John Cho Says After Torn ACL, ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Considered Using CGI to Avoid Production Pause

A stool and CGI were nearly brought in to avoid a production shutdown after John Cho tore his ACL while filming Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop.

The star of the live-action adaptation of the popular anime appeared on The Late Late Show on Wednesday night and revealed what the show had considered doing to avoid suspending filming.

“We were exploring other scenarios. They were talking about maybe doing The Irishman face thing,” Cho said, before confirming host James Corden’s comment that the production considered “putting [his] face on someone else’s body.”

Cho briefly noted that they considered the cost, which was apparently too much. Cho then revealed a more low-cost option that was broached. “We talked about maybe sitting on a stool while shooting me from the waist up, but they decided this is dangerous,” the actor laughed.

When the news of the production pause was initially reported in 2019, the nature of Cho’s injury was not clear, but the production went on a months-long hiatus while he recovered. In an August 2021 interview with Vulture, the Star Trek and Over the Moon star confirmed that he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while filming at night, with Cho reportedly taking a slight misstep before he “went down.”

While the actor said he still wasn’t sure what exactly happened to cause the injury, he had to undergo surgery and spent several months in physical therapy, where he continuously thought about his character. “I’m at home doing these knee exercises, coming off the drugs, and I was thinking about Cowboy Bebop. Every day,” Cho said. “I don’t think I’ve ever thought about a single role more.”

During his Late Late Show appearance, Cho told Corden that his recovery process ultimately took him a year. “I’m supposed to be done with [physical therapy],” he explained. “I’m supposed to be 100 percent — don’t test me. But, yeah, we finished out the season with the new knee, the surgically repaired knee, and so far, so good.”