One Piece star, Inaki Godoy, discusses his role as Monkey D. Luffy in Netflix’s live-action adaptation.

The live-action One Piece star Inaki Godoy revealed how he transformed himself into Monkey D. Luffy for the series.

Netflix’s highly-anticipated adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s beloved manga debuted on August 31. Godoy stars in this series alongside Emily Rudd (Nami), Mackenyu (Zoro), Jacob Romero (Usopp) and Taz Skylar (Sanji). During a recent interview with Teen Vogue, Godoy gave a detailed explanation of how he prepared for the iconic role, a process which begins with the actor’s perception of Luffy as a goofy but kind-hearted dreamer. “Watching the anime, I immediately knew who this guy was; he sees someone who has been mistreated. He doesn’t really know them, but he decides to help them, and when he does, he does it with a smile.” Godoy made it a point to replicate Luffy’s trademark grin during his audition.

For Godoy, the key to portraying Luffy was to balance the character’s optimistic side with his thoughtful, caring side. “He [Luffy] doesn’t speak too much. He listens a lot. To me it felt like Luffy was an optimistic dreamer who cares about his friends…and will do anything to achieve his dreams. So understanding that was a key factor for me to play this character,” Godoy explained. During filming, Godoy kept a One Piece Journal where he highlighted key moments from each episode. This helped the actor keep track of Luffy’s personal goals and motivations over the course of the series. He also did character exercises to train himself to think more like Luffy.

Godoy also put a great deal of effort into nailing Luffy’s physical gestures. While the special effects team had a hand in most of the fight scenes, Godoy would closely study the manga in order to replicate Luffy’s way of stretching and flexing his rubber body. “When Luffy throws out a punch and then it snaps back, he always puts his hand here [on his forearm]…so, that’s a thing that I can translate into live-action, no problem,” the actor said. Godoy incorporated this, along with similarly recurring mannerisms, into his physical performance.

As for Luffy’s voice, Godoy explained how he decided against trying to copy the performance of Mayumi Tanaka, Luffy’s voice actor in the anime series. “What she [Tanaka] has done, is amazing, and I would never try to replicate that, because that’s her own thing,” Godoy said. While the actor’s natural voice is deep, he makes it go up several pitches higher when voicing Luffy. “I found his voice with time; it just appeared…it just came natural, the script is so good that it just pushes you to say the lines in a certain way,” Godoy stated. The actor’s portrayal made an indelible impression on One Piece’s creator; when Godoy finally got to meet Eiichiro Oda face-to-face, the artist admitted that he couldn’t “imagine anyone else playing the role.”

Netflix’s One Piece series is available to stream now.

Src: Teen Vogue.