In Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop series, John Cho portrays bounty hunter Spike Spiegel. The upcoming part is a different role than the 49-year-old actor usually takes on, requiring intense gym training. Even though Cho is not used to this sort of superhero-like physical preparation for a job, he did go out of his confront zone for the forthcoming live-action adaptation of the fan-favorite anime.
“The regimen was to become functionally athletic rather than show-horse athletic,” he said while talking with Vulture. “But, yeah, I had to watch what I ate. I did have to take my shirt off in the first episode, which was really stressful.”
Even though he trained like crazy for the role, he fell during a night shooting and tore his ACL. The incident delayed production for about eight months as they only managed to shoot a couple of episodes.
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Perhaps the most considerable criticism of Cho’s casting was the actor’s age. In the anime, the former member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate is 27. Cho just said that he got over the age difference.
“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.”
The actor added that he didn’t know the anime before landing the role. Only after watching a few episodes did he understand how big of a deal his new job was.
Cowboy Bebop will debut on Netflix on Nov. 19.
How do you think John Cho will fare as Spike Spiegel? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Cowboy Bebop: The Anime TV Series and Movie: Pocket Guide
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