It’s no exaggeration to say that Anthony Bourdain was never afraid to venture beyond his own kitchen, not just as a chef but as a storyteller. Case in point, back in 2012 Bourdain collaborated with his friend with co-writer Joel Rose and artist Langdon Foss for Get Jiro, an original graphic novel published by DC’s Vertigo imprint. The graphic novel follows the titular character as he wages a bloody revenge against the corrupt elite sets of an alternate future dystopian Los Angeles. Though published nearly fifteen years ago, this graphic novel satirizing food culture and society in general is more relevant than ever. So it’s only fitting that it was adapted for an animated series that premiered earlier this month.
During New York Comic Con, The Beat had the opportunity to sit down with the cast of crew of Get Jiro including the voice of the titular character Brian Tee as well as Alessandro Tanaka (showrunner/executive producer), Brian Gatewood (showrunner/executive producer), Jordan Blum (executive producer), and Joel Rose (co-writer of the original graphic novel).
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Taimur Dar: This project has been in development for almost a decade. In that time, restaurant and food culture have been in the zeitgeist in recent years whether with films like The Menu or most obviously The Bear. There’s a lot of overlap in terms of themes with these projects as well as Get Jiro. What are some of the commonalities and what sets Get Jiro apart from these commentaries on food culture?
Jordan Blum: I feel like the overlap is that Anthony brought food culture to the mainstream in a way where people started talking about food in a way they hadn’t. It’s funny that all these things have come out and now there’s even more to celebrate what he brought to the table.
Brian Tee: I think he’s the one chef who brought cinema to food especially as a storyteller. It’s Anthony Bourdain and everybody else who has been able to merge both entities as far as food in film together. He’s the standard.
Joel Rose: I don’t think there’s another mind like Anthony Bourdain out there even remotely. There’s a lot of imitators but what he did from his soul is different from imitation. It stands out at every term.
Alessandro Tanaka: That comic came out in 2012. So it’s been longer than ten years. Everything that that comic was making fun of has just gotten worse today. The hot restaurants and waiting in the lines for whatever is viral. They saw it.
Brian Tee: The commentary as far as having that forethought way back then to right now. The commodity is everything you can feel which is close to our zeitgeist right now. With everything is getting so digital and AI and fake in that context, what is meaning? It’s beautiful what they did back then that translates directly to right now.
Taimur Dar: It’s no hyperbole to say that Warner Bros. Animation is phenomenal when it comes to casting. How did you go about casting not just the main character Jiro but the other supporting characters?
Brian Gatewood: Brian was our first and only choice and we were lucky enough to have him. There really was no other Jiro. [Laughs].
Brian Tee: I love these guys and wanted to work with them. I’m a big fan of Joel and Anthony and working with Jordan has been absolutely incredibly. This was quite frankly a gift. Some of the coolest stuff I’ve ever been a part of.
Brian Gatewood: Once you hear it, it’s the right voice. It feels pretty natural, all the actors who are doing the voices.
Jordan Blum: That was the big thing we talked about. We really wanted grounded performances because the world can be so absurd and big. Brian and the rest of the case were able to bring such a reality to it that it makes you buy this world.
Alessandro Tanaka: Brian [Tee] we had met before and were huge fans of him. We talked about wanting to work on something together. This was pretty obvious. But we also worked with Justin Kirk before so it made sense to call him. Some of it was relationships like that.
Taimur Dar: I see that Meredith Layne is the voice director for Get Jiro. She’s been involved in some of the biggest animated show franchises in recent years like Invincible and X-Men ’97. What was the experience working with one of the best voice directors in the business?
Jordan Blum: This was new for me because on all the shows I had previously done I did a lot of the directing and I’ve never worked with a voice director before. It was so amazing to have someone come in and know exactly what kind of alts to get, what to ask for, how to cover you, and make sure she had a list of all the efforts. It was like having this genius directing brain in the room with you. Everybody was bouncing ideas off of each other. It was very collaborative. I would love to work with her again in the future
Brian Tee: A lot of the notes she had were incredible but not unlike if we were going to shoot this live-action. I think that’s what Jordan was saying earlier about having grounded characters and actors for that voice to shine through. A lot of the adjustments was purely on the acting side of things whether you’re on-camera or in a voice booth.
Taimur Dar: Finally, is this intended as a one and done season or is there hope to continue if the opportunity arises?
Brian Gatewood: There’s hope to do more and go to New York and meet Jiro’s [Spoiler].
Jordan Blum: I think this season is a full meal. You get a full story. There’s so much more to the character of Jiro; backstory, complexities, and new challenges out there. The end of the series leaves it open for more.
Stay tuned to The Beat for more news from NYCC ’26.
