John Cho to star in live-action 'Cowboy Bebop' series

Cho leads a diverse cast in Netflix's remake of the iconic anime series.



John Cho will star in as Spike Spiegel in the live action adaptation of the classic Japanese animated space western Cowboy Bebop, arguably the coolest damn show ever made. And now actually #StarringJohnCho.

'Cowboy Bebop': John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, Daniella Pineda & Alex Hassell To Star In Netflix Series

Cowboy Bebop is "the jazz-inspired, genre-bending story of a rag-tag crew of bounty hunters on the run from their pasts as they hunt down the solar system's most dangerous criminals," aboard their spaceship, the Bebop.

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 47: They Call Us John Cho

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.



What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. Each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

On this episode, recorded live at Sony studios, we welcome actor John Cho, who stars in the Aneesh Chaganty's new thriller Searching. We discuss the film's inventive storytelling conceit, his unique leading man status, and the Good, Bad and WTF of being John Cho.

John Cho meets the guy who started #StarringJohnCho

"Turns out it was not my mom." Meet William Yu.



The totally awesome, widely celebrated #StarringJohnCho campaign challenges the dismal lack of diversity in Hollywood, imagining what it would look like if today's blockbusters cast an Asian American actor -- specifically John Cho -- as their leading man. Started by William Yu, the viral web project got the attention of a lot of folks, jamming social media timelines and getting mainstream news shoutouts from outlets across the board.

But what does the actual John Cho think of #StarringJohnCho?

"I thought the idea was fantastic," the Star Trek and Harold and Kumar star told Yahoo7. "I loved that it was sparking this discussion that otherwise we wouldn't be having and it did it in a postive way. It [the campaign] was kind of silly, but then people really did have that discussion, and it did get people thinking about it. I felt like it was me on the poster but it wasn't really about me. I really dig it."

Cho recently got to tell the creator of #StarringJohnCho how much he dug it -- in person. On Monday, he posted a photo he took with Yu, confirming once and for all that it wasn't his own mom behind the campaign.

And now we have #StarringConstanceWu

Inspired by #StarringJohnCho.



By now, you've seen the fun and brilliant #StarringJohnCho social campaign, in which popular and worthy Asian American actor John Cho is cleverly Photoshopped into movie posters and bestowed leading man status in a host of Hollywood movies. Because why not John Cho? The campaign calls out the movie industry's perpetual whiteness, and advances the notion that Asian American actors can indeed be leading men.

And leading women. Because you can't let John Cho have all the fun. Inspired by #StarringJohnCho, some fans have taken the idea a step further with #StarringConstanceWu, similarly re-imagining Hollywood movies starring none other than Constance Wu. She currently shines as Jessica Huang, ruler of everything around me, on ABC's Fresh Off The Boat, and she deserves to topline Hollywood feature films too.

Ain't no harm in imagining. Why not? Here are a few examples of #StarringConstanceWu in action:

Imagine all the Hollywood movies. Starring John Cho.

What would it look like if today's Hollywood blockbusters starred an Asian American leading man?



The ongoing dialogue around the whitewashing of Asian roles in movies like Ghost in the Shell and Dr. Strange has prompted some pretty interesting conversations about the dismal lack of opportunities for Asian American performers in Hollywood. One thing is for sure: Asian American leading men and women in feature films are few and far between. That's why #StarringJohnCho is so awesome.

The #StarringJohnCho campaign challenges Hollywood's resistance to casting Asian leads. "Today, only 1% of lead roles go to Asians. But if studies show that films with diverse casts result in higher box office numbers and higher returns on investments for film companies, why doesn't Hollywood cast lead actors to reflect this fact?"

Look, Asian Americans have the chops to be lead actors. Even if Hollywood continually refuses to see it. #StarringJohnCho is a social movement that literally shows you what it would look like if today's Hollywood blockbusters cast an Asian American actor -- specifically John Cho -- as their leading man.

And it looks pretty good. Check it out: