MY TV LIFE Vanessa Rubio

New Jersey-born actress Vanessa, 37, is best known for playing Carmen Diaz in hit Netflix series Cobra Kai, which is based on the characters from The Karate Kid films

What was your first TV memory?

Cartoon shows like My Little Pony and The Smurfs. I remember Sesame Street and after that daytime soaps like One Life To Live. My parents were quite strict so I couldn’t watch them all the time, just during the summer holidays when my older siblings planted me in front of the soaps to keep me quiet...

What was your first TV appearance?

Golden Boy, it was a crime drama that ran on CBS here but was cancelled after one series. I was a young rookie cop and played opposite Theo James. I was also in Celebrity Ghost Stories but I had no lines in that. They made up stories and re-enacted them. I played a ghost. It was Hollywood noir!

Who was your first TV crush?

Dylan Mckay on Beverly Hills 90210. Luke Perry played him. Then probably Sonny Corinthos in General Hospital, who was played by Maurice Benard. He was a gangster but I thought he was hot!

What is your favourite current show?

The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, each episode is so well done. Another recent one was Normal People which just captured the feeling of young love perfectly.

Which TV show would you take to a desert island?

This is a hard question. My first reaction is I wouldn’t want to take a TV show to my island at all because it’d drive me mad to see what I was missing. I’d rather go cold turkey. But thinking about it, a cartoon show would work. The animated X-men series might see me through.

What TV show would you like to put out of its misery?

Hmm. Should I pick reality shows or police procedurals? I love police shows as a format but there are way too many of them. Some are great though, so reality TV gets it.

Guiltiest TV pleasure?

Slightly contradicting my previous answer, it’s The Bachelor. These dating shows are amazing but they are madly over-romanticised. I could only ever watch one episode at a time.

What are you up to at the moment?

I’m preparing for the next season of Cobra Kai. The third one has just arrived. It’ll be interesting to see where my character, Carmen, goes next...

Season three of Cobra Kai is on Netflix now