The live-action adaptation of One Piece from Netflix launched in August to a largely positive reception from fans and critics, cementing its second season in the process. The showrunners still have a lot of story content to cover from the source material manga by Eiichiro Oda, which includes the Straw Hat Pirates’ entry into the Grand Line in season 2. One key figure introduced in the first leg of the Grand Line journey is a character named Dr. Kureha and it seems like all eyes are set on actress Jamie Lee Curtis to take on the role.
Curtis, who happens to be a big fan of One Piece and the lovable anthropomorphic doctor Tony Tony Chopper, recently began pushing for an opportunity to play Dr. Kureha in the live-action series. Kureha has close ties with Chopper and it seems like she’d be a perfect fit for the character in almost every way – showrunner Matt Owens thinks so too.
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Speaking to Deadline in a recent interview, Owens opened up about potentially casting Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Kureha in season 2. By the sounds of it, it’s all but confirmed at this point:
“We have opportunities to stunt cast some roles, some rules 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.”
Curtis received a lot of enthusiastic fan responses to play Kureha after it came out that she’s a One Piece fan. It seems like Owens is set on casting the actress, who seems more than happy to take on the role, once the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors strike is over:
“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.”
Netflix’s One Piece has been renewed for season 2 with a script already in place.
Source: Deadline
