Cobra Kai alum Courtney Henggeler has revealed that she is quitting acting after two decades in Hollywood.
The New Jersey native, 46, announced her decision to leave Hollywood in a post titled “20 Plus Years” on her Notes From the Guest Cottage blog on March 30.
“After 20-plus years of fighting the good fight in the acting business, I hung up my gloves on Friday,” Courtney began in her post. “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.’”
The actress, who was known for playing Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Macchio) wife, Amanda LaRusso, in all six seasons of Cobra Kai on Netflix, added that she has only ever “known acting” in her professional life.
“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),” Courtney continued.
The Big Bang Theory alum also expressed frustration with “recurring guest-star” roles “that never seemed to recur.”
“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,’” Courtney wrote, noting that she’s “hungry.”
Though Courtney admitted that she’s “considered one of the lucky ones” because she was “on a successful series,” she added that she’s still “famished.”
“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 continued. “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.”
Courtney concluded, “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?”
In addition to Cobra Kai, which came to an end after the release of season 6, part 3 in February, Courtney was known for playing Sheldon Cooper’s sister, Missy, in The Big Bang Theory and Claudia in Mom. She also appeared in Jane the Virgin, Faking It, Working Class and the 2023 film The Boys in the Boat.
