“One Piece” of Taz
“I'm not someone who is okay with things having no meaning. I like everything that has a meaning as esoteric as the answer. I think that's the closest definition to who I am now because I think I'm always changing."
With a charm as overwhelming as his talent, Taz Skylar is positioned in the world as an icon of multiculturalism and an inspiring symbol of success for all generations who strive to take everything to the next level.
On the verge of making his dazzling entrance as a special guest at Milan Fashion Week, Taz has taken time out of his busy schedule to tell, through Rolling Stone Korea, the most exciting details of this path as an integral artist. Today it breaks all cultural barriers, capturing the gaze and admiration of millions of fans of anime and action sequences.
One Piece, the series that over the past few months has become one of the favorites of Netflix's global audience, is one of many spaces where Taz Skylar has demonstrated, once again, how discipline and innate talent balance each other to make each project a desired production for audiences of all ages. Is wonderful to enjoy a live action series that stands out for its professionalism and the appropriate intention of every detail. This makes it naturally accepted into the high expectations of fans of the popular anime. It gives us a perspective of what its essence means. I wanted to ask who Taz is?, but the fascinating mystery of his person can only be expressed by his spontaneity:
“I'm not really sure I know the answer to who I am, but I know the answer to the things I am and the things I am NOT. I'm not someone who lets fear take over me often. Sometimes it does, but not always. Most of the time it is not like that. “I'm not someone who does what you're told to do if you don't understand why you need to do it, or why you should do it, or why it's the right thing to do.”
1. [RSK] Taz, it is an honor for Rolling Stone Korea and for the Asian public in general to welcome you in this exclusive. You are genuinely talented. Through “One Piece” we were able to appreciate that discipline and hard work that fans of all ages and cultures fell in love with. It is interesting to see how, several months after the premiere of the series, it continues to rank in the top 10 on Netflix around the world. On the other hand, we realized that there were some mishaps during the premieres scheduled for release in some countries. However, all of you, as a cast, defied this situation and made it memorable on your own by premiering, in Japan, what an adventure! Your decision exceeded the expectations of many people who were expecting an outcome, certainly different.
ONE PIECE | Final Trailer | Netflix
I know, a lot of people were on the radar and watch list, but we all loved what we did. We were very firm in that, throughout the filming process and after filming we would go out or spend time together. We were aware of how proud we were of what we had done and believed in it. But there is pressure when the time of the premiere approaches. Sometimes it is difficult to stay firm in our beliefs. And I think all of us definitely feel that, but what if not everyone sees it that way? What happens if not everyone agrees? That thought accompanied us frequently. Despite everything, I decided to believe that if all I got out of this whole experience was a great experience, then that's enough. You know, experience is not what happens to us but what we do with what happens to us. After everything was canceled, we went to Japan as a group of friends, just to be together when the show launched.
“I definitely remember being at the airport leaving. My family accompanied me and, now, I was leaving them to go to Japan and be with the cast. I said goodbye to my dad and my mom. As they walked away, I was dealing with the details of my departure, I felt terrified: going to a country you don't know and have never been to. Watching the last two years of work you've done with your friends be released to the world for the world to have an opinion on is shocking.”
When I was looking down, scared, very scared, someone said Taz. I looked next to me and it was a girl that I had known for years on the island where I am from, in Tenerife, she approached me a little worried: what is happening? Are you OK? I thought, yeah, honestly, I'm really scared right now. Why?, She asked me. She didn't know about the program yet. She knew when I saw her again at the airport after it came out. I told her something very common: it's some work, I'm going to see what happens with it. She gave me a hug and said: I don't know what it is, but I'm sure you'll be fine. And I took that feeling with me on the plane, during the 14-hour trip to Japan. Then when the show came out, we all hugged each other, literally hugged each other in an apartment. And we all gave each other a group hug and said, really, we're going to be able to do this again because we're so lucky to have each other. When it came out, quite quickly and abruptly, all of our lives changed a lot.
2. [RSK] I appreciated this production having many details. There is dedication, commitment and responsibility in every detail including the art of the scenery, the combat sequences and everything in between. From your perspective. What is that plus that makes this series so unique, so special?
