Posted in: Anime, Netflix, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: anime, cowboy bebop, john cho, netflix, preview, Spike Spiegel

Cowboy Bebop: John Cho Talks Injury, Age Concerns, Yoko Kanno & More

While about three months might seem like a long time still to have to wait to see John Cho (Spike Spiegel), Mustafa Shakir (Jet Black), and Daniella Pineda (Faye Valentine) bring Cowboy Bebop to full-on, live-action life, considering the long journey the adaptation's taken to get here? Three months feels like a long blink. To give fans a better idea of what they can expect as well as some insight into his injury, why having Yoko Kanno on board was a must, and more, Cho sat down with Vulture to talk all things CB. Here are some of the highlights:

Cho Was Inspired to Check Out "Cowboy Bebop" From the Netflix S0101 Script: "I didn't know it [the anime]. The first thing I read and fell in love with was our episode-one script, which I thought was really brilliant, and I thought, what the hell is this? And then I investigated the anime and just thought this was the most unique piece of entertainment I had seen in a long time: the combination of genres, characters, the music. I called Aneesh Chaganty, who directed Searching, to talk about it. "Are you aware of a show called Cowboy Bebop? I've got this offer to do an adaptation of this anime." I remember him telling me: "You have to do it." I didn't realize what a big deal it was.

Cho Offers Details on Tearing His ACL: "It was real wonky. We had been shooting all night, and I was doing kind of an athletic move as the sun was coming up. It was probably a lack of sleep. Just a little move and [I was down]. So that was a low moment. It was 5:30 Saturday morning when I arrived at the emergency room and it was filled with people who had gotten super drunk on Friday night and then got in a fight or fell and cracked their heads open. Ironically a sobering experience. Then you have your surgery and you go into rehab. I'm at home doing these knee exercises and coming off the drugs, I was thinking about Cowboy Bebop. Doing those knee exercises, I was like, I gotta put my focus into this. So I think that's also fueling my fear. [Laughs.] This interview is all about me freaking out. But the amount of thought and worry and effort and number of days I've logged thinking about Spike is now equaling the fear I have about the reaction."

Cho on Those Who Say Spike Should Be Played By Somone Younger: "The biggest fear that I had was I was too old. I knew people were gonna have issues with my age. And I had to get over it. I'm not a person who says age is just a number or whatever. It was gonna be harder — physically. And I was gonna look different than a 25-year-old guy. At some point, the opportunity is "Yes or no — do you wanna do it?" And I did wanna do it. So I wasn't gonna stop myself from doing it."

Yoko Kanno Was One Reason Cho Signed On (Though He Didn't Get to Meet Her)…: " I haven't [met Yoko Kanno]. She was in Japan the whole time. I made sure that she was locked in before saying yes. I didn't think the show should go forward without her involvement. [She is] too integral to the show. Our iteration minus her would suffer too much."

…And Not Just Remaking the Episodes Was Another Reason: "I was like, we're not gonna just remake each episode, are we? I didn't want to re-stage everything exactly frame by frame. I didn't want to do that artistically, and I also thought that that was a recipe for encouraging unflattering comparisons. How could you do it better? You can't. You have to do something a little different. I guess that's the tightrope you're walking, which thankfully isn't my job. But it touches on me."

Cho, Pineda, and Shakir are joined by Alex Hassell (The Red Sea Diving Resort; Suburbicon), Elena Satine (Strange Angel), Geoff Stults (Little Fires Everywhere, 12 Strong), Tamara Tunie (Black Earth Rising, Dietland), Mason Alexander Park (Hedwig and the Angry Inch National Broadway Tour), Rachel House (Thor Ragnarok, Soul), Ann Truong (Strikeback!, Hard Target 2), and Hoa Xuanda (Ronny Chieng: International Student, Top of the Lake) on the streaming service's live-action series.

Welcome to the World of Netflix's Cowboy Bebop!

Spike Spiegel (Cho): Spike Spiegel is an impossibly cool "cowboy" (bounty hunter) with a deadly smile, a wry wit, and style to spare. He travels the solar system with his ex-cop partner, Jet, pursuing the future's most dangerous bounties with a combination of charm, charisma — and deadly Jeet Kune Do.

Jet Black (Shakir): Jet Black was one of the few honest cops in the solar system before an ultimate betrayal robbed him of all that he loved, forcing him into a vagabond life of hunting bounties to put food on the table. Jet is an inveterate jazz enthusiast and Captain of the Bebop.

Faye Valentine (Pineda): Faye Valentine is a bold, brash, and unpredictable bounty hunter. Suffering from amnesia after years of being cryogenically frozen, Faye does whatever it takes to survive. Whether she's lying, stealing, or just being a thorn in Spike and Jet's side.

Vicious (Hassell): A man who thoroughly enjoys a good kill, Vicious is the Syndicate's most notorious hitman. He's also Spike Spiegel's ex-partner and arch-enemy.

Julia (Satine): With a sultry beauty and a voice to die for, Julia is the dream-like object of Spike Spiegel's desire. She struggles to survive in a violent world.

Chalmers (Stults): Chalmers is the epitome of a Western lawman. He is also Jet Black's former co-detective in the ISSP's Homicide Division. He wears a chronic smile that makes you want to punch him square in the face… especially Jet. And that's only partly because Chalmers is dating his ex-wife these days.

Ana (Tunie): Ana is the proprietor of the hottest underground bluesy jazz club on Mars. And while she acts as a surrogate mom to Spike, there is nothing warm and cuddly about her. Cool and intense, Ana is definitely not a woman to be trifled with.

Gren (Park): Gren is Ana's right-hand person. They run the front of the house for Ana's jazz club. As capable with their wit as a glock, as confident in a dress as a suit, they are a Bowie-esque embodiment of 22nd century handsome and seductive beauty.

Mao (House): Mao is the Capo of the Syndicate's "White Tigers" family. Despite, or perhaps because of, her blue-collar background, Mao is more cunning, adept, crafty, and deadly than her counterparts.

Shin (Truong) & Lin (Xuande): Dressed to kill (because they do), Shin and Lin serve as Vicious' twin Syndicate henchmen. Despite being fearful of their volatile boss, they are fiercely loyal to Vicious in his quest (for reasons we have yet to understand) to take down Spike Spiegel.

The series is a co-production between Netflix and Tomorrow Studios (a partnership between Marty Adelstein and ITV Studios), with André Nemec and Jeff Pinkner of Midnight Radio serving as showrunners and executive-producing. Christopher Yost (Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok) wrote the first episode and will executive produce. In addition, Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio (Limetown, High Fidelity, Knightfall); Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios (Snowpiercer, Hanna); Yasuo Miyakawa, Masayuki Ozaki, and Shin Sasaki of Sunrise Inc; Tim Coddington, Tetsu Fujimura, Michael Katleman, and Matthew Weinberg will executive-produce. Original anime director Shinichiro Watanabe serves as a consultant.

Bleeding Cool TV on Instagram: For all of the stuff too random and bizarre to make the site, make sure to follow us on Instagram: Bleeding Cool TV (@bleedingcooltv).

BCTV Daily Dispatch: For a look at what's going on across the television and streaming landscape, sign up for Bleeding Cool's daily email round-up of the news you need to know here.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!