Paul Walter Hauser had a big night at the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards. The actor took home the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie for his role in Black Bird, which you can stream with an Apple TV+ subscription. Twitter users celebrated Hauser's big win, though it's unclear whether or not they'd seen the crime drama. It was actually the Cobra Kai fans who were celebrating and wanting to congratulate their beloved Stingray actor on his success at the awards show.
Leading the chorus of congratulations for Paul Walter Hauser was actually one of his co-stars, Alicia Hannah-Kim. Hannah-Kim portrays ruthless sensei Kim Da-Eun, who seems to be the next in line as the big bad following the end of Cobra Kai Season 5. The actress commended Hauser on Twitter, and maybe even captured the attention of Cobra Kai fans who weren't watching the awards show:
!!!!!!! Congratulations Paul!!!!!!! 🎊🎉 #cobrakai #stingray
No doubt Alicia Hannah-Kim is aware of Hauser's work outside of the hit Karate Kid spinoff. Apparently, there is a good deal of Netflix subscription-holders who may not have known about the award that Hauser was up for. A solid number of viewers took to the web and were surprised that the Stingray performer was up for an award:
LMAO I DID NOT KNOW THE STINGRAY ACTOR FROM COBRA KAI WAS NOMINATED FOR A GOLDEN GLOBE 🤣🤣🤣 #GoldenGlobesJanuary 11, 2023
It's certainly shocking to see online that there are people who don't know that Paul Walter Hauser had a sizable role as a cast member in Cruella which kept him from appearing in Cobra Kai Season 3. And of course, he starred in Richard Jewell as well. It's also not surprising to see Cobra Kai fans that are simply happy to see Hauser getting his due as an actor:
Congratulations paul walter hauser aka stingray on your award for blackbird pic.twitter.com/StJ8YD8dM8January 11, 2023
Personally, I think the funniest reactions on Twitter so far come from the admirers who referred to Paul Walter Hauser exclusively as Stingray. Even if it's not their intention, the fans' reactions give the impression that it's the fan-favorite burnout from the Netflix series who was honored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association:
I cannot express how much joy it brings me that Stingray from Cobra Kai is finally getting the recognition he deserves. #GoldenGlobes https://t.co/oBt4dxDhPLJanuary 11, 2023
Stingray wasn't the most beloved character on Cobra Kai after he lied to police about who assaulted him, as a favor to Terry Silver. Yet the character found redemption at the end of Season 5 when he recanted his confession and got Silver put behind bars. The character deserved a trophy for that brave act alone, so I guess in some way, it's kind of fitting (in a weird way) that some viewers want to believe Stingray won this award:
The Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television goes to Stingray for Cobra Kai. pic.twitter.com/yghQuaoHbNJanuary 11, 2023
One has to wonder, though, with Paul Walter Hauser's star power in Hollywood only growing, just how much longer he'll be available to appear in Cobra Kai. Fortunately, Stingray is only a recurring character who has appeared infrequently throughout the past five seasons so, if he's unavailable for any seasons going forward, it shouldn't be too hard for the writing staff to figure out a way to address any absences. Still, it would be nice to see him stick around in a sixth season, though I'm not sure how the show would justify him potentially traveling overseas with the students for the international tournament. I'll leave that up for the powers that be and add my name to the scores of fans congratulating Paul Walter Hauser for his award.
Stream Cobra Kai Seasons 1 through 5 (which left us with questions) on Netflix right now. We're still waiting on an official renewal for Season 6, but one has to imagine it's coming sooner rather than later.