“The showrunner, Matt Owens!
From my point of view, the success or failure of the program depends on what people expect. But, it's wonderful that they do it, they give credit to the cast and you feel their love. They like the dynamic between us, it shows that we complement each other, which is true and to that extent they give truth to what happens. But a great cast without Matt's backing wouldn't necessarily have had the platform or material to be great.
Because the thing about Matt is he is a “forensic.” Passionate fan, he seems to be writing the show and was the showrunner of the show. He's a big fan of it. He loves anime so much and he loves manga so much and everything he did was infused with that and it emanated through the show. And really, I think that's what people feel when they watch the show. I see Matt's love for the intellectual property emanating through everything, emanating through us, emanating through the set, the costumes, the details, the easter eggs, the way the stories were changed or altered regarding to the original in a way was like what for a fan of it is enough, as opposed to a person who would simply enter the IP to impose their will on it. Matt does not impose his will. Invite to work with him. (Taz)
3. [RSK] I have, like many others, enjoyed your martial arts skills. In my research process, I watched you prepare for this role. Despite being almost new on this , I was surprised by your level,it is fascinating. We would like to know about this process. It's surprising for me because I usually work with Asian artists and they study almost their entire lives to achieve a level that seems to flow naturally in you.
Thank you. I appreciate it! you know? Every time someone says it I think it is great, because there was a time when some videos leaked when I started training and it really wasn't very good. I had literally been doing it for two weeks at that point. I decided to go online and realized it wasn't very good.
“I remember taking it very seriously and thinking, okay, I've seen all these actors my whole life do incredible things, accomplish incredible feats to fit a role. I always felt in my heart that that was something I could do and now I literally had the opportunity in front of me. I did it and that effort was worth it.” I pushed my body to the limit. You have five moments in which you can go in search of something.
I started training two hours a day, then it was four, then six, then eight. There were days when we did 10, there were days when we lost count. Then this happened, I found a teacher there in South Africa who was the teacher of one of my coaches. I had like seven coaches. All the coaches didn't have enough time to train with me during the time I was trying to train.
Then they would tap, one would come in for two hours, tap, another would come in and train with me, I was running out of people. I found a teacher in Cape Town who invited me to his home and to his black belt sessions. I trained 7 days a week. I was really obsessed.
I remember telling Jacob I wasn't hanging out. I isolated myself from everyone. And I sent Iñaki a message, because I knew we hadn't spent much time together. I said, hey, buddy, look, I'm really sorry I haven't been around you guys much lately. It's only because I'm hell-bent on having this black belt before the show airs.
I wanted when the show came out, no one could debate that I did every trick and erase any doubt about it. The two of the weeks of the SAG-AFTRA Strike in Hollywood gave me a window to achieve my goal: to obtain a black belt. I called one of my coaches and told him: I have two weeks, my coach. And I said, man, I have two weeks. Do you want to come to where I am and train with me? I wanted to know if I was ready for a title
So he came and we trained four hours in the morning, four hours in the afternoon, every day for 13 days. And then on the 14th, he said, okay, let's pretend qualifying is today.
“It was just a whole day of kicking, kicking, punching and beating. And in the end, I take off the red belt that I twist tightly and the sweat drips endlessly and he comes out and hands me my black belt and the next day I flew to Japan with that in my hand. And that was three days before the show came out. “Everything is so amazing.”.
4. [RSK] Well, Taz, You are an icon of multiculturalism, that is really special because it is the spirit of my interviews. From your perspective, what are those strengths and those challenges that you have experienced being a multicultural person in this industry of stereotypes?
Intrinsically linked to who I am, I can see most things, or at least I think I can see most things from many perspectives. I grew up in a family made up of a Christian English woman and a Muslim man. That allowed me to empathize with characters or stories in a different way because I can always see what the other side is or what a different person would feel and think in those scenarios. There is a great quote that I love and have always thought:
“Anyone is a villain in history written by those who win and I think being able to see 360 degrees of something and realize that someone could actually be described as a villain, by virtue of the fact that they didn't win that battle. ”
Someone can be a hero but they may have done very bad things to achieve it. You know what I'm talking about? I think that's something that being multicultural gives me. But I guess the difficulty is that I often feel like I'm struggling to find the place where I belong because I don't identify with anything.
