Cobra Kai actor and popular One Piece fan-cast says he'd play literally anyone in the Netflix adaptation, even a "background extra" that falls off a boat

Sep. 14, 2024

Exclusive: Anime superfan Jacob Bertrand is down to play literally anyone in Netflix’s One Piece

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Cobra Kai star Jacob Bertrand says he’s a huge fan of Netflix’s live-action One Piece – and would be down to play any character.

“Dude, I would be down to play literally any role. I would be a background extra that gets blown off of a boat [laughs]. Like, I do not care,” Bertrand tells GamesRadar+. “That show was sick. I grew up watching anime – specifically Naruto and One Piece is what I grew up on. And, you know, it was always sort of like the weird thing to watch anime and now it’s becoming way more mainstream. And I’m like, you know what? Back in my day [if you liked] anime, you were an outcast. We were weirdos, we bled for this.”

Bertrand isn’t exaggerating about his love for anime either,having previously told GR+ that one super fun line in season 2 was ripped straight from My Hero Academia– specifically the season 2 episode 10 school brawl scene where Hawk hunts down Demetri. The actor, who plays bully-turned-hero Hawk on Cobra Kai,visited the set of One Piece season 1–prompting even more fans to fan-cast him as anyone from Bartolomeo to Kaku.

“Now it’s cool, and I’m stoked that more people like it. I’ve converted so many of my friends into weebs and I get to watch shows now. And yeah, I would love to play absolutely any role in One Piece. That cast is so cool. I’ve met other cast before that just absolutely sucked and were total assholes. But the One Piece cast, those are real people over there. They got big hearts.”

The actor also told GR+ that he’d been “telling the writers for years to do a tournament arc,” and that we might just see one during Cobra Kai season 6 part 2. The second half of the season focuses on the Sekai Taikai, the ultimate karate tournament where the stakes are higher than ever,

Cobra Kai season 6 part 2 is set to hit Netflix on November 15.One Piece season 2is currently in production. For more, check out our list of thebest Netflix showsto stream right now.

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Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent’s Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

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