[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers through the series finale of Cobra Kai.]

From the moment I met Mary Mouser during the earliest stages of Cobra Kai’s run on YouTube, one thing was abundantly clear - this is a wildly talented artist who pours her whole heart into her work and is quite excited to talk about the extensive amount of thought and care she puts into it. That immediately made her an interviewee I’d keep chasing and now, seven years later, not only have we had many wonderful press day conversations, but Mouser has officially become our second Collider Ladies Night three-time guest.

On top of that, that great care and attention to detail Mouser has when tackling her work makes her an optimal fit to play the Cobra Kai character with an especially mature and nuanced arc throughout the show’s six-season run. At the start of Season 6, Part 3, Sam LaRusso and the other Miyagi-do fighters think the Sekai Taikai is over. When that changes, Sam is put in an especially complex situation. Not only would she have to face off against her friend, Tory (Peyton List), but she’d be doing so for nothing in the grand scheme of things because of Miyagi-do’s extreme point deficit. Sam opts to quit, a choice that, more often than not, is frowned upon on screen, and in life. However, courtesy of strong writing and development from Cobra Kai’s Big 3, Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald and Hayden Schlossberg, and Mouser’s dedication to understanding and justifying the choice from the character perspective, Cobra Kai manages to recontextualize what it means to quit.

During her third appearance on Collider Ladies Night, Mouser looks back on some early Cobra Kai scenes that set the foundation for Sam to be able to make such a choice, she discusses where things land for Sam and her father, and also for Sam and Miguel, and she explains what Cobra Kai means to her and her character after six seasons.

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We have a wealth of wonderfully talented actors who got their start making Disney shows and films. But, as often discussed on Collider Ladies Night, this is an industry with a habit of boxing artists in to the first they do well. One particularly popular box? The Disney box, and that’s the one I focused on with Heart Eyes star, Olivia Holt.

Holt’s star started to rise with not one, but two Disney shows and a Disney Channel Original Movie. First it was Disney XD’s Kickin’ It, then came the movie Girl vs. Monster, and after that it was the Disney Channel Original Series, I Didn't Do It. All fantastic opportunities for a young actor getting a foothold in the industry, but all projects that would wind up labeling Holt as a particular kind of actor. When the time came to grow beyond Disney projects, Holt cared a good deal about that carrying label - until she didn’t. “I just couldn't care anymore. I think I cared so deeply about people not wanting to view me as a Disney star, and now I just embrace it.”

Embracing it has served Holt exceptionally well since the end of I Didn’t Do It. While making the most of the invaluable lessons learned on those Disney sets, Holt has gone on to headline the short-lived but beloved Marvel series Cloak & Dagger. She also delivered big starring in the Hulu series Cruel Summer. She starred opposite Kiernan Shipka in Prime Video’s horror comedy Totally Killer, and now she leads yet another slasher movie that’s a total blast, Heart Eyes. 

Holt plays Ally in the Josh Ruben-directed romantic comedy slasher film. After a setback at work, Ally agrees to have dinner with Jay (Mason Gooding), the hotshot designer her boss brought in to oversee her assignment. Trouble is, it’s Valentine’s Day and the Heart Eyes Killer is out for blood. When HEK suspects Ali and Jay are on a date, they become HEK’s next target.

With Heart Eyes now playing in theaters nationwide, Holt took the time to swing by the Collider Ladies Night studio to recap her journey to becoming an undeniable force in the genre space.

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John Magaro has quietly built one of the most impressive filmographies in Hollywood. So quietly, in fact, that he’s still often being dubbed a “breakout” with each new hit he delivers. Magaro insists his priority is being an artist, not a movie star. However, given the pace with which he’s churning out standout performances in phenomenal films, the latter is more undeniable than ever. John Magaro is a star and any production would be lucky to have him.

The two most recent films to have Magaro as a headliner are an Oscar nominee and a Sundance 2025 Grand Jury Prize nominee. The former is September 5, a film that masterfully brings the viewer into ABC Sports’ control room at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics as they redefine live news when they have to shift from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage. The film recently scored an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and was deserving of far more.

The other film Magaro is in the midst of celebrating is his Sundance 2025 selection, Omaha. In Cole Webley’s feature directorial debut, Magaro plays a father who suddenly wakes his two young children, Ella and Charlie, and insists they must go on a road trip. Ella soon comes to suspect that what seems like a fun family adventure is actually something wholly different for her father.

