Live Action Casting: Cowboy Bebop (Part 2)

We now continue with our imaginary casting for a live action Cowboy Bebop movie.

We left off with the final members of the Bebop crew. Edward and Ein, the eccentric, energetic young girl and her highly intelligent dog who end up joining as a sort of 'tech support' for the others. Honestly, I have no idea who to cast. I could name some kid on Disney or Nickelodeon but she would be too old for the part before a movie would be made. I would just say cast an unknown for Edward. As for Ein, either use a highly trained Pembroke Welsh Corgi or go CGI or a combination of both or just put Ben Affleck in a dog suit… it worked for Wilfred.

 

So onto Spike’s former mob partner and hated nemesis… the cunning and conniving Vicious. We need someone who can play a cold and calculating killer, a ruthless and deadly man who wants power almost as much as he wants Spike dead.

 

I pick Jonathan Rhys Meyer. He has shown a great deal of range over the course of his career including playing manipulative characters (The Tudors) and ones with very a twisted, if not evil, set of morals (Titus). He has even done action (From Paris, With Love). I also think he looks how I would picture a live action Vicious. I say put a wig on the guy, hand him a creepy bird and a katana and you’re all set.

But yet again Jonny Prophet disagrees. (What a pain in the ass, right?) Jonny’s pick is Charlie Hunnam, who you may know as Jax from Sons of Anarchy. Hunnam has clearly shown an ability to play violent characters and pull off action when necessary. He has played psychotic and demented characters in films like Cold Mountain, Green Street Hooligans and Children of Men (the only one of the three I have seen), so playing Vicious really shouldn’t be that difficult for him. My biggest complaint with casting Hunnam is that he just doesn’t look right for the part in my opinion. For one thing has has a round face… Vicious has a slender one. Once again, this is a matter for auditions to settle. Plus, with Perlman already cast I really don’t want to see a Sons of Anarchy reunion in space. Jonny, however, totally does.

Thankfully Jonny Prophet and I both agree on what actress should play the lingering reminder of Spike’s past… Julia. While she didn’t appear much in the series, she was one of its most important characters. Julia appeared in numerous flashbacks and her story was intricately bound to that of both Spike and Vicious. We need a beautiful blonde actress who, as Jonny Prophet put it; you could see deserting the mob for.

Our choice is Michelle Williams. She is a great actress who has appeared in a wide range of films such as Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine and My Week with Marilyn. She also has a mystique to her. She can just as easily play an elegant woman and an ordinary housewife. She is absolutely perfect for the part and I honestly can’t think of anyone better. 

The last bit of casting is that of Punch and Judy, the hosts of Big Shot. These characters aren’t very important, but they were a recurring part of the show and should appear in a live action adaptation. Jonny and I both agree that these characters should be played by fairly big names thrown in like cameos (think David Bowie in Zoolander).

Punch needs to be an African American who can play a goofy cowboy with a horrid fake accent. Jonny and I both agree on Wayne Brady for the role. He’s a funny guy who does improve, can be goofy and is responsible for one of the funniest skits on The Chappelle Show ever!

With casting Judy, however, we disagree once again. Jonny wants Malin Ackerman, whom you may remember as the hot wife of the ugly tow truck driver in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and more recently as Silk Specter in the Watchmen.  I honestly don’t like her for the role. She may be able to play a stereotypical idiot blonde, but I want someone instantly recognizable and I think she largely is still unknown. 

I would rather go with either Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Hit & Run) or

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cruel Intentions).  Both can play a ditsy blonde, both can do humor and both are pretty well known to audiences.

So there you have it. Join us for the next Live Action Casting when we do something a little different… a little less animated. Until then, stay strange.

Live Action Casting: Cowboy Bebop (Part 1)

If you ask any true anime fan what their top ten series are, Cowboy Bebop is certain to be mentioned. Hell, I would be surprised if it wasn’t in the top three! The reasons for the love of this show are numerous; the animation is great, the characters are complex and intriguing, the stories are top notch, it seamlessly blends great action with humor… I could go on and on. Jonny Prophet and I are both fans of Cowboy Bebop and as such have discussed at length who should be cast in what roles should a live action movie ever be made. We didn’t agree on much. So to avoid the inevitable sissy slap-fight over the matter, I am posting Jonny’s picks as well as my own.

