Luffy's Casting in One Piece Was a Hard Task for Netflix

In a recent Q3 earnings call, it was revealed that casting Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy in Netflix's live-action adaptation of One Piece posed one of the "most difficult casting challenges in the history of our original programming," said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. The process to bring this sacred IP to life involved seamless cooperation between American and Japanese teams, exploring Netflix's broad talent pool until Godoy, already known in Netflix's talent family for his role in the Mexican series "Who Killed Sara?" emerged as the ideal choice.

Given the extreme complexity of One Piece’s over-the-top antics and supernatural Devil Fruit powers, casting for the effervescent and iconic Monkey D. Luffy was understandably daunting. However, the choice of Godoy has since been met with praise from fans and critics, who lauded his performance as "shockingly believable", highlighting his ability to perfectly capture Luffy's striking balance of comedic antics and heroism.

"We discovered [Godoy] a couple years ago and had him in this great show, a Mexican series called Who Killed Sara? And then we were able to cast him in this, and now he's a global superstar," Sarandos commented.

This insight was shared amidst a discussion of One Piece’s widespread success, marked notably by it topping the series charts in 84 countries, outshining even Netflix hits like Stranger Things and Wednesday. The show has already been renewed for a second season, although a production schedule is yet to be determined due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

Negotiations between the actors’ union and Hollywood studios currently stand at a stalemate, with SAG-AFTRA alleging that industry CEOs have abandoned negotiations. For further One Piece developments and insights, viewers can look forward to a comprehensive interview with showrunner Steven Maeda.

The article was composed by Senior News Editor Alex Stedman, whose purview includes oversight of entertainment reporting for IGN.