Finally! Netflix has found the actor that will portray one of the most influential characters in One Piece, Red-Haired Shanks. The official twitter account for the live action One Piece series announced that Peter Gadiot (Yellowjackets) will play Shanks and has already joined the crew filming in Africa.
Welcome aboard Shanks. @petergadiot pic.twitter.com/V64IoFGIho
— ONE PIECE(ワンピース) Netflix (@onepiecenetflix) March 28, 2022
Gadiot has seen a good string of success in his acting career in recent years. After breaking out in Queen of the South, the 37-year-old actor has continued to shine in the Showtime series Yellowjackets, as Adam. Now, he’ll take on the biggest challenge of his career yet, portraying the beloved anime pirate Red-Haired Shanks.
For those unfamiliar with Shanks’ backstory, he plays a pivotal figure in Luffy’s childhood. As captain of the Red Hair Pirates, Shanks meets Luffy in his hometown of Foosha Island in the East Blue. After an insane altercation leads to Shanks saving Luffy from the clutches of a giant Sea King, Luffy vows to become an even greater pirate than Shanks. This leads to Shanks gifting the iconic Straw Hat to Luffy.
There’s a lot more to Shanks’ story, but for the purpose of the Netflix series – which will focus primarily on the East Blue arc – we’ll leave it at that.
Gadiot joins the cast of Inaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, Mackenyu, Taz Skylar, Jacob Romero Gibson, Morgan Davis, Aidan Scott, and Ilia Isorelys Paulino currently filming now in Africa. Now we just need Mihawks and Smoker and we’ll be all set.