I grew up in Spain. I am canarian. I went to a Canarian school. I learned to write Spanish before I learned to write English.
Sometimes I don't feel enough canarian. The same goes for being Arab. Half of my family is Arab. But I've never lived there, you know, I don't feel it, so I guess that's my problem sometimes, is figuring out where I really belong. Maybe the answer is that I don't necessarily belong anywhere specific and that's okay.
5. [RSK] Earlier this year, it was interesting to see your visit to Latin America through your posts of the adventures you had visiting the new continent, specifically Peru. From this experience, what memories do you keep in your heart?
Oh wow! If I talk about Latin America, I find similarities with the Canary Islands specifically. Some local culture, some native culture.
The majority of our population is actually made up of all the Latin American countries that emigrated to the Canary Islands. So I grew up surrounded by Peruvians, Mexicans, Venezuelans, Colombians, and it felt like an extension of my home. Especially in the way we treat each other socially speaking. We are very happy, enthusiastic and have a lot of physical contact,
I felt like I was getting to know Peru on a personal level, both everyone who lived there and the country itself, which was so beautiful. I'm going to Mexico soon and I'm really excited to tour Mexico and see what adventures I can find there too. All of Latin America is something that I am very excited to visit each of its countries.
“To be fair, I want to go to every country in the world, but Latin America is high on my list.”
6. [RSK] Have you had the opportunity to visit any other place in Asia apart from Japan?
I haven't, but funnily enough, when I was finishing filming One Piece, I was trying to figure out where in the world I wanted to go for real taekwondo training, I was considering looking for places in Seoul and I found a lot of schools.
There the taekwondo culture is great, although I am familiar with each technique and I can count the commands in Korean Hana, Dul, Set Net, every time we do an exercise in class we count the exercise in tens.
So I thought okay, at least I did know how to say all those kinds of specific things in Korean and I could go to Korea and just train. I didn't do it because I had to film something else, but I really want to go to South Korea. It's on my list,
7. [RSK] Do you know that they have a “One Piece” cafe in South Korea?
Oh yes, You can go and take photos with the characters with scale models. The place is incredible, it is as beautiful as it is popular. In fact, I started watching the series last year. I was visiting that place because I heard one of my friends said, that I am a big fan of One Piece and I should go. You need to enjoy those kinds of coffees in Korea. They are beautiful. You know, the aesthetics are unique in the world.
TAZ : Do you have the last phase with the characters' faces? They really wanted to get one of those.
8. [RSK] Let's talk about the current project in Top, Gassed Up, The movie, which had its premiere at the BFI London Film Festival in 2023, although the most attractive and at the same time fascinating thing is knowing that you have the participation in writing the script.
Gassed Up - Trailer Edit - Intro by Taz Skylar
Look! Gassed Up was my first screenplay. I've been writing for a long time, but I've only done my own work in the past.
This is the first film I produced and it was a really long process. Like I had been working on it for a year and a half before that. And actually, funnily enough, I finished the script. So I was revising and rewriting for a long time.
When I came to South Africa to film One Piece, before we stopped (Hollywood Strikes) we were in preparation, we had been there for two or three weeks and there was one night when everyone was gathering at Emily's apartment. I remember being thoughtful because I had to do another draft of the script and I remember I really wanted to go, so I took my laptop to Emily's apartment and wrote it on her couch.
I finished writing the new ending on her couch and everyone was doing their own thing. Then I sent the script and the film was given the green light to be made while I was there filming. Then we had to figure out how we could do it so that I could find a space and film in one piece to return to London to film “Gassed Up” and then come back to finish “One Piece”. I ended up flying from one set to another and then from one set to another again. It was a trip, it was a trip and a half. The movie aspires to do something really cool. A really cool movie that had young actors at the center, which is rare these days because it seems like everything has to be very bankable, which I also understand. I understand the financial capacity element of movies, but,
"I really wanted to be the creator of something that people my age could lead because it was a young team, a young cast with young people making this movie and I think it's also infused with youth, at least I hope so."
