Rayna Vallandingham
Rayna Vallandingham is an American martial artist, actress, and social media influencer. She is best known for her role as Zara Malik in the sixth season of the Netflix series Cobra Kai. She is set to appear in the Street Fighter reboot film as Juli.
Early life
Rayna Vallandingham was born to a mother of Indian origin, Joty, and a father of Dutch origin, Jeff.Martial arts career
She began practicing taekwondo at the age of 2, encouraged by her grandfather, who played an instrumental role in her early development.Rayna Vallandingham won her first world championship title in taekwondo at the age of 8 during the American Taekwondo Association World Championships held in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2011. She had earned her first black belt two years earlier, at the age of 6, and went on to win multiple world titles in traditional forms, weapons, sparring, and creative weapons categories, becoming one of the youngest black belts to achieve this feat.
Over her career, Vallandingham has earned 13 American Taekwondo Association titles, excelling in both traditional combat and weapons forms such as the bo staff and nunchaku.
Acting career
Early career
After winning the XMA Forms world championships, Vallandingham flew to Los Angeles to start her acting career at the age of 10 on Underdog Kids as Leticia Hernandez, directed by six-time taekwondo black belt and actor Phillip Rhee. The film was released on July 7, 2015. Vallandingham appeared in the music videos for "Youth" by Shawn Mendes feat. Khalid, and "Baby [Don't Hurt Me]" by David Guetta feat. Anne-Marie and Coi Leray.''Cobra Kai''
In 2024, Vallandingham starred in her first television show on Netflix's martial arts series, Cobra Kai. She plays a supporting antagonist in the final season, portraying List of [The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai characters#Cobra Kai: Season 6 (2024) introductions|Zara Malik], a cocky, high-maintenance, social media influencer, and skilled martial artist, as a co-captain under the dojo Iron Dragons, starring besides Lewis Tan as List of The [Karate Kid and Cobra Kai characters#Cobra Kai: Season 6 (2024) introductions|Sensei Wolf] and Patrick Luwis as Axel Kovačević. Malik was introduced during the Sekai Taikai tournament as the defending champions and as an undefeated rival team. In the third part of Season 6's Cobra Kai, Vallandingham took on her role as Zara Malik again, where she took her first defeat in competitive action against Tory Nichols, portrayed by Peyton List, in the Sekai Taikai girls finals.Personal life
As an advocate for women in sports, Vallandingham seeks to challenge stereotypes in martial arts, a field traditionally dominated by men. She embraces the phrase "kick like a girl" as a positive expression of strength and skill.In interviews Vallandingham has explained that her professional decisions are guided by these values and her vision of what it means to be a female martial artist.