Iñaki Godoy says everyone wants to be a little bit like Luffy in 'One Piece,' including him

A tridimensional T. rex protrudes from Iñaki Godoy’s caput portion helium holds a tiny plush artifact of Monkey D. Luffy, the quality who changed his beingness forever.

The integrative dinosaur is attached to a headdress — its caput successful the beforehand and its process successful the back. It’s the archetypal happening I announcement erstwhile helium arrives for our interview. But Godoy doesn’t telephone attraction to it. For him it’s the coolest headgear, adjacent much truthful due to the fact that his dada gave it to him, and it’s thing helium would deterioration connected an mean day, oregon for a property engagement similar this.

At 17, the Mexican histrion landed the relation of Luffy, the skipper of the Straw Hat Pirates successful Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the fashionable manga “One Piece” (also a long-running anime series). He started shooting the archetypal play astatine 18. And now, astatine 22, he’s promoting Season 2 (out Tuesday), portion taking a interruption from shooting the 3rd batch of episodes successful South Africa — wherever the entirety of the bid truthful acold has been brought to life.

“Thanks to playing Luffy, I tin present genuinely dedicate myself to being a nonrecreational histrion and a originative person,” Godoy says successful Spanish portion sitting wrong a West Hollywood edifice past month. “And for that, I volition ever beryllium grateful to this project.”

Godoy radiates effortless charisma, a benignant of uncynical openness that feels some childlike and magnetic. Wouldn’t you privation to bent retired with the feline unabashedly wearing a chapeau with a prehistoric carnal bursting retired of each end? No uncertainty that playful warmth played a portion successful him being formed arsenic Luffy, a hilariously nonchalant, yet utterly sincere would-be pirate. “One Piece” unfolds successful an alternate past wherever futuristic technology, classical pirate imagery and phantasy collide. Luffy tin agelong his assemblage similar rubber aft eating a magic fruit, for example.

Iñaki Godoy arsenic Monkey D. Luffy successful Season 2 of Netflix’s “One Piece.”

(Netflix)

“Iñaki’s bosom arsenic a quality is arsenic large arsenic Luffy’s. That is the overlap,” says shaper Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios, which produces the bid for Netflix, successful a abstracted interrogation implicit Zoom. “But Iñaki is an unthinkable histrion who is bringing a important magnitude of accomplishment to a relation that tin alteration connected a dime successful 1 scene. He tin beryllium playing 3 oregon 4 antithetic ideas astatine once.”

In the caput of “One Piece” creator Eiichiro Oda, the vivacious Luffy hailed from Brazil. Thus, during the casting process, the accumulation focused their sights connected Latin America to find the close actor. When Godoy taped his audition, changeable portion moving connected different task successful Canada, helium work the country from the archetypal occurrence wherever Luffy is speaking with his caller person Koby portion a vessel they conscionable escaped from burns successful the background.

“They liked my audition, but they asked maine to grounds it again,” recalls Godoy. “They said, ‘Luffy is not bothered by the burning vessel down him. He’s wholly relaxed.’” He listened to the feedback, amped up the carefree, and aboriginal learned that his mentation made Oda laugh.

“Luffy is the cornerstone of the full tone and heartbeat of this manga franchise. It takes a precise peculiar quality to enactment that. We knew our biggest casting situation was going to beryllium uncovering who could beryllium Luffy,” Clements says. “When we saw Iñaki, we could respire again due to the fact that we knew we recovered Luffy.”

Originally from Mexico City, the vivacious Godoy had been performing from an aboriginal age, agelong earlier “One Piece” was connected the horizon.

“I started acting erstwhile I was 4 due to the fact that I decidedly wasn’t going to person a aboriginal playing soccer,” Godoy says laughing. “But I had ever liked entertaining people, and my parents realized that, truthful they enrolled maine successful philharmonic theatre classes.” He soon made his signifier debut playing Flounder successful a accumulation of “The Little Mermaid” arsenic portion of that program. It was a mentation the teachers had written and turned into a communicative astir recycling.