In honor of Omaha’s big debut at the Sundance Film Festival and September 5’s Oscar run, Magaro took the time to swing by the Collider interview studio at Sundance, brought to you by Rendezvous Capital, for a Collider Forces interview. While paving the way to his experience making those two films, Magaro explained how he came to embrace his truth as an actor, a truth that’s sparked some of the very best performances we’ve seen in recent years.

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Julia Garner has amassed an incredibly varied filmography over the years. Her first feature credit was the Sundance darling Martha Marcy May Marlene, she won three Emmys for playing Ruth Langmore in Netflix’s hit crime drama Ozark, and she’s about to make her franchise debut in one of the most anticipated films of the year, The Fantastic Four: First Steps. However, there’s one particular genre she keeps coming back to, and given it’s a personal favorite genre, I’m thrilled about it. Garner is delivering a steady stream of horror movies.

Her latest in that department is Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man, a new spin on the 1941 classic. In this version, Christopher Abbott and Garner play Blake and Charlotte, a husband and wife struggling with their relationship. When Blake receives a death certificate for his estranged father and the keys to his childhood home, he thinks that could be just the getaway they need to get things back on track. Along with their young daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth), they head out to the remote house in the mountains of Oregon. However, just before arriving, they’re attacked and Blake suffers a scratch that kicks off a horrific transformation. 

With Wolf Man now playing in theaters nationwide, Garner joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to revisit her journey in film and television thus far, with an extra special emphasis on her experience working in the horror genre.

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Just a year after celebrating a Best International Feature Film nomination at the Oscars for The Teachers’ Lounge, which marked her first lead role in a feature, Leonie Benesch is back on the awards circuit with a filmmaking feat, Tim Fehlbaum’s unique approach to depicting the devastating events at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, September 5. 

The film features a top-tier ensemble that includes Benesch, John Magaro, Peter Sarsgaard, Ben Chaplin and more as the ABC Sports broadcasting team in Munich, a team that must shift from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage, marking the very first time such an event was covered by a live broadcast. In September 5, the story is told entirely from their perspective, exploring the intricacies of high-tech broadcast capabilities and the responsibilities that come with them, a combination that’s become increasingly relevant with each passing day.

With September 5 expanding nationwide on January 17th, I got the opportunity to sit down with Benesch for a Collider Ladies Night chat to revisit her journey in film and television thus far, and to dig into the prep work necessary to accurately portray a translator in September 5.

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Maria Bakalova knows what she’s doing when it comes to finding top-tier creative partners in film and television. As a student studying at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Bulgaria, she gravitated toward acclaimed filmmakers Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, a directing duo she still works with to this day. She met Julian Kostov in 2019 when he shared a casting notice for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the movie that’d ultimately earn Bakalova an Oscar nomination. Now, Kostov is Bakalova’s producing partner. Under their Five Oceans banner they produced Triumph with Grozeva and Valchanov directing. The film was selected as the Bulgarian entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Next up on Bakalova’s list of dream collaborators she’s hoping to establish a long-standing creative partnership with? James Gunn. In fact, during her Collider Ladies Night interview, Bakalova noted, “If I have to choose one person that I want to stick with the rest of my life, it will be him.”

Bakalova worked with Gunn for the first time on Guardians on the Galaxy Vol. 3 in which she played Cosmo the Space Dog. While Gunn’s run with the Marvel Cinematic Universe would come to an end there, his working relationship with Bakalova wouldn’t. Gunn made the shift from Marvel to DC, and brought Bakalova along with him. He cast her as Princess Ilana Rostovic in his adult animated series, Creature Commandos, the project that’d kick off the new DC Universe. At the start of the show, Task Force M is brought in to protect the Princess and the nation of Pokolistan from Circe (voiced by Anya Chalotra) and the Sons of Themyscira. However, as the season progresses, those involved start to question who they’re protecting the Princess from - and if she needs protecting at all.

With all seven episodes of Creature Commandos Season 1 now available to stream on Max, Bakalova joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to revisit her journey to the DC animated series, and to share her take on what goes down during the finale episode of the season.

