Daniella Pineda, who plays Faye Valentine in Netflix's live-action Cowboy Bebop, recently explained her character's journey through self-discovery throughout the series.
Speaking with Deadline, Pineda explained how much of Faye's story arc revolves around her figuring out who she is. "I think that that was a very clever device in exploring Faye’s predicament, which is that she has been cryogenically frozen for so long, so she doesn't know not only who she is, but she doesn't know what her preferences are," the actor stated. "I think that that expands from food to dogs and cats to her sexuality, and so, I feel like that was a device of basically someone who was exploring and trying to understand what they like, and therefore who they are."
The live-action series reimagined Faye as queer, and while the first season of Netflix's Cowboy Bebop clearly shows Faye's attraction to women, it doesn't provide a specific label for her sexual orientation. When asked about this, Pineda responded, "I think you're just going to have to wait and see because season one's Faye is still exploring, so I can't answer that."
Netflix's series adapts the classic anime of the same name by director Shinichirō Watanabe (Blade Runner: Black Lotus), screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto (Wolf's Rain, Samurai Champloo) and animation studio Sunrise (Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, Tiger & Bunny). Developed by André Nemec (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows) and written by Christopher Yost (The Mandalorian, Thor: Ragnarok), the live-action Cowboy Bebop stars John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, Alex Hassel and Elena Satine alongside Pineda.
While Faye's queerness is a welcome example of representation, Netflix's new series is not fairing well with the majority of critics and fans. In fact, most of the reviews on aggregate websites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic describe the show as soulless and lifeless, cheaply imitating the classic anime's greatest moments while not justifying its own existence.
However, while the live-action Cowboy Bebop disappointed many fans, the renewed attention in the story resulted in a wealth of new merchandise. For example, companies like Funko and First4Figures are releasing vinyl and resin figurines of the characters, and Don't Panic Games, Mana Project Studio and Fumble GDR are collaborating on a Cowboy Bebop tabletop roleplaying game. Moreover, The Good Smile Company is currently accepting preorders for the rerelease of its 1/48 scale replica of Spike Spiegel's iconic ship.
Both the original Cowboy Bebop anime series and the live-action adaptation are available to stream on Netflix.
Source: Deadline