Netflix's One Piece: The Only Nami Scene That Made Emily Rudd Nervous
Season 1 of Netflix's live-action "One Piece" series will cover the majority of the East Blue Saga from Eiichiro Oda's now decades-old manga. Aspiring king of all pirates Luffy (played by Iñaki Godoy in the Netflix show) meets experienced navigator Nami (Emily Rudd) soon after the start of this opening saga, so she's set to appear in the majority of the eight episodes that comprise Season 1. In an interview with GamesRadar, Rudd revealed that, on the whole, she kept calm and collected while filming her part except during one particular, pivotal Nami scene.
While neither Rudd nor her interviewer mention it by name, based on how they describe it those familiar with "One Piece" will recognize that they're referring to the "help me" scene — one of the most affecting moments in the expansive series. "That was the only scene that I think I was actually nervous for," Rudd said. "It means so much not only to existing fans, but to me, that was like, 'I have to make it right. I have to make it right,' and I really think that we did. Like the entire team really kind of turned it out for that moment."
Judging by the titles of each Netflix "One Piece" episode, the scene will most likely occur in Episode 7 or possibly near the start of Episode 8, so viewers can look forward to watching this moment that Rudd finds so pivotal near the season's end.
Emily Rudd's biggest challenge on set was stunt work
Also during her GamesRader interview, Emily Rudd discussed the biggest obstacle she faced on a macro scale, outside of just nailing the "help me" scene. As it turns out, she struggled the most with the stunt work that was required of her during some of the more action-oriented sequences throughout "One Piece."
"I did find the stunt work to be a new challenge. I grew up doing karate. I'm technically a black belt, but I got that when I was like 10/11? So, it's been a long time since I've touched a bo staff," she said, referencing the fact that Nami wields a staff in combat. "So, kind of refamiliarizing myself and in such a relatively fast-paced way, in how you film stunt sequences where you do it over and over again, and you have all of these different variables, people coming at you. I think that was a challenge I knew was going to be a challenge, but it was a fun one as well."
Whether or not a stunt double stands in at any point for Rudd is unclear, but from the sound of it, she performed some of, if not all of her stunts as Nami. Between filming action sequences and one of Nami's most important scenes in all of "One Piece," then, Rudd's role wasn't without its fair share of challenges, but in both cases she was seemingly plenty willing to rise to the occasion.