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The thing about the original anime is that Vicious isnt in it a great deal, he says.
The great thing aboutCowboy Bebopis that it straddles so many genres, says Hassell.
No detail was too small; he even imagined the jot down of liquor Vicious might be drinking.
(For the record, its a Venusian absinthe.)
Im hoping you’re able to clear something up for me: Is Viciouss name really Vicious?
He desperately wants to be seen by the world as that Vicious and to see himself as that Vicious.
But hes actually this fucked-up thug whos very unhinged and much more unstable.
I think he probably thinks he needs to look a certain way, act a certain way.
Theres a logic to him:Someone this rich and successful should look like this and dress like this.
This is what my father would have wanted.
How did his live-action look come together?
People would have complained.I mean, definitely.
And also: Whywouldntyou do it?
Its such a cool, iconic kind of look.
So we kept it.
They always start with long wigs, and you slowly chop them up.
Youre like, Should we go a little lower?
What about the costume?
Again, youre talking about a character design fans know and love and have pored over in incredible detail.
In the anime, I think hes almost like this 90s Patrick Bateman style: big, long overcoats.
A kind of business murderer.
My version had these tight trousers and boots.
The bottom half of me was almost like a skinhead someone who could kick your head in.
And the other part was this gunslinger, all in black, like someone who rides into town.
How did you get into the characters head?
So I attempted to approach him from a psychological point of view.
I think often I can overwork and then you realize you only end up using thistinyamount of your research.
And most days when I wasnt shooting, Id be training.
That was a point of pride, I guess.
I didnt know how far I could push myself, but apparently its to puking levels.
It would hurt, and he would want to punish himself.
So it wasnt just narcissistic; it was also sort of self-torture.
Was Vicious always doomed to go down this path?
I thought a lot about what Vicious might have been like when he was a kid.
His mom and dad were in an abusive relationship.
Maybe he was looked after by the housekeeper.
Maybe he read books.
All that talk about devils and demons and snakes … that sort of permeates his psyche really early on.
He would retreat into that.
And then all of that was just savagely beaten and humiliated out of him.
It produced this sort of toxically masculine, dead-inside person.
Thats why he longs for Spike and why that hurts.
This cold, dead persondoeshave a heart somewhere, which is desperately being broken.
Do you think Spike or Julias betrayal hurt him more?I think its a three-way love story.
I mean, we see the birth of the two guys relationships with Julia.
And hes more detached from his emotions, truth, or capabilities at that point.
It seemed really important to state that they thought of each other as brothers.
For Vicious, Spike reallywasthe only person hed ever had.
Its the closest thing to a loving, functional relationship.
It felt important to me that there was something really true there.
I was like, If we do any moreCowboy Bebop, can I have a bit more of this?
That would be really nice.
Have we got it?
It was a lot of, like, getting the hairjustright over my eyes.
As season one ends, Vicious has been chained to a furnace.
Is that where were going to find him ifCowboy Bebopgets picked up for season two?You know what?
I have absolutely no idea.
Ive not been let into any more information than anyone else.
I wish I had!
I, more than anyone, would like to know.
I hope he gets out?
Otherwise that could be a fairly boring experience for me.
He shows up and pecks his arms into stumps.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
