One Piece Miss Wednesday-Princess Vivi, Season 3 Alabasta Story

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers through the end of season 2 of ‘One Piece,’ streaming now on Netflix.

Things will be a little busier in The Going Merry in Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ season 3, as the Straw Hat pirates have taken on board two new crew members by the season 2 finale, including one they previously saw as an enemy.

After the revelation that Baroque Works agent Miss Wednesday (played by Bridgerton Season 2 star Charithra Chandran) is actually Princess Nefertari Vivi of war-torn Alabasta, Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and his team (now also including Tony Tony Chopper!) befriend the princess and take charge of fighting for her country in the lead-up to Season 3.

Fans of the “One Piece” manga and anime created by Eiichiro Oda know that this teases a beloved arc from the story that Chandran says will span much of season 3, which is currently filming in South Africa. And while she wasn’t familiar with the storyline when she first joined the live-action series ‘One Piece’, she is now a big fan of it.

“When I auditioned, I didn’t know I was auditioning for ‘One Piece’ nor was I familiar with the IP,” Chandran said Variety. “But once I knew what the character was, of course I got to know her whole story. And I was so excited, because it’s such a journey. We’re filming Season 3 now, and it’s so exciting and actually really beautiful to be able to celebrate the launch of Season 2, because we can look back on all the great work that we’ve done. And when we go back to filming Season 3, it will give us the absolute joy and boost of finishing filming.”

See below for more of it Variety‘s interview with Chandran, including her tease about what’s to come when Princess Vivi properly joins Luffy, Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), Sanji (Taz Skylar), Nami (Emily Rudd), Usopp (Romero) and Tony Tony Chopper (Mikaela Hoover) in Season 3 of ‘One Piece.’

How did you play Princess Vivi vs. Miss Wednesday before her true identity was revealed?

I wanted it to feel very organic and seamless and not be a complete 180, and you still see some elements of how she got away with going undercover for so long while being Vivi. But then as an actor it is so much fun to be able to play that duality. What I discovered were qualities they both have. So what Miss Wednesday and Vivi share is an element of strategy and diplomacy, and I think their fighting styles are clearly the same as well. They are both quite elegant, dancey and efficient, and not necessarily aggressive fighters. I tried to find personality traits or characteristics that were a common thread, and that made me feel like it was just one character and consistent in portraying two very different parts.

How do you think the reconciliation between the Straw Hats and Vivi will come about once they find out who she really is, and forgive her for the actions she took against them while undercover as Miss Wednesday?

I don’t want to speak for the Straw Hats, but I think what we saw in season 1 is that they all have complicated backstories as well. As far as forgiving her and understanding the complications and duplicitous nature of what she does, they do it quite easily. For Vivi it ​​is very difficult to accept that these people are as good and sincere as they really are. Because she’s been in Baroque Works, where everyone is kind of awful, except Mr. Nine, who is a cutie and really redeems himself at the end of episode 3. The journey Vivi goes on with the Straw Hats is really letting love in and allowing herself to rely on them, which is super hard to do. I think so many people struggle with that.

This interview has been edited and condensed.