I read in a previous interview that you get to know Samantha more with each season. What did you learn about her going into season four?
I think season four as
What do you love about coming back to a character like Sam season after season?
It’s been fun to grow with her. I thought I was looking at her from a very long lens in season one, where there were aspects of Samantha that I related to, but a lot of it was like, “Oh yeah, I remember that moment in my life, or I could picture how that might happen.” But then as time passed, we have gone through a lot of these phases of our life together, and I am now like, “Oh, this is right where I’m at.” There are seasons where I’m fighting back very genuine emotion—like, “Oh, I dealt with this literally last week. How do I handle this? I’m not even ready to process this.” But it’s been so great and cathartic in that way.
The other thing is that our writers are incredible, and they have done such a wonderful job of constantly developing and creating and pushing her forward, just like all of the other characters and all the new relationships. The other fun aspect of this show is… I feel like every season you put all the characters in a blender, and everybody is interacting with someone they haven’t interacted with before. I’m constantly getting to build relationships with different people.
How does the rivalry between Sam and Tory, played by Peyton List, evolve this season?
I think overall Samantha’s relationship with Tory is… Especially in season three, we saw the beginning of this, but it’s become less about an individual and more about what she represents for Samantha. By the end of season two and really throughout [Samantha’s] struggle in season three, Tory has kind of become the boogeyman for Samantha, and she’s representative of all these different parts that feel out of control in her life. There is so much to play with there that whatever interaction they end up in, it’s never exactly what I expect it to be, which is fun because as an audience member that’s the kind of stuff I love. But also, Peyton is so incredible to work with. We have an absolute blast chewing each other out and then turning around and high-fiving each other. I’m very curious to see what people say about Samantha and Tory after season four.
Speaking of, what do you enjoy most about playing out this rivalry with Peyton on-screen?
She’s so talented, and we have both gotten to grow these characters at the same time. I got to work in season one as Samantha and getting to know the character, but it was a very different story line. I think both of our characters started into the world of the karate of Cobra Kai. Samantha had training as a kid, but that was strictly Miyagi-Do. There was no big, bad dojo in the valley. It was for learning morals and learning balance and connecting with her father and Mr. Miyagi, and that was karate. Sam and Tory are almost on parallel but weirdly diverging paths. So I have so much fun with Peyton getting to play around with that. We enjoy messing around with each other in between takes. But also, it’s nice to know that your scene partner has your back and that we can yell and scream, and as soon as they say cut, we are like, “Oh my God, you got me so emotional on that one!” She is such a great scene partner, and I really love it. I think we have so much pushing the boundaries of that rivalry.