In an interview with Deadline last week, Netflix’s One Piece co-showrunner Matt Owens was asked what his favorite scene was from the live action One Piece show, one that always gets to him.
“It’s definitely the End of Episode 7. It was 2 o’clock in the morning, and we’re shooting. It’s freezing cold, it’s so late, and Emily is just sitting in the mud for hours, having to be as emotionally raw as possible. Nami’s entire life is crumbling around her, and she feels so helpless and so desperate to escape that she even descends into self harm.
That is night of shooting that I will never forget because Emily was such a champion in that moment. That moment of Nami’s breakdown and her finally asking Luffy for help is one of the most iconic moments in One Piece history even to this day, even for as far away from that arc as we are, for as many other moving and iconic moments we’ve had, that ‘help me’ scene still stands in the upper echelon.
So I knew we had to nail it, and I knew that they would, but it was also coupled with the fact that Emily and I are friends. I’m sitting here as a friend, as a showrunner, watching her do this and keep going up to her and just check in and be like, Are you good? Do you want a break? And she was in it, she just wanted to keep going. We’d come out and put a jacket over her between takes because she didn’t want to get up, she didn’t want to leave the physicality of that moment. That was just so powerful to me, and I think it translated. I tear up every time I watch it.”
Ending the interview with explaining how he was honestly surprised by the magnitude of the success the Netflix series received, knowing how beloved the series is and also knowing how much of a distrust there was with anime live action adaptions.
“I didn’t sleep for two days before release because I didn’t not know what to expect with this labor of love that has been such a big part of my life. And also I’m a peasant so I was expecting the worst anyway.
I’m so grateful that people see what we’ve been trying to do, that they appreciate it. I love hearing people say, my mom’s not into anime but I got her to watch this and she loves the show. That’s the success. I’m over the moon at the numbers, the data, all of that stuff is great, especially because that’s what’s going to get us more seasons. But it’s people who see the love that went into it, and if people find the ability to share the story of One Piece with others, that to me is the success of this show.”
What do you think about Matt Owens pick of his favorite scene? Did you think it was an impactful scene? Did Emily do a good job at acting out Nami’s breakdown and “Help me” scene? Let us know in the comments below!