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Robbie Williams is a hugely popular singer and songwriter. He set a record by winning 18 Brit Awards and has two Grammy nominations to his name. Williams has churned out six of the top 100 best-selling albums in British history, amassed an audience of 375,000 fans over three nights performing at Knebworth, setting a record that’s yet to be surpassed, and has sold 85 million album worldwide. The list of achievements and accolades goes on and on, but he insists, “I didn't derive any joy from all the success that I had.” However, at 50, things have changed. “I am experiencing joy and I'm experiencing happiness. I'm also experiencing gratitude, a great deal of gratitude where I didn't have gratitude before. So, these are my golden years.”

Williams has been enjoying a different kind of spotlight since August 2024. That’s when his film, Better Man, premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival before moving on to the Toronto International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, and more. Based on Williams’ true rise, fall and resurgence, Better Man chronicles his journey from finding fame as a teenager with the boy band Take That, to parting ways with the group and mounting a solo career. While Williams did find great success on that path, it was one that also came with a significant number of struggles that, as Williams himself lists, included, “childhood trauma, fame too early, mental illness, addiction, [and] rehab.” Better Man shows how he powered through those challenges as Williams sees himself, as a “performing monkey.”

With Better Man gearing up to celebrate its nationwide release on January 10th, Williams took the time to join me for a Collider Forces conversation to revisit the early days of his music career, explain how his definition of having “it” has evolved over the years, discuss why he trusted Gracey with his story, and so much more.

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As I note during this new edition of Collider Ladies Night, while watching a A Complete Unknown, during Monica Barbaro’s first scene of the film, I scribbled down one note — “Monica — WOW,” and then proceeded to underline it quite a few times. She’s downright electric as Joan Baez, the renowned singer, songwriter and musician who developed a professional and personal relationship with Bob Dylan.

Timothée Chalamet plays Dylan in the James Mangold-directed film, which follows the all-time great from meeting his icon, Woody Guthrie (Scott McNairy), to becoming one himself. With guidance from Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), Dylan begins his rise in the New York City folk scene. However, the higher he rises, the more he feels constrained by the expectations of the folk community, constraints Dylan opts to demolish via a controversial and groundbreaking performance.

With A Complete Unknown now playing in theaters nationwide and surging on the awards circuit, I got the opportunity to sit down with Barbaro for a For Your Consideration edition of Collider Ladies Night. During our 30-minute chat, we covered Barbaro’s experience transitioning from dancing to acting, the project that gave her confidence she could make it in the film and television industry, how she was inspired by Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and, of course, her experience making A Complete Unknown alongside Chalamet.

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I had to wait until December 19th, but I finally got my greatest belly laugh of 2024 courtesy of Ghosts. In "A Very Arondekar Christmas Part 1,” while attempting to fix the water heater, Sam and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) suffer a shock, sparking another possession. Pete (Richie Moriarty) possesses Jay while Rose McIver’s Sam, a certified people-pleaser with a big heart who’s often quite concerned about what others think of her, is possessed by Betsy Sodaro’s Nancy, the super brash Cholera ghost who marches to the beat of her own drum to the fullest. Not only is the idea genius, but McIver and Sodaro’s execution of the concept is brilliant.

In celebration of the release of the double dose of Christmas special episodes, McIver returned to Collider Ladies Night to look back on some pivotal moments of her career, like working with her acting coaching and moving to Hollywood, and to dig into two unforgettable aspects of these new episodes — McIver channeling Sodaro’s one-of-a-kind work as Nancy, and Jay finally being able to see the ghosts.

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Jessica Barden is an undeniable force on screen. I first saw her in The End of the F***ing World on Netflix and immediately knew she had a one-of-a-kind energy that was bound to make any project she was part of sizzle. Sure enough, she did just that for a number of independent features, including Nicole Riegel’s Holler, which was named one of the Top Ten Independent Films of 2021 by the National Board of Review. Now Barden is busy stealing scenes in yet another significant way. She’s doing so in one of the most popular franchises out there opposite some of the industry’s greatest icons.

Barden plays a young Valya Harkonnen in Dune: Prophecy. While living on Lankiveil, Valya frequently butts heads with her family who seemingly have no urgency to restore the Harkonnen name by taking revenge on the Atreides. After her brother’s murder, allegedly at the hands of Vorian Atreides, Valya joins the Sisterhood where she quickly discovers she holds great power and has few limitations when it comes to using it on others to get what she wants.

With Dune: Prophecy wrapping up its first season, Barden joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to revisit her journey to the franchise and to dig into how she found her Dune character alongside Emily Watson. Barden also offers her thoughts on a number of key scenes for Valya this season, and pinpoints what she’d love to see happen in the show’s recently announced second season.

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