Netflix has a reputation when it comes to anime live-action adaptations. Ever since they released Death Note in 2017, it seemed like many have made up their mind about what future anime adaptations will be like. Cowboy Bebop wasn’t welcomed with a lot of fanfare before swiftly being canceled after only one season. Still, Tomorrow Studios has one major project up their sleeve for Netflix: a live-action adaptation of One Piece.
It’s a major challenge to tackle one of the world’s biggest manga franchises but the talented team and cast added some hope for what’s to come. Among the talented cast is Taz Skylar, who will take on the role of the Straw Hat cook, Sanji. While filming, the actor shared his intense kick-based training while also highlighting he took cooking lessons.
In an interview with Zero Nine, Skylar got a chance to share what it was like bringing the character of Sanji to life and added that he had “a clean slate” for bringing a character to life that never had a live-action adaptation before but is aware of the challenge of bringing an animated character to life.
Whenever you see references of the character, (Sanji) I don’t have to worry about my interpretation being anything close or anything that is copying or resembling anything that anyone else has done. I get a clean slate when I do it. But secondly, with it being animation, there’s not a single thing you see that isn’t deliberately done.
Taz Skylar
He goes on to highlight what makes his character different from the others, as while most have a weapon of some kind, Sanji mainly uses kicks as his weapon of choice. He also deliberately doesn’t use his hands due to them being tools to cook.
Every other character has an external object they had to practice with. This doesn’t diminish the process of learning how to be good at something. However, in my case, I couldn’t learn to use the object until it became usable. Understanding the mechanics of kicking, for example, doesn’t count unless you can reach the target.
Taz Skylar
Skylar goes on to also share that he was all-in or “gone psycho” for this role. We’ve seen a lot of dedication from the cast throughout the production. He shared how he handled the pressure of preparing for this multi-faceted role.
I’ve never gone psycho like I’ve gone psycho on this. This is the hardest I’ve ever worked for anything in my entire life. But part of it was because of the pressure, which I don’t like admitting because I don’t think it’s a useful sentiment. My way of dealing with the pressure was to go, “Well, at least if I do everything that I know is humanly possible by my standards. And then, you know, if people don’t like it, I can’t go, ‘Oh, well, maybe just Ignore them and go for it.
Taz Skylar
To highlight what he accomplished during production, director Marc Jobst took to Twitter highlighting that “he’d come to rehearsal with another awesome dish” and that he was truly committed to the role.
It’s great to see just how committed Skylar was to the role and here’s hoping that it’ll pay off with this series going on for many more years, as the story of One Piece is still being told after over 1,000 chapters. While the WGA may postpone any work on a second season and Netflix’s tendency to set very high standards for viewership, if there’s any project to accomplish it, it would be Eiichiro Oda’s work.
