‘One Piece’ Star Iñaki Godoy On Bringing The Netflix Show’s Wild World to Life

The One Piece live-action adaptation is ready to set sail! Based on Eiichiro Oda’s manga series and the long-running anime of the same name, Netflix’s highly anticipated live-action adaptation finally revealed the show’s August 31 release date and dropped a teaser trailer of the new series during the streamer’s fan event Tudum today. In anticipation, Decider sat down with star Iñaki Godoy to discuss taking on the iconic character — and his stretchy arm reveal at the end of the short clip.

The series follows the young dreamer Monkey D. Luffy (Godoy) as he leaves his small village in search of treasure. In the teaser, he proclaims, “Ever since I was a kid, the sea’s been calling! I’m setting out to follow my dreams. I’m going to be King of the Pirates.” Along the way, he assembles a talented pirate crew to help him face off against several dangerous rivals, which includes monstrous sea creatures and an evil clown.

The series also features next-level world-building as in the final seconds of the teaser, Luffy is shown to have rubber-like stretchy arms, which he uses to throw a punch.

In the manga, there are several fantastical species like giants, fishmen, and a Snakeneck Tribe, along with magical fruits that grant powers, such as the ability to transform into different creatures and the stretchy features displayed by Luffy. 

The options are endless in this universe, which can be quite daunting to someone playing a key role in the series. While chatting with Decider, Godoy told us that one of the challenges he faced while portraying the iconic character was “adapting something that is huge.” And to him, this has multiple contexts: one being the large fanbase that the source material has already accumulated; and another being the fictional world in which the series takes place. “You have this world where there’s Laos pirates and stretchy pirates, and you need to find a way to make that feel real human,” Godoy said.

When it came to adopting the odd physicality of his character, Godoy studied the source material for reference. “How can I translate this rubber-man into live action? In those cases, I really used the anime and manga for reference and I literally tried to replicate the way this guy [Luffy] fights,” he explained.

Godoy continued, “I can see how this guy fights. Why wouldn’t I use that as a reference? When he throws a punch and he takes it back, he puts his hand on his bicep or his shoulder. So, if he does that, I should do that too, right? And when he’s about to throw a punch, sometimes he lifts up his leg. I just tried to look for those little details in the original product.”

In addition to Godoy, the series also stars Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp and Taz Skylar as Sanji. Additional cast includes McKinley Belcher III and Morgan Davies.

Netflix writes in the synopsis, “One Piece is a legendary high-seas adventure unlike any other. Monkey D. Luffy is a young adventurer who has longed for a life of freedom since he can remember. Luffy sets off from his small village on a perilous journey to find the legendary fabled treasure, ONE PIECE, to become King of the Pirates! But in order to find the ultimate prize, Luffy will need to assemble the crew he’s always wanted before finding a ship to sail, searching every inch of the vast blue seas, outpacing the Marines, and outwitting dangerous rivals at every turn.”

Watch the One Piece teaser trailer in the video above.