Los Angeles Comic Con took over the Los Angeles Convention Center September 26-28, 2025. The event came back bigger than ever, promising an unforgettable experience for fans of comics, gaming, sci-fi, and anime. This year, the anime scene was better than it has ever been. Over the weekend, the English dub cast of One Piece took the stage at Los Angeles Comic Con to discuss their experiences and love for the iconic series.
“One Piece” English Dub Cast Recalls Their Auditions for the Series at Los Angeles Comic Con
Luci Christian, the voice of Nami, Sonny Strait, the voice of Usopp, and Ian Sinclair, the voice of Brook, participated in a panel on Los Angeles Comic Con’s Gaming Stage. During the panel, each actor shared their audition experiences, bringing fans back to the very beginning.
Luci Christian explained that she first read for Luffy. She recalls Mike McFarland, the English Director and voice of Buggy, directing her more toward Nami.
He was like, ‘So, she [Nami] is so spunky. We just want to hear you be like… she also loves money, and that’s always kind of there.’ And then, they played this scene, like some of the beginning scenes. Like, baby scenes were she’s like, ‘I’m a talented thief who steals from pirates. The name’s Nami!’ And I just remember really, really liking it and liking her.
Sonny Strait admitted that he only wanted Usopp. He said:
We were able to listen to the Japanese, and they wanted to be reflective of it. And Mike, in the middle of my audition, had to go take care of something… So, I turned to the engineer and I said, ‘Play that a few hundred more times in my head so I can get it.’ And I heard there was an ah noise in his voice, and I kind of leaned into that pretty heavy.
He went on to talk about recording Usopp:
Then, we started recording, and he was screaming every line. And I said, ‘Mike, he doesn’t scream all the time, does he?’ And Mike goes, ‘Oh no no, this is high stakes. He doesn’t scream like that all the time.’ 17 years we’ve been doing this, and he’s screamed every episode.
Ian Sinclair did not audition for One Piece when most people were. He was new to acting and ended up performing background voices for the show for a long time. In fact, he voices the father of the little girl who gets ice cream on Smoker’s pants in a very early episode. When the call for Brook came up, a friend of his encouraged him to audition. He said, “There was no way they would cast me because I was just a big part in an arc… so then I did it, and now I’m here.”
Discussing Their Favorite Arcs
A common question among One Piece fans is: Which arc is your favorite? When asked, both Sonny Strait and Ian Sinclair answered with “Water 7 and Ennies Lobby.” Both of these arcs are high-stakes and emotional, providing heart-wrenching scenes among the Straw Hat Crew.
Usopp and Luffy get in a fight during the “Water 7 Arc” that offers a look at Usopp’s raw feelings about himself and his position in the crew he grew to call his family. Sonny Strait mentioned that, for the first time while recording the series, he cried real tears.
Luci Christian loves “Arlong Park.” In this early arc, audiences begin to understand Nami better. Not only that, but fans also get to know the Straw Hat Crew as a (mostly) cohesive team. Additionally, Luci Christian mentioned that this arc was recorded out of order. When they picked up where 4Kids left off, they had to go back to the beginning to re-dub. This also gave Christian an eye-opening experience as to why Nami acted the way she did in later episodes.
The love the actors have for their characters is evident in their performances. After roughly twenty years of bringing Nami, Usopp, and Brook to life, they find new ways to enjoy the journey.
About “One Piece”
One Piece follows Monkey D. Luffy as he follows his dream to become King of the Pirates! He forms the Straw Hat Pirates and sets sail across the seas to find a legendary treasure called “The One Piece,” left to pirates by a man named Gol D. Roger. Along the way, this ragtag crew makes friends and enemies alike while making a name for themselves around the world.
The series is by Eiichiro Oda and began in 1997. There are over 1,100 manga chapters, over 1,100 episodes of the anime, numerous movies, and a live-action series on Netflix, with a second season on the way. Stream every episode of “One Piece” on Crunchyroll!
