Jamie Lee Curtis reaffirms desire to star in ‘One Piece’, co-showrunner responds
Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis has once again shared that she would like to star in Netflix‘s live-action One Piece adaptation as Dr. Kureha.
Curtis took to Instagram this past weekend to share fan art of herself as Dr. Kureha, pitching herself for the role in the second season of Netflix’s hit series. “ONCE the STRIKE against the greed of the AMTPT is SETTLED with a FAIR CONTRACT, I will lobby along with the growing fan frenzy to become Doctor Kureha in [One Piece],” Curtis wrote.
The pitch quickly caught the attention of co-showrunner Matt Owens, who commented with his support for casting Curtis as Dr. Kureha. “Mommy dearest, that’s why we sent you that figure! No need to lobby,” Owens commented on her post. “Once we get what we deserve and get back to work, let’s talk!”
This isn’t the first time Jamie Lee Curtis has expressed her desire to play the role. The Halloween actress had previously expressed her desire to play Nico Robin at a San Diego Comic Con panel in 2021, though she noted that their age difference would make it hard to play Robin.
Instead, she turned her attention to Dr. Kureha, saying she was introduced to the character by her daughter, Ruby. In October 2021, Ruby appeared on the One Piece Podcast and addressed a fan casting Curtis as Kureha: “My mom loves Kureha. I would be 100 per cent for it and I honestly, since Netflix is doing the live-action adaptation, I would highly recommend her to pull some strings to see if she can. I know my mom is 100 per cent for it.”
Last year, she expanded on her intent to play the character while on the red carpet at the Oscars: “I’m not gonna get to play [Robin], I’m a little old now. But there’s that old crone lady, not Nico Robin, [Kureha]. Maybe I can be Kureha, she wears those really low bellbottoms, she’s looking a little nasty, but she has that long stringy grey hair. My [daughter] Ruby said that that would be what I would play.”
Dr. Kureha is an elderly doctor who is the mentor and adoptive mother of Tony Tony Chopper – Curtis’ favourite One Piece character – the doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates, who is expected to appear in Netflix’s One Piece season two.
Jamie Lee Curtis’ renewed interest in playing Dr. Kureha comes after Netflix premiered the first season of its live-action One Piece adaptation in late August. Earlier this month (September 14), series creator Eiichiro Oda announced that the series had been picked up for a second season, noting that “it’ll still take a while to get the scripts ready”.
On September 5, just one week after Netflix’s live-action adaptation was released, it was revealed that the show smashed Netflix records previously set by Wednesday‘s debut season and Stranger Things season 4. While those shows ranked as the top show on the streaming platform in 83 countries upon release, One Piece debuted at the top spot across 84 countries.
In a four-star review of Netflix’s One Piece, Mark Beaumont wrote for NME: “One Piece rattles along at a sprightly pace, stacking drama points like teetering towers that all tumble in synchronised perfection. If it’s teen-friendly romps that virtually binge themselves you’re after, climb aboard and strap in tight.”
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Surej Singh
NME
