A New Jersey-born actress who spent much of her career subsisting on bit parts until she was cast in a starring role on a popular Netflix series is leaving acting after a 20-year career, according to a report by Advance/SILive.com sister site NJ.com.
Courtney Henggeler, 46, who starred as Amanda LaRusso alongside Ralph Macchio’s older and wiser Daniel LaRusso on “Cobra Kai,” the Netflix sequel series to 1984’s “Karate Kid,” has announced her retirement.
Henggler’s character ran a car dealership with her husband Daniel and often acted as a voice of reason during some of the series’ several karate-fueled encounters, the report said.
The series, which ran for six seasons beginning in 2018, threw its final punches in February.
“After 20 plus years of fighting the good fight in the acting business, I hung up my gloves on Friday,” Henggeler shared in an online post last week. “I called my agents and told them I was tapping out,” she said. “I no longer wanted to be a cog in the wheel of the machine.”
Moviegoers may also recognize Henggler from her appearance in the 2023 film “The Boys in the Boat,” directed by George Clooney, the report said.
“I’m considered one of the lucky ones,” she said. “I was on a series. A successful series. I made money. My face was on the billboards I longed for 20 plus years. I was directed by George Clooney for godsakes. This by all definitions is the golden goose.”
While Henggler may be moving on, Macchio is set to reprise the role that made “Wax on, wax off” part of classic movie lexicon again, when he stars alongside Jackie Chan in “Karate Kid: Legends,” which hits theaters on May 30.
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