With Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop now streaming, I recently had the chance to talk with showrunner Andre Nemec about making the anticipated series. During the interview, he revealed how they decided on a ten episode first season, how the downtime after John Cho got hurt helped them make a better show, the motivation for expanding the roles of Vicious and Julia from the anime, how every department head was told to plant Easter eggs, the toughest stuff to bring to life from the animated series, if Spike would leave the ship if the Bebop made delicious noodles, and more.
If you’ve never seen Cowboy Bebop, the live-action series adapts the iconic '90s anime of the same name by Shinichirō Watanabe. The original show follows a group of space bounty hunters Spike Spiegel (Cho), Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda) and Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir) in the year 2071 and their lives onboard the eponymous ship Bebop, as they navigate life and try to escape their past. The show is famous for its unique blend of western, sci-fi and noir sensibilities, as well as its amazing jazz-inspired soundtrack. While the Netflix live-action series is extremely faithful to the anime, it takes its time getting the crew together, and expands the roles of Alex Hassell as Vicious and Elena Satine as Julia.
Cowboy Bepop is written by Christopher Yost, who also serves as a producer. The series is a co-production between the original series creators Sunrise Inc., with executive producer Marty Adelstein's company Tomorrow Studios, and the producing team over at Midnight Radio.
Watch what Andre Nemec had to say in the player above and everything we talked about is listed below.
Andre Nemec
- How did they decide on 10 episodes?
- Did Netflix want to know he had a 3 or 5-year plan assuming the series is popular?
- How did the downtime after John Cho got hurt help them make a better show?
- Did they end up reshooting anything after watching the footage in the editing room?
- Where should fans look for Easter eggs?
- How every department head was told to plant Easter eggs.
- What was the motivation for expanding the roles of Vicious and Julia from the anime?
- Would Spike leave the ship if the Bebop made delicious noodles?
- What was the toughest stuff to bring to life from the anime?
