In a recent interview with deadline, One Piece live-action co-showrunner, Matt Owens, opened about the possibility of casting Jamie Lee Curtis as Doctor Kureha in the upcoming season, and provided more insigts into the behind-the-scenes details of their whole exchange on Instagram, including the mention of a figurine they sent her.

According to Owens, after they discovered that Jamie Lee Curtis was a huge fan of One Piece series, they were eager to try and incorporate her into the show. Fortunately for them, Doctor Kureha was set to make an appearance in the upcoming storyline of the live-action series and Owens felt that the role was a perfect fit for Jamie Lee Curtis.

“We have opportunities to stunt cast some roles, some [roles] that are very important, and it came out that Jamie Lee Curtis is a One Piece fan. As soon as she said that, we were like, okay, we have to try and get her on the show. What can we do? And Doctor Kureha, very luckily, is a character who is coming up in our story, and is someone who is perfect for Jamie Lee Curtis.“

In order to express their interest, the writers’ room sent Curtis a Doctor Kureha figure along with a congratulatory note after her Oscar win, cheekily suggesting that she add this next next to her “statue”, implicating any future collaboration.

“So we tried to start manifesting this dream of ours. After she won her Oscar, the writers room sent her a figure of Doctor Kureha with a nice note that said, “Congratulations on your statue, here’s another one to put next to it. Hope to speak to you soon.”“

This was when Curtis took to her instagram to put up a post expressing her desire to play Doctor Kureha, which garnered a considerable amount of attention from One Piece fans.

Owens, however, mentioned that there haven’t yet been any formal discussions due to ongoing SAG strikes.

Neverthless, he conveyed his readiness to engage in conversations with Curtis as soon as circumstances allow. He also expressed a strong desire for Curtis to become a part of the One Piece family in Season 2, emphasizing that they are already tailoring the role for her.

“When she reposted that, it got a lot of fan interest, and I commented on it. We’re trying to manifest it. Yes, as of right now, SAG is still striking so there have not been real conversations. But as soon as there can be, I’m ready. I will take her out to dinner, we’ll talk about it. We’ll do all of it because at this point we’re writing for her — we really, really want her to come and play with us in Season 2,” said Matt Owens, showrunner of One Piece live-action series in an interview with Deadline.“

Netflix’s live action adaptation of One Piece started streaming on the platform from Aug 31, 2023. A second season was announced in a special interview featuring Eiichiro Oda.

The cast includes Iñaki Godoy, who portrays 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 portray a young Luffy.

Furthermore, Peter Gadiot plays Shanks, Morgan Davies as Koby, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as Alvida, Aidan Scott as Helmeppo, Jeff Ward as Buggy, McKinley Belcher III as Arlong, and Vincent Regan as Garp.

The 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 will be returning to portray their characters for the Japanese dub of the live-action adaptation

The live-action will be adapting the East-Blue Saga from the One Piece manga and then “broaden from there”. Matt Owens will serve as the upcoming show’s writer, while Steven Maeda and Becky Clements will be executive producers along with Eiichiro Oda.

The soundtrack for the live action, titled “Wealth, Fame, Power,” is composed by Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli, best known for their work on “The Witcher“.

Netflix will exclusively stream the series, produced by Tomorrow Studios, a partnership between producer Marty Adelstein and ITV Studios.

The live action adaptation was under production in South Africa since Feb 1, 2022.

Source: Deadline