One Piece Voice Actors Break Silence on Netflix’s Live-Action Cast (Exclusive)

Netflix is going all-in when it comes to producing live-action adaptations of the world of anime, with its Cowboy Bebop series set to land later this month and the streaming service confirming that the series of Yu Yu Hakusho will be arriving in December of 2023. Earlier this week, the platform announced which young actors will be playing the Straw Hat Pirates in this new production, and we here at Comicbook.com had an opportunity to sit down with the English voice actors for the Straw Hats and discuss their thoughts on the actors and offer advice if they had any. 

The actors we were able to speak with were Colleen Clinkenbeard, Eric Vale, and Mike McFarland, who play Monkey D. Luffy, Sanji, and the villainous Buggy respectively. To start, Eric Vale, who has been voicing Sanji for years in the English dub of the anime series, had some tongue-in-cheek advice for the new class, with his character set to be played by Taz Skylar:

“You guys have a thousand episodes to watch before you can get the job right!”

Colleen Clinkenbeard who has been the voice of Monkey D. Luffy since 2007 was ecstatic at the casting of Inaki Godoy and had some kind words to share about the actor that is set to play that young swashbuckler vying to be the King of the Pirates:

“He already is closer to being Luffy than I could ever be. He is VERY Luffy-ish! I don’t know if he needs any advice from me, but I wish him all the luck in the world and I hope we can enjoy being that character together!”

While Buggy has yet to be cast for the series, the voice of the pirate with a clown aesthetic had this to say about the upcoming series:

“I trust the Production Team and know Oda is involved. I love what the cast looks like and I’m excited to see what that turns out like.”

The One Piece anime series is about to hit its milestone one-thousandth episode, and while it might be some time before we hear the English voice actors dubbing the War For Wano Arc, the breadth of the English Dub is currently streaming on both Funimation and Crunchyroll. 

What do you think of these words of wisdom and excitement from the One Piece voice actors? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Grand Line.