Bringing a long-running manga character to live action takes more than wardrobe and makeup. For David Dastmalchian, becoming Mr. 3 in One Piece meant a full transformation, physical, vocal, and psychological.
Speaking about the process, Dastmalchian explained that embodying the wax-powered Baroque Works agent required stripping the character down to fundamentals and rebuilding him layer by layer.
To achieve Mr. 3’s smooth, sculpted look, Dastmalchian shaved all body hair, a significant commitment, given that he describes himself as naturally quite hairy. The goal was visual consistency. Any stray texture would break the illusion of a character defined by molded wax.
That commitment extended into hours of daily hair and makeup. Skin tone was carefully adjusted under studio lighting, and every surface detail was refined to maintain Mr. 3’s polished aesthetic.
Building Mr. 3 From the Outside In
Central to the design was the character’s iconic “3”-shaped hairpiece. Dastmalchian credited the hair and makeup team for engineering something that could survive long shooting days while still feeling organic within One Piece’s heightened world. The structure also influenced his posture and movement, helping define how Mr. 3 occupies space.
“One, that everyone who’s read and loved the manga has such a special place in their heart for him and the way they’ve already imagined him sounding or moving or looking in their minds. Then you’ve got the only two versions I’ve seen. Although you know there are hundreds of other languages in the world that it’s been translated into, I’ve done both subbed and dubbed versions of the anime.”
Beyond the physical transformation, Dastmalchian immersed himself in the source material, studying both subtitled and dubbed anime performances. Rather than copying any single version, he treated them as reference points. identifying essential inflections and gestures, then shaping his own interpretation around them.
He also focused heavily on Mr. 3’s psychology. Instead of leaning into exaggerated villainy, Dastmalchian emphasized restraint: calm movements, measured speech, and a composed presence. For him, Mr. 3’s menace comes from quiet confidence and artistic precision, not explosive aggression.
“I also tried to find vocal inflections at certain times that paid tribute to those who’ve come before me, but I also wanted to make him my own. So you always get a little bit nervous because you hope that the fans go, ‘Oh okay, that’s his interpretation.’”
Dastmalchian acknowledged the weight of fan expectations, knowing audiences already carry deeply personal ideas about how Mr. 3 should sound and behave. His goal wasn’t imitation, but continuation, honoring what exists while contributing something new.
The result is a character built through shaved skin, sculpted hair, studied voices, and deliberate psychological layering. For Dastmalchian, transforming into Mr. 3 wasn’t about spectacle alone. It was about approaching a legacy role with discipline, shaping wax into form, much like the character himself.
