How Netflix’s Stunt Coordinators Brought Roronoa Zoro to Life

One of the clear standouts from the cast members in Netflix’s One Piece is Roronoa Zoro, portrayed by the renowned Japanese-American actor Mackenyu. Famously known for his other live-action anime portrayals, Roronoa Zoro is one of Mackenyu’s best roles yet.

The first mate of the Straw Hat Pirates has always been a fan favourite, known for his most famous attribute: using three katanas in battle. With a sword in each hand and one in his mouth, no one could have imagined this unique fighting style being recreated in real life.

As proven in this live-action adaptation, One Piece has successfully made this fighting style appear both realistic and effortlessly cool. This achievement can be attributed to Swords Stunts Coordinator Koji Kawamoto and Stunt Coordinator Franz Spilhaus, whom IGN Southeast Asia had the opportunity to interview about bringing Roronoa Zoro to life.

What were the challenges in bringing Zoro’s Three Sword style to live action? Do you believe that using three swords in battle is a practical strategy in real life or should it remain in the world of One Piece?

Franz Spilhaus: Well, we really wanted to have the cast do as much as they could on this show, so our approach was a lot more intense in their training and preparation for all their stunt work. Also, we really wanted to remain true to the manga, so we did a lot of research to be sure we got all the beats and emotions shown in the manga for each scene.

With regards to the special abilities of the various characters, we brought in a lot of animation into our previs to be able to visualise what we would see on screen in the fights. This would include things that mere mortals cannot do, such as stretching like rubber!

Koji Kawamoto: I practiced how to handle the three swords and studied the poses of the characters.

What was Mackenyu’s training regimen for learning this style of combat?

Franz Spilhaus: He is an absolute professional and loves the character Zoro so much. He wanted every move to be perfect and that I respected so much. He is a brilliant swordsman in his own right so that was fantastic to have.

Koji Kawamoto: I was especially excited to work with Mackenyu because he has a great ability to do action. Mackenyu has a really great skill set, so choreographing the fights for him was a very enjoyable experience. I had ideas of what he could do, and I was sure he could bring these ideas to life.

What were your favourite scenes from One Piece’s first season?

Franz Spilhaus: Ha ha, all of them! But seriously, they are all very special and unique in their own way as they all tell different stories with different emotions. The details of this, you will have to wait and see.

Koji Kawamoto: I think the fight scene between Zoro and Mihawk is worth seeing, and would recommend people to watch it!

What’s the craziest thing that happened while you were on set?

Franz Spilhaus: When our stunt fisherman had to dive into the pool to fight Zoro and Sanji and the water was nine-degrees Celsius in the middle of winter and every time they came out of the water, their fish masks would be filled with water and they couldn’t see anything, and their hands were frozen so holding the weapons was almost impossible.

Koji Kawamoto: I don't think there was anything crazy about this one as thanks to our stunt coordinator, Franz, we were able to shoot the fight scenes safely.