9. [RSK] We have seen you have discipline, hard work and focus. You are a young person but you have a life that you can share like a professional. Tell me, how does this enrich your personal and professional life?
Ah, great question. Well, I think one of the main lessons I've learned is that I have a lot less time than ever before, a lot less time on my hands than I used to, but somehow I manage to do it too.
many other things, both personally and professionally, than those that I have had before and I think that is what it is about,
“It has taught me that time is very valuable and that there are only two ways I really like to spend it: working incredibly hard or having an incredible amount of fun. I really don't like to spend time doing anything mediocre because that's the prism I put everything through."
I spent more time during half that year being Sanji than I did being Taz.
In the end everything is settled with you. You capture gestures of that character and then you have to consciously decide if you want to keep them or not. In Sanji's case, a lot of those gestures or ways of thinking or feeling were really useful and productive and great ways of being that really stuck with me and that I try to maintain.That definitely happens, it's horrible, you know?
What I was talking about before is definitely putting into perspective how much you can do with life if you are very strict with your time, which I have definitely become. Sometimes I try to make a conscious effort to be clear-headed with my time, which I almost always regret when I feel like I've wasted it. There are not many people our age in the world who have the opportunity to witness the world in such a special and intense way. I guess I'm overwhelmed by the fact that I need to make the most of it as much as I can and every character I play really stays with me.
“I started getting tattoos for each character, like I did recently for the first play I did. And I got a One Piece tattoo. I just did another movie where the character had tattoos, so I'm choosing which tattoo of his I want to get. “
Because what I'm finding in every character I play really changes the course of who I am for the rest of my life. I know that in some big or small way I will never be the same after playing a character. Because the level, not just like the depth of the investigation or the depth of figuring out who this character is that I have to go to, it's also that a year is 12 months. If I spent six months playing Sanji, 4 a.m. to 7 p.m., so I'll spend half of that year more, it definitely made me say, okay, well. What happens in a world where you can only make a certain number of characters per year and there are only a certain number of years? What characters do I really want? I bet that my career because it seems like everyone is is that now I do have maybe; 20 years, 28 now, 20 or 30 years playing characters. This is maybe 30 characters, maybe it's 40 characters, who knows, but it's not that many for a lifetime and I really want to make sure that each one of them means as much as the last ones to me.
10. [RSK] Wow! Being an artist who stands out for his multifaceted ability, we must ultimately talk about your passion for surfing that becomes as interesting as it is liberating for your audience. Let's talk about this adventure!
I was downright obsessed. I was around 10 or 12 years old. That's all I wanted to talk about, know, think about, watch or spend time doing was surfing and surfing related things. I would surf all day and then watch surf movies at night. I started making surfboards.
That was a very special moment because I used to be really scared by everything.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQUeZYeATO3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
"I was very shy. Was very sensitive and I don't want to say delicate, but it was like a twig, like it would break on anything. And surfing really changed that for me because suddenly I was being dragged and drowned and getting hit by surfboards or fins or thrown out of the water by people who didn't want me there and it really strengthened me and generated that sense of adventure that I have.”
That feeling of let's see what happens here. Because that's how it is every time you get into the water you enter a world of the unknown and uncertainty. It also gave me misfit friends and they pushed me to do different things and try other things that were scary. Making surfboards taught me how to put myself in a situation. I always reference the factory because I made about six boards.
I was 15 or around 16 years old of pure daily handmade work. I was in workshops and then in factories, sanding, sanding, sanding, sanding, shaping, sculpting and sawing. I still have calluses on my hands, like I still have stones of skin under each of my fingers where they bled and then I taped them up and put them away.
11. [RSK] Well, Taz, it really has been a complete honor getting to know you through all these exciting and deep experiences. I hope all Rolling Stone Korea audiences enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed doing it. Thank you.
Photographs by Taz Skylar
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