Radical Ed actor in Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop shares their first thoughts on playing the role

Radical Ed is one of the more enduring characters in the Cowboy Bebop universe. The character is a fun-loving and mischievous 13-year-old child hacking prodigy.

A lot of people who watched the show were perplexed by the omission of the exuberant character, but that changed when Ed teamed up with Spike Spiegel (John Cho) in the season finale to catch a man named Volaju.

Ed’s being played by Eden Perkins, a non-binary actor. Radical Ed is Perkins’ first major role, and Perkins took some time to talk about the experience.

“Ed is such an amazing character. She’s just so incredibly lively, and she just brings energy wherever she goes. Looking at all the scenes from the anime of Ed, she’s just so cool. She’s an amazing character, and I really relate to her actually and it was so, so incredibly exciting being cast as her.”

Getting dressed for the part was a thrill for Perkins. “Getting into costume for the first time, Ed’s so cool. I love her costume so much. It’s very free and movable I suppose, which suits Ed very much,” they rhapsosized. “And the wig. The wig is so cool. It’s so spiky and I desperately want to touch it, but I don’t cause otherwise I would mess it up…it’s such a cool costume.” 

Perkins is a fan of the original anime and they shared a favorite moment.

“One of my favorite Ed moments from the anime is definitely when there’s a bounty on the Bebop, and he’s being mean to Ein and Ed just comes down, bonks him on the head and starts biting him. It’s truly amazing.”

“When I finally got to actually be on set, it was incredible. It was just one night of shooting. It was incredible. The sets are so, so cool and at night it’s like a completely different atmosphere. It was very cold, but it was amazing,” Perkins raved about the experience. “And everyone is so very, very, very lovely. And I got to act with John Cho, which was very cool. It was such an amazing experience.”

Even though Perkins was only in that one scene, they said the excitement was palpable. Perkins wants everyone to get to know Ed and love the character as much as they do.

“I’m so excited about people getting to know Ed, she’s just such a cool character. Even though there’s only one scene, she packs a punch of personality, and I think that’s so cool. I’m very excited for people to get to know Ed in the future, and see what she’s like.”

What do you think about Radical Ed’s addition to the show? Let us know below.