In a recent interview with Deadline, live-action co-showrunner One PieceMatt Owens, opened up about the possibility of casting Jamie Lee Curtis as Doctor Kureha in the upcoming season and provided more insight going into the behind-the-scenes details of their entire exchange on Instagram, including mentioning the figurine they sent her.
According to Owens, after they discovered that Jamie Lee Curtis was a huge fan of One Piece, they were eager to try and get her on the show. Luckily for them, Doctor Kureha is set to appear in the upcoming spin-off of the live-action series and Owens feels that the role is a perfect fit for Jamie Lee Curtis.
“We had the opportunity to stunt choose some roles, some [vai] very important, and it turns out Jamie Lee Curtis is a One Piece fan. As soon as she said that, we thought, okay, we have to try to get her on the show. What can we do? And Dr. Kureha, luckily, is the character who appears in our story and is perfect for Jamie Lee Curtis.“
To show its interest, the writers room sent Curtis a statue of Doctor Kureha along with congratulations after her Oscar win, cheekily suggesting that she add this next to “the “image”, hinting at any future collaboration.
“So we tried to start realizing this dream of ours. After she won the Oscar, the writers room sent her a statue of Doctor Kureha with a cute message: “Congratulations on your statue, here’s another one to put next to it . Hope to talk to you soon.”“
This is when Curtis took to his Instagram to post a post expressing his desire to play the role of Doctor Kureha, which attracted a large amount of attention from One Piece fan.
However, Owens mentioned that there haven’t been any formal discussions yet due to the ongoing SAG strikes.
However, he expressed his willingness to engage in conversation with Curtis as soon as circumstances permitted. He also expressed a strong desire for Curtis to become part of the family One Piece in Season 2, emphasizing that they adjusted the role for her.
“When she retweeted that post, it received a lot of attention from fans and I commented on it. We’re trying to show it. That’s right, as of now, SAG is still on strike so there have been no real conversations. But as soon as I can, I’m ready. I’ll take her out to dinner, we’ll talk about it. We’re going to do all of that because at this point we’re writing to her — we really, really want her to come hang out with us in Season 2,” said Matt Owens, series showrunner live-action One Piece said in an interview. with Deadline.”
Netflix’s live action adaptation of One Piece begins streaming on the platform from August 31, 2023. The second season was announced in a special interview with Eiichiro Oda.
The cast includes Iñaki Godoy, who plays Monkey D. Luffy, Emily Rudd as Nami, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp and Taz Skylar will play Sanji. Colton Osorio will play young Luffy.
Furthermore, Peter Gadiot plays Shanks, Morgan Davies as Koby, Ilia Isorelanhs Paulino as Alvida, Aidan Scott as Helmeppo, Jeff Ward as Buggy, McKinley Belcher III as Arlong, and Vincent Regan as Garp.
Other cast members include:
Alexander Maniatis as Klahadore Steven Ward as Mihawk Craig Fairbrass as Chef Zeff Langley Kirkwood as Captain Morgan Celeste Loots as Kaya Chioma Umeala as Nojiko
It was previously revealed that the original Japanese voice actors would return to portray their characters for the Japanese dub of the live-action adaptation.
The live-action version will adapt the East-Blue Saga from the One Piece Manga and “expand from there”. Matt Owens will serve as a writer for the upcoming show, while Steven Maeda and Becky Clements will serve as executive producer along with Eiichiro Oda.
The live-action soundtrack is titled “Wealth, Fame, Power” composed by Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli, famous for their work “The Witcher“.
Netflix will exclusively stream the series produced by Tomorrow Studios, a collaboration between producer Marty Adelstein and ITV Studios.
The live action adaptation has been in production in South Africa since February 1, 2022.
Source: Deadline