Actress Charithra Chandran is facing a barrage of negative comments. Now the critics are facing strong opposition.
In the past, casting announcements for the live-action adaptation of One Piece on Netflix were often met with enthusiasm. But this time, everything is different when it comes to Princess Nefertari Vivi.
The actress cast for the role, Charithra Chandran(Link to IMDB) is currently facing a hate campaign on the internet. The accusation: Netflix should have cast an actress from the Arab world instead of the actress of Indian descent.
The Netflix stars speak out
The 28-year-old is receiving support against the viral shitstorm from her colleagues, among others.
Actress Emily Rudd (Nami) writes on her Instagram page: Instagram page:
The supposed canon
does not excuse overt racism or hatred of any kind. I am extremely proud of our series, our cast, and the opportunity to bring to life a story that revolves around a diverse group of friends [editor’s note: in the original, she refers to a “found family”] – from an equally diverse group of friends.
Rob Colletti (Wapol) strikes an even clearer tone, writing:
It’s amazing to me in every way how a small (but far too vocal) portion of the One Piece fanbase can see a rubber pirate, a reindeer doctor, and giant talking fish and be completely fine with it… but draw a line at the mere idea of Nefertari Vivi being played by a woman who isn’t white.
Charithra was personally chosen by Oda, and he has far more knowledge and understanding of his own characters than anyone else, especially the hateful, unimaginative jerks who actually have the audacity to spew hate speech against an actress on the internet without even having seen her absolutely amazing performance in the series.
The creator of One Piece is thrilled with the cast
And what does Eiichirō Oda think of Charithra Chandran as Vivi? The mangaka and creator of One Piece was on set during the filming of season 2 of the Netflix adaptation and spoke with the entire cast.
His opinion on the ever-growing cast couldn’t be clearer, taking the wind out of the internet crowd’s sails:
I made my own selection of actors based on photos and videos from Japan, but when I saw them all in person on set, I was convinced: they were absolutely the perfect choice!
The majority of the One Piece fan community is also reasonable. On Reddit, an emotional statement against hate and incitement has already garnered a whopping 14,800 likes. So Rob Colleti is right: once again, the minority is shouting the loudest. The Going Merry won’t set sail again until 2026. That’s when season 2 will start on Netflix. In addition to the familiar crew led by Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy), Nami (Emily Rudd), Lorenor Zorro (Mackenyu), Sanji (Taz Skylar), and Lysop (Jacob Gibson), the new season will feature the ship’s doctor Chopper, Sir Crocodile (Joe Manganiello), and Nico Robin (Lera Abova), among others.
