Fancasting popular actors into big properties is nothing new, but every once in a while, you see that actually pay off in the material itself. Almost everyone has an ideal actor they think would be best to portray a particular character, and in the case of One Piece, fans have been clamoring for years to have Freaky Friday actor Jamie Lee Curtis portray Dr. Kureha in season two of Netflix’s hit series.
Curtis has openly been a nerd for years—she wrote the Mother Nature graphic novel in July, wore World of Warcraft cosplay to officiate her daughter’s wedding, and stars in the Borderlands movie—and she’s also previously said she’d love to be a part of the live-action adaptation. Under strike rules, she currently can’t lobby for the role, but there’s nothing stopping her from saying that she’s going to do so once the strikes are over. On Instagram, she wrote that she’d “lobby along with the growing fan frenzy to become Doctor Kureha,” but only after “the strike against the greed of the [AMPTP] is settled with a fair contract.”
But Curtis may not need to do much lobbying, as co-showrunner Matt Owens found her post and commented, “No need to lobby. Once we get what we deserve and get back to work, let’s talk!”
In One Piece, Dr. Kureha is a very elderly doctor who resides on Drum Island. She’s also the adoptive mother of Tony Tony Chopper, a reindeer who becomes sentient after eating a magical fruit which allows him to flip between that form, a reindeer-human hybrid, or his original reindeer self. Chopper’s expected to be a part of the live-action show’s upcoming second season, and he eventually joins the Straw Hats as their doctor. Curtis would be a big get for the show, and also keep in vibe with the goofy B-show vibes the Netflix series has.
One Piece’s second season will premiere on Netflix a year or two from whenever the Hollywood strikes come to an end.
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