Cowboy Bebop: Original Spike Spiegel Actor Shares Fun John Cho Story

Cowboy Bebop anime Spike Spiegel star Steve Blum exclusively reveals the fun story in which he almost met live-action star John Cho during filming. The late ’90s sci-fi neo-noir series was created and animated by Sunrise and led by director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane and composer Yoko Kanno, who were billed under the collective pseudonym Hajime Yatate. Cowboy Bebop centered on the exploits of a group of bounty hunters traveling through the galaxy in the year 2071 on the titular starship.

Since its debut, Cowboy Bebop has received widespread acclaim and is frequently cited as one of the best of the anime and animation genres and credited for helping introduce Western viewers to the former with its English dub. This success has seen the franchise extend to manga, an interquel film in 2001 and the upcoming live-action series at Netflix. The latest Cowboy Bebop incarnation will star John Cho as Spike Spiegel, Daniela Pineda as Faye Valentine and Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black.

While speaking exclusively with Screen Rant about the legacy of the original anime, Cowboy Bebop star Steve Blum revealed his funny history with current Spike Spiegel John Cho. Blum revealed the two had actually planned to meet along with the rest of the live-action cast during shooting in New Zealand before Cho’s on-set injury and the pandemic shutdown got in the way and have since become virtual friends. See what Blum shared below:

“I actually stalked John Cho a little bit when I found out that he had the role. I reached out to him and he actually responded and I’d like to call him a friend, I don’t know if he considers me that yet, but we’ve had a few little digital conversations. I was actually supposed to go out and meet the cast in New Zealand when they were first starting to film and then he broke his leg.

I was in New Zealand for a convention, I missed him by like three days, so I never had that opportunity to do that. I put it out there that I’m available if he wanted to talk about anything, but I’m kind of glad that he didn’t, because I feel like he’s gonna bring his own unique presence to the character and I’m very curious to see what he does with that.”

The news of Cho’s injury on the set of Cowboy Bebop sent a shockwave through Hollywood, namely as it marked a troublesome sign for a program already put into doubt by fans after multiple failed attempts at live-action anime adaptations. Cho not reaching out to Blum for thoughts may come as a concern for some, especially as Watanabe didn’t come on as a creative consultant until during the production shutdown from the pandemic. However, as the star has discussed in interviews leading up to the show’s release, Cho has explained how he used both shutdowns to work to deliver the ultimate adaptation of the iconic anime.

While Cho and Blum may not have met ahead of Cowboy Bebop‘s production, the latter’s note of the two having some digital conversations since is sure to come as a happy note for fans of the anime. Though some are still skeptical of the show’s overall quality, a lot of praise has been directed by Cho’s Spike Spiegel from the trailers and posters thus far along with Shakir’s Jet and Pineda’s Faye. Only time will tell whether the live-action series can properly satisfy fans when Cowboy Bebop hits Netflix on November 19, but in the meantime audiences can catch up with the original anime streaming on Funimation and Netflix now.

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Grant Hermanns
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Grant Hermanns is a News Writer, Interviewer and Hiring Manager for Screen Rant, having joined the team in early 2021. Way back in 2015 while still in his college days, Grant got his start in the entertainment journalism industry with creator-friendly site Moviepilot until it shuttered nearly three years later. From there he joined the staff at ComingSoon.net and was its Associate Editor prior to coming over to Screen Rant.

To say he’s a lover of film and television would be an understatement and when he’s not mass consuming either you can find him exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends or slowly making his way through his gaming backlog.

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