Actor Emily Rudd, who will be portraying the Straw Hats Pirates crew member Nami in Netflix’s One Piece live-action adaptation of the manga of the same name, has shared her take on why her casting for the show is spot-on.
As Netflix’s much-anticipated $18-million-per-episode series One Piece grows nearer to its August debut, Rudd talked to GamesRadar+ about her character Nami and her experience on the set of the show in general. Nami is known as the crew’s navigator, and, apparently, Rudd knows a thing or two in that department as well.
Emily Rudd’s Special Navigation Skill
The actor claimed to be “super good” at orientation, saying that she was “the default person” of the group for navigation whenever they arrived at a new city. Rudd “grew up camping” (and not just “light” camping – “‘middle of nowhere, bathroom is a hole in the ground somewhere in the forest,’-type camping”) and could handle paper maps with no trouble.
The One Piece star mentioned that she was always the one to help her family find places that they needed to go to, saying that she “was born to be a navigator.” Rudd finished off with the bold statement, “I was born to be Nami.” She may turn out to be right in the end, as many fans of Eiichiro Oda’s original manga have reacted positively to Rudd’s casting so far.
Having established her connection to Nami on a navigation expert level, Rudd had a few other words to describe her One Piece character, calling her “clever, protective, and loving.” Rudd believes Nami to be “the brains of the bunch” and the one who was “keeping the boys in line.” Aside from her personal traits, she is a “cat burglar” who is aware of “how to pull the wool over people’s eyes.”
Rudd also seemed to agree with the popular opinion that “Luffy is the captain, but Nami is the boss.” The One Piece star shared her thoughts about Nami being the one who “controlled the money” and basically gave “allowance” to her fellow Straw Hat Pirates, who she sometimes took a maternal role toward.
One Piece, starring Iñaki Godoy, Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero Gibson, and Taz Skylar, is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on Aug. 31, 2023.
Source: GamesRadar+