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We sat down with "Sanji" from Netflix's One Piece because he was too tall for our David Caballero. In this exclusive video they talk mojo picón, adaptations, and a little bit about Season 2. Into the Grand Line...
"Hi Gamereactor friends, this is the San Diego Comic-Con Málaga and we are starting with a bang.
We're joined by Taz Skylar who plays Sanji in the live action for One Piece at Netflix and you guys are working on that season 2. First season was completely successful."
"But first off, how do you feel being here at the San Diego Comic-Con in Málaga?
It's special, man. It's really cool to see Spanish no longer being a barrier to amazing things from the US or pop culture or just, you know, general shows that would have never taken place in anywhere that didn't speak English taking place here, like, less than an hour away from a place I used to come surfing all the time when I was little."
"And for all the interviews up until this one to have been in Spanish, you know, it's just really cool.
It was really special driving past, my parents were with me and there was like four kilometers of line just going around the place.
It's really cool. I'm really excited.
Which would you say is the key to a successful live action adaptation of a manga slash anime?
Because others tried in the past, no one succeeded like One Piece."
"I think, I mean, I'm probably not the right person to ask, but from what I've learned from Matt Owens, our amazing showrunner, and Marc Jobst, who directed the first season, and everybody who's been involved that I'm not going to just start listing the names of, but what I mostly learned from those two people was that it takes a combination of fandom and irreverence towards the same piece of material."
"Because the fandom is required to actually not only know what's special about it, what needs to stay about it, it's also to synthesize it. Because only once you synthesize it, do you really know the core of what that thing means.
Because if you know what certain really special important things mean, then you're able to keep them in ways that aren't literal."
"And you're able to translate them. And then the irreverence is, once you are confident in the fact that you are a true fan of this thing, taking the absolute liberty to make it your own.
Because if one thing that Marc said to us early on that I thought was really special was that the anime is already perfect.
And the manga is already perfect. It exists there already. Frame by frame, if we wanted to copy it, we could just take the anime or the manga as a storyboard, shoot that, say the same lines, and there you go. But then we'd not be bringing anything to the space."
"Whereas actually taking it and inspiring something that brings something to the One Piece world as an additional piece of material or story, that's bringing something. That's worth something.
So I think those things combined with a bunch of actors that are full of humanity, not speaking about myself, but speaking about my cast members, who are just amazing people, who are full of individuality and personality and irreverence and rebellion."
"And a crew and a production team willing to go the extra mile and risk a lot of things to make impossible things happen.
I don't know. There's a big melting pot of situations that make something successful.
But I think that those two main ones I mentioned are the ones.
And you play a big part in that. You play your role with Sanji."
"So other than being super tall, which is why I appreciate this interview, being sitting on a coach.
Other than being super tall, which would you say is the main or the biggest similarity you have personally with this character?
I think Sanji has almost like not a split personality, but he has two very defined facets to his personality.
He has an exuberant, overexcited, passionate, almost childish side that is silly."
"That is very silly, that is very goofy. And at the same time, he has a very, very serious and formidable side to him, which is not to be messed around with and can switch between the two quite quickly.
I think that's one of the core things that make his character interesting for me.
And I think that's one of the things that I was most able to connect to because I think I have the same things."
"I definitely believe in not taking life too seriously and I care deeply about the things in front of me.
And I'm cool with being silly. And I like to be creative. I like to be passionate about things.
But do not mess me around.
You're a martial artist as well, I've heard. I overheard. So be careful with that, guys."
"Season 2 is going to come out next year. New characters have been confirmed. Tashigi, Miss Wednesday, which of course means new cast.
So what can you tell me? I guess you cannot tell me anything about the new season.
But what can you tell me about working with these new cast additions and working with new story arcs?
How do you feel about that?
I think for us, the first time around, it felt like a really small microcosm because it was just us five, really."
"Some people would come in and out, but we were the only ones really sticking around for the entire show.
And even though my character didn't come in in the first season until a few episodes later, I was there from the start.
I was just training. You were a Straw Hat. We were all bonding over that same period. I was learning how to cook. I was cooking for the set."
"I was training. Everybody else was filming. We'd just talk about what was happening.
We were getting close to each other, but we were the only ones that we kind of had to bond at that time.
And then the second time around, there were so many new people that had come into the circle that were going to be around for, if not the duration, most of it."
"That suddenly it became apparent to us that now our job was, in some ways, to include everybody.
And to facilitate that space where everybody could also feel like they were being included into a family.
And getting to know South Africa while we were filming. It was a fun experience. It definitely got exponentialized.
If five of us was already wild, whatever number of us ended up being the second time around got wild."
"Now that you mention cooking and being the cook, of course, Sanji's techniques are always based on food.
Yes.
How would the mojo picon look?
You're from the Canary Islands. For those who don't know, this guy is from the Canary Islands."
"So, the mojo picon technique, how does it look?
The mojo picon technique? To be honest, it's not a very difficult thing to make.
I mean, the special character technique. How would it be?
It would be some cool shaking of the ingredients and maybe some flowers put on top of the mojo."
"But if I'm being honest, I think the beautiful thing about mojo is how simple it is.
And also, a great chef knows to not overcomplicate something that should be simple.
So, maybe there wouldn't be much of a... I would just plate it up.
That's fantastic. Thank you so much for your time. Taz, enjoy the Comic-Con and looking forward to season two."
