Inside Cobra Kai newcomer Lewis Tan's life from famous family to 'awkward' Ryan Reynolds moment

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Cobra Kai.

Cobra Kai season six has returned for part two but what is there to know about Sensei Wolf actor Lewis Tan?

subscribers have been patiently waiting for the show to make a comeback for its next lot of episodes with part two of the sixth and final outing being dropped on Friday, November 15.

In these episodes, Sensei Wolf, leader of the Iron Dragons dojo, is introduced and winds up Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) from the get-go.

And with Sensei Wolf playing a key role in season six, part two, fans are curious to know all there is about the actor behind the new rival.

Famous family

Born in Salford, Manchester, 1987, actor Lewis Tan was the eldest of four sons, but spent the majority of his childhood in Los Angeles, but also lived in England and China.

Half English and half Chinese, Tan is the son of retired fashion model Joanne Cassidy and Chinese Singaporean martial artist, actor and stunt co-ordinator Philip Tan.

It was his dad who initially got the star into martial arts which led him to his thriving career today.

Speaking to Flaunt, Tan said: “My father was a national champion in Taekwondo when he was 22, and he’s been training me in martial arts since I was young.

“So he was my first teacher. But I have a background in the amateur circuit in kickboxing in Muay Thai but I have jiu-jitsu, I've training MMA, many different weapons, Kung Fu, and Wushu.”

Acting career

One of his earliest acting roles was in an episode of CSI: NY but has since gone on to more noteworthy parts.

These include as Cole Young in Mortal Combat, Tolya in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone and Lu Xin Lee in Wu Assassins.

Going by his IMDb profile, Tan will be starring in thriller Copperhead alongside Emily in Paris’ Lucien Laviscount, as well as Mortal Combat 2.

Ryan Reynolds

One of Tan’s other big parts was earlier this year in the Marvel movie Deadpool and Wolverine as Shatterstar.

The 37-year-old opened up to Tatler Asia on an encounter with star that didn’t exactly go according to plan.

When asked about the biggest challenge he faced on the film set, he said: “Putting in the huge orange contact lenses. They were so annoying, and I have sensitive eyes.

“It’s so funny, because most of the time Ryan was in his Deadpool outfit and I was wearing those contacts.

“One time, we ran into each other off-set, and we were both dressed normally.

“We had this awkward moment of meeting each other [properly] for the first time.”

Dealing with racism

While the Cobra Kai actor hasn’t talked about any specific incidents, he has previously talked about experiencing racism.

In 2019, he tweeted on , now X: “Just wanna say this, as much as racism makes me angry and won’t be tolerated, it comes from ignorance and insecurity.

“You can not carry that energy into your life or work. It is a poison.

“Have a blessed day, give a stranger of a diff race a compliment today. Spread love.”

It was then in 2021 that he talked more personally: “I have been dealing with violent racism my whole life, my father before me, it’s actually the reason why we started martial arts.

“This is nothing new unfortunately, we must be united in doing whatever we can to create change. I am angry too, but it starts with loving each other.”

Cobra Kai is available to watch on Netflix.