 First up is our protagonist Spike Spiegel, a former member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate and current bounty hunter. We need someone who is fit and can do action scenes, especially hand to hand combat and possibly martial arts. He also needs to be attractive and charismatic. In addition to that, he needs to be able to have some acting range with balancing a carefree attitude with trying to hide nightmarish memories of his mob days. This was a very tricky part to cast and in all honesty it would really come down to who has the best audition to us.

 My choice is Taylor Kitsch. He has shown a great deal of range from the brooding Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights to the mysterious and reckless Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine to the intense Chon in Savages. We have seen his ability to pull off action and comedy in John Carter, despite its box office failings (it was a good movie, dammit!). Taylor Kitsch is my pick for Spike and I think he would be great for the part.

But that dastardly Jonny Prophet has a “difference of opinion.” He thinks that Aaron Johnson, who you may know as the title character from Kick-Ass, would be a better Spike Spiegel.

Johnson was also in Savages playing opposite Kitsch’s Chon as Ben. I will concede that Johnson could play Spike. He is a good actor, a decent looking guy, he can obviously balance comedy and action as we saw in Kick-Ass. In addition to that, I think Johnson could be made to look like Spike easier than Kitsch, partly because he has a more slender frame. Jonny also points out that Aaron Johnson has a background in dance, which would really help as Spike practices a form of martial arts (created by Bruce Lee) called Jeet Kune Do which focuses of fluidity in movement. 

I do, however, have one big problem with Aaron Johnson taking the part of Spike Spiegel… and it’s all Steven Jay Blum’s fault. You see, Blum did the English language version of Spike and gave him a deep voice. I don’t know what he sounded like in Japanese, but I completely associate Spike with that deep voice. Aaron Johnson has a somewhat nasally higher voice and as such I can’t see him as Spike, despite looking more the part than the deeper voiced Taylor Kitsch.  But like I said, this could only be settled by auditions.

(added on 3/11/13)

I am also going to throw Jack Huston into the Spike Spiegel casting pool. Those of you who watch Boardwalk Empire may know Jack Huston as Mr. Harrow, the ex-soldier who wears a face prosthesis. He is a fantastic actor and I think he could quite possibly capture what both Jonny and I are looking for in casting the lead for Cowboy Bebop. Again, it would come down to casting auditions.

Moving on...

Next up is Jet Black, an ex-cop with a cybernetic arm and Spike’s partner in bounty hunting. Jonny Prophet and I are in total agreement on our pick to play Jet… Ron Perlman.

We both love Ron Perlman and he was cool as hell when I met him a few years ago at a comic book convention. Perlman has made a career of playing tough characters, notably Hellboy and Clay Marrow on Sons of Anarchy. He seems to like taking roles in science fiction movies and we think he would be a natural fit for Jet Black.

And now for Faye Valentine, a beautiful young woman who after being severely injured in a space shuttle accident was cryogenically frozen. She is awakened in 2071 with amnesia and owing a large debt for her life-saving procedure. As a result she has turned to bounty hunting as part of the Bebop crew. We need an actress that can be tough, yet emotionally vulnerable. She has to be able to convey a level of pride, but an undercurrent of feeling out of place.

Jonny and I had a long discussion about the biggest problem with casting Faye… or shall I say two biggest? Ms. Valentine has quite a set, which is common with female characters in anime. The issue, though, is that in real life you can either hire an actress for the size of her breasts or for her acting skills… very rarely is both a packaged deal. (And before anyone says Angelina Jolie, I must bring up that Faye is supposed to be in her early twenties.) So for the part of Faye Valentine, Jonny and I went with acting. 

I chose Emmy Rossum as Faye Valentine. I absolutely love her on Shameless. She is an amazing actress, she is beautiful, a brunette and in her early twenties. Plus, she shares with Faye very soulful and expressive eyes. No, Ms. Rossum is not as stacked as Faye, but perhaps a push-up bra? Honestly, I wouldn’t care if they tried to make her look more ‘endowed’ or not. I think she would be perfect for the part. (Plus, she is not stranger to playing a live action anime character! Now let’s put that awful movie behind us.)

 

Jonny chose Ashley Greene whose biggest claim is her role in the Twilight franchise, which I have not seen any of. In fact, I have never seen Ashley Greene in anything. Jonny thinks she facially looks the part, which I can agree with. She’s pretty and a brunette, both pluses. I can only assume she can act. Again, the chest department is not nearly what Faye packs, but Hollywood can either work some magic or just ignore the matter altogether. I assume, as with the role of Spike, this would best be decided through auditions. 

That does it for now. Stay tuned for the second part of the Cowboy Bebop Live Action Casting...