Cape Town Actors Join the Grand Line Adventure in One Piece S2

One Piece enthusiasts should keep their eyes peeled for local talent during the second season of the Netflix adaptation.

The new season follows Luffy and the Straw Hats as they head into the Grand Line, a legendary and unpredictable stretch of ocean packed with strange islands, formidable enemies, and the promise of the world’s greatest treasure. It is a grand adventure that pulls in a big cast, and two of the performers filling out that cast happen to be from right here in the Cape.

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Cape Town-born Anton David Jeftha takes on the role of Kuromarimo, known in the show as K.M. The character serves as Wapol’s highest-ranking official and magistrate, and the two of them eventually flee Drum Island together to live out their days as part of the Bliking Pirates. South African audiences will likely recognise Anton from his long-running appearances in the Outsurance advertisements. A working actor, model, and voiceover artist, Anton relocated to Hollywood in 2015 and has since built up a solid international television CV, with credits including Homeland, Dominion, and Strike Back.

@antondavidjeftha The making of KM One Piece season 2 out now only on Netflix @ONE PIECE official ♬ Onepiece – Overtaken – Main Theme – Geek Music

The second local face to watch out for is Sanchia Davids, who plays Miss Thursday, a character described as a deadly assassin with a very specific weapon of choice: a baseball. She appears in a key sequence fighting Smoker as the season heads toward its finale. What makes her character particularly interesting is that Miss Thursday never appeared in the original One Piece manga or anime. She was briefly referenced in passing, and co-showrunner Joe Tracz has confirmed that creator Eiichiro Oda designed the character from scratch specifically for the live-action production.

Sanchia grew up in Malmesbury and completed her schooling at Schoonspruit Secondary before heading to the University of Cape Town to study Theatre and Performance, graduating in 2017. During her studies, she took part in a cultural exchange programme in Germany, where she performed in acting, singing, and dancing. She earned wider recognition in 2018 playing Aunty Maud in Krimis van Map Jacobs, a production by celebrated South African writer Adam Small, and has since toured extensively with Cape Heart Community and Educational Theatre Company, adding productions such as Liefde is Rooi and Onder die Brug to her growing stage portfolio.

The series may travel across imagined seas, yet a large part of its creation sits much closer to home.

Season two was filmed in Cape Town, with production based at Cape Town Film Studios. Large-scale sets were built to match the world of the Grand Line, and filming ran from June 2024 through to 15 December 2024, with the crew returning to South Africa to make full use of the studio’s facilities.

Season two of One Piece is on Netflix now.

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