
Rob Colletti, who plays Wapol in Netflix’s live-action One Piece series, has strongly defended his co-star Charithra Chandran against online criticism. Chandran was cast as Princess Vivi for the show’s upcoming second season, which recently wrapped filming, and is set to release in 2026.
The backlash began after Netflix released a teaser for One Piece Season 2 during a franchise celebration event in Tokyo. The preview showed first looks at new cast members, including Chandran as Vivi, Lera Abova as Nico Robin, and Callum Kerr as Smoker. Some fans took issue with Chandran’s casting because she is of Tamil-Indian descent, while the character Vivi appears with fair skin in the original anime.