One Piece Live-Action star Emily Rudd disclosed that her part as Cindy Berman in the Fear Street Trilogy increased her chances of getting the role of Nami. Released in July 2021, the Netflix originals are thought to have close connections with Stranger Things because they share a few cast members in similar roles.
Rudd starred alongside Maya Hawke, who plays the role of Heather Watkins in the Fear Street Trilogy and Stranger Things. She played the elder sister to Sadie Sink’s Christine Berman in the show. Sink, who rose to stardom due to Stranger Things, was most notable in the role of Ellie in The Whale, starring Oscar-winning actor Brendan Fraser.
Emily Rudd Believed Her Ties With Netflix Helped Her Get The Role Of Nami in One Piece
Prior to her role in Fear Street, Emily Rudd was cast in several side roles. She appeared in the 2018 Amazon anthology series The Romanoffs as Ella Hopkins, following which she played a brief role as Heidi in the Dynasty TV series in 2020, whose streaming rights were purchased by Netflix.
Rudd played the dual roles of Cindy and Abigail Berman in Fear Street. When asked if that was a factor in getting her the role of Nami in One Piece, the 30-year-old replied affirmatively during an interview with Decider:
“I think it helped being in the Netflix family already. They were probably like, “Oh, Emily Rudd? We know her, we loved Fear Street.”
Rudd did mention that shifting from a horror show to a ‘crazy, action-adventure fantasy show‘ required a different approach to acting. She had to go through the entire audition process to get the role. The Fear Street star did believe she didn’t have the best of tryouts but still got the role.
Emily Rudd Confirms The Dynamic of Iñaki Godoy’s Monkey D. Luffy and Nami
Nami was the second person to join Monkey D. Luffy in his adventures, albeit she initially had ulterior motives due to her affiliation with Arlong. The tangerine-haired girl from Orange Town is assigned as the navigator for the Straw Hat Crew and she maintains the role even after 1000 Chapters in the manga.
Despite Luffy considering Nami to be his ‘friend’, Eiichiro Oda has depicted both as similar to siblings. Given that she possesses no powers and has a strategic mind, Nami is the first to patronize Luffy when he acts on impulse. She has a condescending nature when it comes to the straw hat despite the amount of gear changes the supposed reincarnation of Sun God undergoes.
luffy and nami are siblings in the way brother and sisters are always fighting and angry at each other
— fendi (@420torao) May 26, 2023
Emily Rudd confirmed that Nami and Luffy have an ‘older-sister-younger-brother dynamic‘ while speaking about her time with Iñaki Godoy on the sets of One Piece. Being 10 years older than him, Rudd was overprotective of Godoy, and the same transitioned on screen.
“I spent a lot of time with Iñaki [Godoy] and we definitely developed this older-sister-younger-brother dynamic. He’s 19 and I am not, so I felt a little protective of him. But, also he’s so energetic, so playful — it’s infectious. We created silly little bits that we just milked to death.”
Emily Rudd and Iñaki Godoy will reprise their roles of Nami and Luffy, respectively, in Season 2 of One Piece Live-Action. The second season is expected to premiere in late 2024 or in 2025.
Also Read: Iñaki Godoy Gets Ready for One Piece Season 2 with Latest ‘Training Arc’ Snippet
