John Cho Discusses Playing Spike Spiegel and the Live-Action Cowboy Bebop Series: “We Gotta Keep It Strange”

Spencer Baculi |

Jan 9, 2020

When fans last heard news of Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop series, many were dismayed to hear that production had been suspended in October of 2019 following an on-set injury to the film’s lead, John Cho (Star Trek: Beyond), but during a recent press tour for his recently released remake of The Grudge, Cho opened up in the interim about his role as Spike Spiegel and the production of the show.

Speaking with IGN about his role as Spiegel, Cho noted that he “did not communicate” with original series director Shinichirō Watanabe regarding his portrayal of the iconic bounty hunter, but assured IGN that he kept the tone of the original anime in the forefront of his mind during production:

“We did not communicate, but uh, we’re not done. But it’s really cool. It’s such a unique piece of material that’s got such a unique vibes, it’s got so many disparate elements coming together into a single project. It’s so weird.

I think that was the big thing I was focusing on all the time, was ‘We gotta keep it strange’. And that’s hard to do. But I’ve watched some of the stuff, and I’m really happy with it.”

Cho also revealed his two favorite moments in the original anime series: the “hermaphrodite scene” in Jupiter Jazz Part I, wherein Faye Valentine walks in on Gren in the shower and expresses confusion as to his gender.

His other favorite scene is the search for a Betamax player as seen in Speak Like A Child.

Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop series will have a 10 episode first season. It is being adapted to live-action by writer and executive producer Chris Yost.

Cho is joined by Luke Cage actor Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black, Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine, and Alex Hassell as Vicious.