been handing our power away because we have been told that this is how it is done? We lose perspective on our own machine, because we are convinced we need another.”
“We wait for power to be bestowed upon us. We sign up for the gauntlets. We run the gauntlet, to prove our worth. To earn our place. To be crowned the power. What if we never needed to run the gauntlet? What if we are the gauntlet?”