The actors from the One Piece live-action series joined the 2024 Weebcon Texas panel, and fans are having the time of their lives reviewing the clips. Jacob Romero Gibson (Usopp), Emily Rudd (Nami), Taz Skylar (Sanji), and Steven John Ward (Mihawk) answered several fan-submitted questions and talked about their experiences on set.
Their answers to one question in particular made fans laugh out loud. Why? Because the actors accidentally reveal that they are the best picks for the characters they play.
What is the favorite One Piece arc of the live-action stars?
As soon as the One Piece live-action cast was asked about their favorite arcs in the Weebcon Texas 2024 panel, Emily Rudd answered, “Water 7, Enies Lobby,” without a single second of delay. The response received many cheers from fans, so Gibson decided to copy the answer and hype fans even more.
WeebCon Texas 2024 — One Piece Live Action Panel
— ONE PIECE NETFLIX FAN (@OP_Netflix_Fan) April 3, 2024
Steven (Mihawk): "My favourite moment was making you two [Emily and Jacob] laugh in that bar scene."
Full video: https://t.co/WbXwBmZobt pic.twitter.com/W1c6eHDNq8
Next, Taz, who plays Sanji, answered that the Whole Cake Island arc was his favorite. This incited fans even more because of what happens in the arc. On the other hand, Steven John Ward said that he simply never saw the names of the episodes while watching the anime, which is probably the most ‘no-shits-given’ answer perfectly suited to Mihawk.
Why were the answers of the One Piece actors hilarious?
Gibson and Taz’s answers were hilarious for a few reasons, mainly because of their ambiguous roles in the particular arcs and their rebellion with Luffy. The Water 7 and Enies Lobby arcs mark the development of Usopp’s alter ego, Sogeking.
Usopp had an altercation with Luffy and as a result, did not want to join the crew anymore. However, he could not bear to see his nakama walk into danger without him and joined in by wearing a mask and cape, which fooled no one other than Luffy and Chopper.
So technically, Usopp was present in the arcs but only in disguise, and Luffy gobbled up the ill-made lie.
On the other hand, Sanji was away from the crew for most of the Whole Cake Island arc. In fact, he faced a cruel heartbreak during it. He was kidnapped and forced to marry Pudding, and when he finally agreed to marry her, he found out that she was a sinister woman. In fact, he even rejected Luffy during the arc because he was blindsided.
Thus, the Enies Lobby and the Whole Cake Island arcs were both pretty traumatizing for Usopp and Sanji. In fact, in both arcs, they fight with Luffy. Yet, the actors chose the respective arcs over everything else.
Reaction of Fans to the Cast’s Choices
The clip of the question-answer session amassed 92k+ likes pretty soon, and fans posted one hilarious comment after another. One fan questioned why Usopp was a fan of the Enies Lobby arc when he wasn’t even in it. Others replied that it was because he is a Sogeking fan, and of course, he would be supportive of his friend!
Mostly, fans were in love with the perfect casting:
“Jacob is so usopp coded they couldn’t have picked a better actor lmao,”
Another said,
“Yeah Taz is really sanji and he Loves sanji soo much and yes I wanna see him In Whole cake Island.”
The impending scuffle with Luffy was also hinted at,
“Not Jacob (Usopp) saying Water 7 and Taz (Sanji) saying Whole Cake Island. We know damn well what happened in those arcs with the same characters.”
Some fans were a little more skeptical as they thought the actors might not even have watched the anime. Another comment, “Zoro being Zoro,” references the fact that he always gets lost and is thus not present in the interview.
However, absolutely everyone was in love with Emily Rudd as she answered without missing a beat and exhibited genuine fondness for One Piece. Fans were supportive of her with comments like:
“Emily didn’t even miss a beat – she’s absolutely an OG fan.”
You, too, can read the One Piece manga on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
