>>281415152
>>"okay please select which of these preselected brown actresses you want to play vivi"
I mean that's literally what happened, the casting call looked specifically for middle-eastern or south Asian girls 17-19. White girls never even got a chance to play Vivi. So unless Oda picked this current poo actress before the casting call, the idea that Oda "handpicked" her are complete and utter bullshit.

https://comicbook.com/anime/news/one-piece-netflix-season-2-casting-call/