Trying to be successful in any creative industry can be incredibly rewarding, but if the opportunities aren’t coming in, it can also be deeply frustrating. At what point are you still holding on because you’ve put so much time and energy into a career that isn’t providing results? It appears this dilemma has weighed on the mind of “Cobra Kai” actor Courtney Henggeler for some time now.
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In a Substack post from the end of March, Henggeler officially announced that, after 20 years of being an actor, she’s stepping away from the industry. “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,” Henggeler wrote. She went on to describe the longing that came with being patient in the hopes that one day she would reap the benefits hoisted over every actor’s head:
“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. 20 plus years of this. I’m hungry.”
In her post, Henggler acknowledged that her long-running stint as the kind but fierce Amanda LaRusso on “Cobra Kai,” in addition to being directed by George Clooney in “The Boys in the Boat,” were her “golden goose” moments. It was only after the fact, however, that she realized that the process to get to these career highs wasn’t worth the toll it took on her.
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Courtney Henggeler got exhausted of going through the acting gauntlet
Throughout the two decades she gave to the industry, Henggeler found herself mostly appearing in one-off guest spots on shows like “House,” “NCIS,” “Fuller House,” “Bones,” and “Jane the Virgin.” But even those opportunities came with frustrations over simply having a single line. As she put it:
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“All I’ve ever known in my professional life was acting. But not even the art or craft of acting. All I’ve truly ever [known] 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).”
Even her recurring characters like Missy Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory” (whom Raegan Revord played as a kid on “Young Sheldon”) or Claudia on “Mom” weren’t invited back very much, which certainly frustrated her. Henggeler’s industry retirement post reads like someone who had an epiphany about her own self-worth and decided, rather than continue giving herself to a system where putting in the work doesn’t really result in promising gigs, the best path forward is the one she paves for herself. “What if we are the gauntlet,” Henggeler remarked in conclusion.
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Even with a recurring role on the “Karate Kid” spin-off series that breathed new life into the franchise, it appears Henggeler has had enough of the “gauntlet” that led to this stage in her acting career. It’s not easy to walk away from something you gave over two decades of your life to. Still, it seems she has hope for whatever endeavors she finds herself in next, and I only wish her the best. Solana Token Creator
