One Piece Showrunner Says Jamie Lee Curtis Talks Will Happen: Should They, Though?
Legendary actor set to join the cast for season 2.
There seems to be little doubt that One Piece showrunner Matt Owens wants Jamie Lee Curtis to play Kureha in the next season of the show – and that the Halloween actor is up for it. But the ongoing strike means no talks have yet taken place, despite confirmation via Netflix's YouTube channel that Season 2 will go ahead.
Curtis herself has already thrown her hat into the ring for the role via Instagram, promising to 'lobby along with the growing fan frenzy to become Dr. Kureha.'
Embed And now, in an interview with Deadline, Owens has confirmed that he would be interested in pursuing that avenue.
'We have opportunities to stunt cast some roles, some rules that are very important,' he said, 'and it came out that Jamie Lee Curtis is a One Piece fan.'
That little nugget seems to have piqued the interest of one of the most influential members of the production team in Owens.
'As soon as she said that, we were like, okay, we have to try and get her on the show. What can we do?' he said, adding, 'Doctor Kureha, very luckily, is a character who is coming up in our story, and is someone who is perfect for Jamie Lee Curtis.'
And while no official talks have taken place yet, Owens described how the team behind the live-action adaptation of the manga began to 'manifesting' their dream.
'After she won her Oscar, the writer's 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.'
The end of season 1 set up the next chapter of the story to include Kureha as a major character. This fact calls into question whether she should be asked to play the role. Let's face it, One Piece is not a show that takes itself too seriously. So to have a famous fan take part in it would not seem too out of the ordinary.
But having what is essentially a fancast cameo as such a key character could be a risky move. Imagine if Ed Sheeran had played the Night King in Game of Thrones instead of a random actor. Such a move has the potential to distract from the main thrust of the show – which, by the way, only really got going towards the end of season 1.
Of course, all this seems academic at the moment. If Jamie Lee Curtis doesn't get the part, there will be an outcry. Whoever plays Kureha will then be up against it for months on social media chats before their performance even airs.
So it will almost certainly happen. But should it? We'll see.