Netflix viewers rage ‘no!’ as Jamie Lee Curtis exits One Piece show despite ‘perfect casting’

NETFLIX fans have been left disappointed by the news that Jamie Lee Curtis will not play Doctor Kureha in One Piece.

In March 2023, the actress responded to calls from fans for her to appear on the show, tagging the streaming platform on social media.

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Tomorrow Studios president Becky Clements confirmed that Jamie, 65, won’t be part of the show in an interview with Deadline.

“She loves the show. She has too many films and TV shows that she’s going into production on so our production dates aren’t going to work,” Becky explained.

“She definitely wanted to do it but she’s got deals in first position, and it just became complicated.”

Jamie is currently filming Freaky Friday 2, the follow-up to the 2003 film Freaky Friday, as well as other projects.

The actress has made it known that she’s a big fan of One Piece, which is a live-action version of a manga.

She talked about the show in 2016 during a Q&A session at San Diego Comic Con.

At the time, she revealed that if she were to become any character in a TV show, she would want to be Nico Robin, who is Straw Hat’s resident archeologist.

Her comments came several years before One Piece premiered on Netflix.

News that Jamie won’t appear on the show hit fans especially hard after showrunner Matt Owens said in another Deadline interview that they were writing the Doctor Kureha character “for her.”

“MAN, F**K,” exclaimed one disappointed fan on X, formerly Twitter.

“That was a perfect casting,” claimed another supporter.

“Goddamnit I always imagine JLC as the witchy bag to my Chopper,” complained a third fan.

“Well that’s unfortunate,” wrote another upset supporter.

“NOOOOOO,” cried a fifth fan.

GETTING FREAKIER

Jamie’s filming schedule is extremely busy at the moment as she’s been working on Freaky Friday 2.

Early this month, she shocked fans with her unrecognizable appearance on the film’s set.

Jamie ditched her short gray hairstyle in favor of longer tresses that touched her shoulders.

She was seen stepping out of her trailer where she waited for a car to take her to the filming location.

She wore black pants and a black cardigan.

Filming for Freaky Friday 2 kicked off in late June, and the film is scheduled to premiere in 2025.

In 2023, she spoke with The New York Times about when she knew a sequel to the Disney film was necessary.

“As I went around the world with Halloween Ends, people wanted to know if there was going to be another Freaky Friday,” she told the newspaper.

“Something really touched a chord. When I came back, I called my friends as Disney and said, ‘It feels like there’s a movie to be made.'”

Freaky Friday is a remake of the 1976 film by the same name.

The movie follows Jamie’s character, Tess Coleman, and her daughter Anna (Lindsay Lohan), who switch bodies.

The pair must learn to adapt, surviving in one another’s bodies and lives without anyone noticing while trying to reverse the curse.

REAL FRIENDS

Jamie and Lindsay, 38, are close on and off camera.

Lindsay announced that she will return to Freaky Friday 2 as Anna Coleman and spoke even more about the gig with Good Morning America.

She said that she felt “blessed” to have Jamie in her life.

“It’s going to be a really freaky Friday,” Lindsay teased.

“Much freakier than you would expect.”

Of her friendship with Jamie, she said, “Jamie and I have stayed in touch over the years.

“They always say when you have a best friend or someone that you’re really close with, if you cannot see them for years and years, but when you see them again, it’s like you’ve never separated.”

Jamie praised Lindsay in The New York Times, too.

“Lindsay was as fluid as I was,” Jamie said.

“If you look at The Parent Trap, she has a facility as an actor that is really impressive.

“It was a big job. It was a big production. And our relationship was very easy.”

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