I know we’re all fawning over John Cho as Spike Spiegel in the live action series Cowboy Bebop, his newest role is voicing a curly-haired, hot-pink fire-breathing Dragon named Long in the new animated film Wish Dragon which premieres June 11. The film follows the friendship of Din (Jimmy Wong) and Long, and explores the exponential lengths we’re willing to go for a loved one.
Cho spoke with Entertainment Weekly about his love for animated projects and how his films impact his children.
“I would like to put Asian animated characters into the world, especially into American culture, which is my culture,” Cho said. “I would get a lot of roles or I would get auditions that were, “Well, is this a stereotype or not?” and my litmus test was always, “What would I as a kid think? Would I appreciate this or would I resent it?” Clearly, Cho believes in representation and wants his children to see themselves represented because when he was growing up that wasn’t the case. “ I suppose in some ways the animation stuff would be for my kids, but also for myself as a kid.”
His character grants three wishes to the protagonist, but when Cho was asked what his three wishes would be if he had the chance, this is what he had to say: I just want everybody in my family to be happy. I want the kids to grow up without any major hang-ups….All I want is for everyone to be nice to my kids.”
This isn’t his first foray into animation. He lends his voice to Netflix’s Over the Moon, and the english dub version of Mamoru Hosoda’s Mirai.