American actress Jamie Lee Curtis shared that she is determined to persuade Netflix’s ONE PIECE to cast her as the Drum Island Witch, Doctor Kureha. Following the announcement of Season 2, the fan-casting or campaigning of the characters expected to appear in the next story arc has been trending online with Jamie Lee Curtis’ receiving the most attention. Tthe actress is a fan of the ONE PIECE anime and has playfully mentioned the role on numerous occasions.
In response to the fans, Jamie Lee Curtis shared that when the 2023 Writer’s strike ends fairly, she would begin “lobby along with the growing fan frenzy to become Doctor Kureha” in Netflix’s ONE PIECE live-action. She also added screenshots of a Kureha fanart (by gone_goblin on Instagram), an article, and interviews, including her own previous post last April when she humorously tagged Netflix.
One of the occasions when Jamie Lee Curtis mentioned her interest in ONE PIECE was during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2016 when she said she wanted to portray Nico Robin. In 2019, she was also spotted by Funimation for purchasing Chopper’s Funko Pop and was even supportive of the world premiere of the ONE PIECE Stampede movie. In 2021, the actress’ daughter, Ruby, was a guest on the ONE PIECE podcast where she shared how her Mom loves Kureha and that they were both 100% rooting for the role. In 2022, Jamie Lee Curtis mentioned the anime again during TikTok’s red-carpet interview at the 94th Academy Awards (Oscars). She shared that her favorite character is Tony Tony Chopper and that her friend Brina Palencia does the voice of Chopper in the American dub. If given the chance to portray one character, Jamie Lee Curtis said that she would like to be Doctor Kureha.
She said, “I’m a little old [to portray Nico Robin], but there’s that wizened old crone lady… Maybe I can be Kureha! She wears those really low bell bottoms, she’s looking a little nasty, but she has long, kind of straggly gray hair. My Ruby said that that would be what I would play.” The actress also mentioned her interest in the role again during another interview and was surprised to discover that a lot of fans support her wish to be Kureha.
In April 2023, Jamie Lee Curtis made a post with an edited photo of Kureha and the caption, “Hey @netflix @onepiecenetflix. The Internet has spoken and mommy needs a job. #curtisforkureha.” Lastly, after the announcement of Season 2, Emily Rudd (Nami) also mentioned in an Instagram story that she was interested in seeing Jamie Lee Curtis possibly join the cast of ONE PIECE.
In regards to the production of the second season, the ONE PIECE live-action producers told Variety that the scripts are already finished. The production, however, is on pause and cannot begin until the SAG-AFTRA strike ends. No announcements regarding the production and casting have been made as of writing. However, the Instagram account of Netflix’s ONE PIECE has acknowledged Jamie Lee Curtis by resharing her post to their Instagram story. In addition, showrunner Matt Owens commented on the post saying, “Mommy dearest, that’s why we sent you that figure! No need to lobby. Once we get what we deserve and get back to work, let’s talk!”
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Jamie Lee Curtis is an Academy Award-winning actress based in the United States. She is best known for her horror movie role in the Halloween movie series. Her other major films include Freaky Friday, Knives Out, and the recent Everything Everywhere All At Once. Jamie Lee Curtis is also a fan of the video game World of Warcraft and the manga ONE PIECE and apparently attending conventions in costumes as well. Her favorite ONE PIECE character, Tony Tony Chopper, is a blue-nosed reindeer and the Straw Hats’ ship doctor. He learned medicine from Doctor Hiriluk and Doctor Kureha (also known as Doctorine.) Kureha is an eccentric yet highly skilled doctor, is Chopper’s adoptive mother, and is “only 141 years young.”
ONE PIECE is a manga by Eichiro Oda that follows Monkey D. Luffy in his quest to find the Pirate King’s greatest treasure. It is free to read on MANGA Plus while the anime is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Bilibili. Lastly, all the episodes of the live-action adaptation are now available on Netflix.
Source: Jamie Lee Curtis’ Facebook & Instagram
Featured image: © 2023 Michael Rowe © Eiichiro Oda / Shueisha
