How the filming of the series “One Piece” allowed the interpreter of Sanji to become a real expert in martial arts?
He was until then almost unknown to the general public, but his name is now on the lips of all fans of the Netflix One Piece series! In the live-action adaptation of the famous manga, Taz Skylar lends his features to Sanji, the cook member of the Straw Hat crew led by Monkey D. Luffy.
Originally from Tenerife (Spain), he landed in England when he was only four years old, where he quickly took his first steps as an actor in the theatre. Appeared in the series The Reserves (of which he also wrote a few episodes), he became known to film buffs for his role in the film The Chef, a feature film filmed in a sequence shot behind the scenes in a restaurant kitchen.
Also appearing in a small role in the series The Lazarus Project, Taz Skylar will soon be in the credits of Boiling Point, a television sequel to The Chef this time centered on the assistant chef Carly and soon to be broadcast by the BBC. But it’s obviously thanks to the One Piece series that the comedian achieved international fame for his convincing portrayal of Sanji.
“A real workhorse”
In order not to damage his hands, since they are his main work tool, Sanji has developed a combat technique based on kicks. A peculiarity which required the actor to undergo intensive training, he who had not had the slightest experience in combat sports before filming.
One Piece series stunt coordinator Franz Spilhaus returned to our mic on his collaboration with Taz Skylar, “a workaholic” that he would welcome without even thinking in his team of stuntmen as his determination impressed him:
His determination was just amazing. He arrived without the slightest talent for kicks. We started his training from scratch, and where he was unable to lift his leg above his waist he could now lift his foot much higher than his head at the start of the shoot.
During this same interview, Franz Spilhaus also explained that for “spice things up”elements of capoeira and breakdancing were added to the comedian’s workout to make his action scenes even more impressive.
“He got involved like no other, whenever he could he hung out with the stunt team even when he wasn’t filming” emphasizes the latter not without admiration.
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By dint of hard work, Taz Skylar was quick to climb the ladder one by one to the point of winning in the space of two years of hard work – at the rate of four to five hours of daily training – his 1st dan of taekwondo.
The end of the filming of the first season has not affected his motivation, quite the contrary, since the interpreter of Sanji is currently chaining training courses, including recently a trip to Tokyo to train with authentic sumo wrestlers!
Series live action One Piece is available now exclusively on Netflix.
Discover the list of all the series currently available on the platform!