John Cho did not know that Cowboy Bebop was so influential before he joined the cast of Netflix's live-action adaptation as Spike Spiegel. Releasing on November 19th, the series will adapt the 1998 anime that follows the crew of bounty hunters on board the starship, Bebop, in the year 2071. The original series is widely critically acclaimed, with critics believing it responsible for introducing anime to a whole new generation of Western viewers.
Since Netflix announced that it would be developing the series in November 2018, many eyes have been on the project and its development. The series will be developed by André Nemec and written by Christopher Yost, with original anime director Shinichirō Watanabe serving as a creative consultant and anime composer, Yoko Kanno, returning to work on the series' soundtrack. Many were excited to hear that some of the original creatives were involved in the project due to the series' reputation, yet Cho, who audiences got a first look at in costume recently, was unaware of the anime's influence before he took on the role.
In an interview about the upcoming series with Vulture, Cho was asked if he was a fan of the original anime. Cho answered that he wasn't, having being introduced to the series after being impressed with the script for the first episode of the Netflix series. After this, he watched the original series, finding it to be one of the most unique pieces of entertainment that he had seen. Afterward, he called Aneesh Chagatny, director of Searching (that Cho starred in), discussing the offer with him before Chagatny urged him to take the role, stating he wasn't aware of how big the role would be. Read what Cho said below:
"I didn’t know it. 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 Chagatny, 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 was announced as Spike Spiegel in April 2019, joining Mustafa Shakir and Daniella Pineda as fellow bounty hunters, Jet Black and Faye Valentine, with Alex Hassell taking the role of Vicious, Spike's arch-enemy and hitman for the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate. The show's production was briefly paused for eight months from October 2019, when Cho suffered a knee injury and had to recover. Cho thanked fans for their support following the incident on Instagram, promising to be back to working on the show as soon as possible.
Some groups of fans are overly protective of the original anime, with Pineda recently having to respond to backlash over her take on the character of Faye in comparison to how she appeared in the anime. Despite these fans' fears, it is clear that the Netflix adaptation is in good hands. From Pineda's perfect response regarding her character to Cho's recent interview, it is evident that the cast is passionate about the project they've worked on. Despite being unfamiliar with the original work, Cho was so impressed with the first episode's script that he watched the original series to get a further understanding. This shows that Cho is now familiar with the character of Spike to fully capture what made the original bounty hunter so iconic. Pair this news with Watanabe and Kanno returning, and it is clear that there is a lot of care invested in Netflix's Cowboy Bebop.
Source: Vulture