One of the many charming things about Jamie Lee Curtis is that she is, to put it delicately, a big goddamn nerd. This is the woman who appeared at the premiere of the Warcraft movie—a film, we hasten to remind you, that she was not in—in full orc cosplay; stories of her infiltrating fighting game tournaments and conventions in costume are well-known.
Amongst Curtis’ various nerdy obsessions, Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece ranks pretty damn high—to the point that Curtis has now expressed her active desire to begin campaigning for a role in the franchise’s live-action Netflix adaptation, just as soon as the SAG-AFTRA strike is over. She even has a part picked out: Dr. Kureha, a cool old lady who—like pretty much everybody in One Piece—is a total oddball who is also incredibly competent at her job.
Curtis has expressed her desire to join the series before, but she hopped on Instagram today to reiterate—and, interestingly, got an almost immediate response from the show’s co-developer, Matt Owens, who wrote “No need to lobby. Once we get what we deserve and get back to work let’s talk!” (He also referred to her as “Mommy dearest.” The internet: An unsettling place.)
As it happens, the live-action One Piece show is actually shockingly good, featuring great performances from young actors like Iñaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, and Mackenyu Arata, who manage to imbue some genuine feeling into some very goofy characters. What it does not have is much in the way of big name actors—to the point that Ian McShane, who appears, unseen, as the narrator of the first episode, is the closest it ever gets to a big celebrity get. Curtis could certainly add a little bit of spark to the proceedings; her obvious passion for the material would only be an asset, too.
