The data on the dog: Cowboy Bebop stars dish on the two corgis playing Ein

If there were any divas on the set of Cowboy Bebop, they would have to be Charlie and Harry, the near-identical corgis from New Zealand who play Ein, the adorable "data dog" from the anime.

"If you didn't have food, they would smell that you didn't have food and walk away," says actress Daniella Pineda. "I'd imagine our show may have put a little Christmas weight on them."

Cowboy Bebop showrunner André Nemec and stars John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Pineda spoke with EW about working with the animal members of the cast.

"It's like when you work with children or babies, you want twins. We have two corgis," Nemec remarks. "They're both fantastic. They're little kings of the set. Everybody wants time with the corgis. At one point, I made the joke, 'If we can't find a corgi in New Zealand, we should ring up [Queen Elizabeth II] and see if she wants her corgis to be famous on our show.' We did not have to shop outside of New Zealand to find our corgis."

"Dogs are showstoppers," Cho says. "Everyone just stops working, and it's cuddle time."

In the anime, set in the year 2071, a trio of bounty hunters — Cho's Spike Spiegel, Shakir's Jet Black, and Pineda's Faye Valentine — cruise through space in search of criminals to trade in for cash, while at times grappling with their traumatic pasts.

Ein is a Pebroke Welsh Corgi who was genetically modified in a secret facility and now maintains high intelligence, hence his moniker. He escapes a dognapping attempt and joins up with the Bebop crew, though it's unclear how this story will translate to the live-action show.

Ein is often associated with Ed, a fan-favorite anime character and hacker, but his story line in the live-action series has been kept close to the vest. Nemec teases simply, "I think everyone will be pleased."

According to Pineda, one corgi was better at taking direction, while the other was more amenable to being held.

Cho jokes his physical training for Bebop came in handy because the dogs "were much heavier than you'd think." Shakir confirms they're "very heavy."

"I have to carry them all the time. I'm like, 'I can't believe that this dog is this heavy,'" he says with a laugh. "But [they're] addicted to treats, just addicted to treats. Literally on alert for pieces and scraps of chicken. So, if you wanted to get cool with the dog, just have some chicken in your hand, otherwise he's not very interested in you at all. But they were super cute."

Pineda says she did most of the dog holding. "I remember there was a scene with just me and the dog, and I had to hold it and it kept drooling all over my arms. It looked like I had white hair coming out of my arms, and the makeup artists would have to scrub and clean off all the saliva and hair between every tape. It was a lot!"

It's the price we pay for cuteness.

Cowboy Bebop premieres Nov. 19 on Netflix.

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