Actress Katey Sagal will play Dr Kureha and actor Mark Harelik will star as Dr Hiriluk in the second season of Netflix’s hit One Piece live-action series, the streamer announced on Wednesday.
“From the Great Medical Land of Drum, we bring you two legends in medicine! Our adventure just got a whole lot healthier,” Netflix wrote on Instagram alongside collages of the actors with their respective characters from the anime adaptation.
While Sagal is known for playing Peggy Bundy in the 1980s TV series Married... with Children and Leela in the 1999 show Futurama, Harelik has portrayed Dr. Eric Gablehauser in The Big Bang Theory and Ben Hildebrand in Jurassic Park III.
In Eiichiro Oda’s manga and its anime adaptation, Dr Kureha is one of the few doctors left in Drum Island who mentors Tony Tony Chopper, a reindeer with human abilities. With instructions from Dr Kureha, often referred to as a “witch-doctor” because of her appearance, Chopper gains medical skills and later joins the Straw Hat Pirates to fulfil his dream of becoming a great doctor capable of curing any illness.
The introduction of Dr Kureha in the live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s beloved manga was eagerly awaited by fans. Everything Everywhere All At Once actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who is a huge fan of the long-running anime series, had lobbied for the role last year. However, she could not be a part of the show owing to her busy schedule, executive producers Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements said in a statement last month.
Following the cast reveal, Curtis took to Instagram and congratulated the actors for joining the team. “Bravo,” she wrote, alongside a screenshot of a news report.
Dr Hiriluk, on the other hand, is a revered yet eccentric doctor, known for his unorthodox methods. Being one of the few doctors with freedom in Drum Island, Hiriluk shared a friendly relation with Kureha and influenced the latter in various ways. He was also a father figure to Chopper as he saved the latter and inspired him to become a doctor in the future.
Season 2 of One Piece is currently in its second month of production in Cape Town, South Africa. The upcoming instalment will cover Loguetown, Reverse Mountain (Twin Cape), Whiskey Peak, Little Garden and Drum Island arcs.
Set in the world of pirates, One Piece follows Monkey D. Luffy, a young boy who sets sail with his wacky crew on a perilous journey across the Grand Line to find the legendary treasure One Piece and become the Pirate King.
Starring Iñaki Godoy, Mackenyu, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero and Taz Skylar, One Piece live-action series topped Netflix’s top 10 global list for weeks after its debut on August 31 last year.