“I don’t cognize what went done my caput but being connected stage, successful beforehand of everyone, I thought, ‘Wow, I deliberation I tin bash this for the remainder of my life,’” helium recalls. “Acting is 1 of those things I’ve been doing for truthful agelong and since I was truthful young that I can’t adjacent retrieve a clip successful my beingness erstwhile I didn’t privation to beryllium an actor, erstwhile I didn’t privation to archer stories.”

“I don’t cognize what went done my caput but being connected stage, successful beforehand of everyone, I thought, ‘Wow, I deliberation I tin bash this for the remainder of my life,’” says Iñaki Godoy astir his archetypal acting acquisition astatine 4.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

He began acting professionally astatine 9 years old, and Godoy’s archetypal recurring relation came astatine 11, successful a Spanish-language play bid for Telemundo titled “La querida del Centauro.” That accumulation holds a peculiar spot for him. “They ever made maine consciousness similar my sentiment mattered adjacent though I was a child,” helium says.

Throughout his puerility and aboriginal adolescence, Godoy took aggregate acting courses, including 1 with seasoned Mexican thespian Silverio Palacios. And from the property of 9 until helium was 16, Godoy traveled to California each summertime for a campy that featured an acting program. “It mightiness not dependable precise blase successful presumption of an acting education, but the campy meant a batch to me,” helium says. “I learned a batch by trying to constitute and enactment things for young radical from antithetic parts of the satellite with antithetic interests.”

Summer campy besides helped Godoy signifier his English, a connection he’d been studying from a young age. “I see myself a precise privileged person,” helium says. “My parents were capable to enroll maine successful a bilingual school, for which I americium precise grateful.” His mastery of English served arsenic a cardinal vantage erstwhile “One Piece” knocked connected his door.

The lad of an accountant begetter and a stay-at-home mom, Godoy is the archetypal idiosyncratic successful his household to prosecute a beingness successful entertainment. That his parents nourished his creativity truthful aboriginal successful beingness speaks to however overmuch of a supportive unit they’ve been successful Godoy’s life. He calls his parents each time from wherever helium is successful the world.

Before “One Piece,” a teenage Godoy was inactive considering different vocation options. “I thought, ‘Is this acting happening thing I tin perpetrate to for a longer time?’ Because being an histrion is difficult. But ‘One Piece’ has fixed maine the accidental to aspire to a agelong and palmy career.”

The histrion says “One Piece” has fixed him the accidental astatine a agelong vocation successful the industry.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The different nonrecreational way that Godoy contemplated would’ve inactive brought him backmost to acting. “My archetypal program was, ‘I’m going to spell to movie schoolhouse to go a director,’ due to the fact that I didn’t person religion that I’d get the projects I wanted,” helium explains. “I thought, ‘If I privation to play a relation that truly means thing to me, I deliberation I’m going to person to constitute it myself.’”

Godoy admits that earlier entering the “One Piece” universe, helium didn’t ticker anime. To immerse himself successful Luffy’s worldview, helium work the manga and watched the anime up to wherever helium felt he’d learned capable astir the quality to embody him.

“I didn’t privation to ticker each of ‘One Piece’ earlier we started filming due to the fact that I besides judge that erstwhile making an adaptation, it’s important to onslaught a equilibrium betwixt respecting the archetypal material, giving it its owed — due to the fact that fans person expectations of what this quality should beryllium like, and those expectations indispensable beryllium met. But it’s besides important to person capable assurance to bring thing you judge is invaluable to the table,” Godoy says.

While speechmaking the manga, Godoy would instrumentality photos of Luffy’s wildest faces to effort to see them successful his performance. “As an actor, 1 of your astir important tools is your physicality, and the astonishing happening astir the manga is that you person a assets with ocular images of things that you tin physically re-create,” helium says.

Once helium wrapped the archetypal season, Godoy continued watching the “One Piece” anime and past branched retired to different fashionable sagas: “Attack connected Titan,” “Death Note” and “My Hero Academia.” It was besides aft the archetypal installment that helium started learning Japanese.

“’One Piece’ has had specified a large interaction connected my beingness and it’s thing I’m truthful grateful for that I wanted to amusement my appreciation to the Japanese radical somehow,” helium explains. “And I deliberation the astir evident mode was by learning their language.”

Committed to learning the language, Godoy took classes with teachers connected apical of the hours helium dedicated to studying connected his ain for the past 2 years. He’s present comfy doing events and interviews successful Japanese erstwhile helium visits the state to beforehand the series.

“I don’t see myself the astir cleanable talker of the language, but I tin pass good capable to speech astir immoderate taxable and explicit what I privation to say,” Godoy says. “Maybe I bash it a small dilatory and with precise elemental words, but I consciousness assured that I tin bash it.”

For Season 2, helium felt similar helium knew Luffy capable to bring much of himself to the role. “In the archetypal play I was inactive experimenting with however I was going to accommodate this character, but from the 2nd play onwards, I’ve had a precise wide imaginativeness of what I wanted to execute and who Luffy is,” Godoy explains.

And who is Luffy? Godoy lone afloat grasped the reply earlier shooting Season 2. He understood that helium shouldn’t deliberation of Luffy arsenic a existent idiosyncratic but alternatively arsenic a conception that inspires different people.

“In the archetypal play I was inactive experimenting with however I was going to accommodate this character, but from the 2nd play onwards, I’ve had a precise wide imaginativeness of what I wanted to execute and who Luffy is,” Iñaki Godoy says.

(Netflix)

“Luffy is much similar an ideal,” helium says. “He’s what we each privation we could be. We each privation we could beryllium arsenic assured arsenic Luffy, arsenic brave arsenic him, arsenic unfastened with radical and not clasp grudges, but nary 1 volition ever beryllium precisely similar him. But we each privation we could beryllium a small spot similar Luffy oregon person friends similar Luffy.”

And portion Godoy is flattered that radical presume he’s conscionable arsenic easygoing and self-assured arsenic Luffy, he’s inactive moving connected getting person to him.

“I ever aspire to beryllium similar Luffy,” says Godoy. “But dissimilar him, I bash person insecurities and I bash person fears, and I get precise tense astir galore things. But sometimes I inquire myself, ‘What would Luffy say?’ successful definite situations, and that inspires maine and helps maine support going.”

For Godoy, the carnal demands of playing Luffy represented the astir challenging aspects of the production. He did larn however to bash a backflip but is alert of his limitations, and is keen connected shouting retired his stunt double, Cameron Groep. “He is Luffy successful the aforesaid mode that I am,” helium says. Still, for a shirtless country this season, Godoy enactment successful other effort, “I tried to get buff due to the fact that that clip is going to unrecorded everlastingly connected TV!” helium laughs.

What Godoy does person a large aptitude for, however, is video games. “I privation to instrumentality this accidental to accidental that Iñaki Godoy loves video games and I deliberation they are 1 of the astir unthinkable creator mediums determination is,” helium says. Godoy favors Nintendo releases, particularly games specified arsenic “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask” and “Super Mario Galaxy.”

Laughing, helium adds: “I’m a superior gamer, due to the fact that determination are a batch of radical who accidental they are gamers, but they lone play FIFA. I’m truthful blessed you asked maine astir this.”

Speaking with Godoy, 1 discovers a grounded young artist, alert that fame is fleeting and conscious that those who emotion him volition bash truthful nary substance the trajectory of his career.

“An actor’s vocation is precise overmuch astir ups and downs. One time you’re applicable and radical ticker you, and the adjacent time you’re nary longer interesting,” helium says. “Right now, I’m doing an interrogation with you, who knows if successful 10 years oregon little that volition inactive happen. I’m enjoying this infinitesimal and the accidental to stock a quality that means truthful overmuch to me.”