John Turturro played ruthless Gotham City mob boss Carmine Falcone in The Batman, but he didn't reprise the role for HBO's The Penguin spin-off series, with Mark Strong taking over as a younger version of the character.
During a recent interview, showrunner Lauren LeFranc said that the decision to recast the role simply came down to a scheduling conflict.
"Well, practically, John was just unavailable to us. He had scheduling conflicts, and we couldn't make it work, but honestly, I'm so thrilled that we brought Mark Strong on. I think he's really good. Even though, maybe in the beginning when you first meet him, you might think, 'Oh. Well, for fans of The Batman, I'm so used to John Turturro,' and obviously John's a great actor, but I feel like the gravitas that Mark brings, it's different," she added. "It's very specific, and I hope, by the end of that episode, you're just thinking, 'That's Carmine Falcone,' and you're engaged in what Mark brings to it."
Well, as it turns out, this isn't exactly true. While Turturro might well have committed to another project when the show was filming, the actor has now revealed the actual reason he declined to return as Falcone for The Penguin.
“I did what I wanted to with the role,” he told Variety. “In the show, there was a lot of violence towards women, and that’s not my thing.”
“It happens off-screen [in The Batman],” he added. “It’s scarier that way.”
Okay... except, it doesn't all happen off-screen in the film. Falcone brutally attacks his own daughter (Zoe Kravitz) towards the end of the movie, and almost succeeds in choking her to death.
That said, The Penguin has been a pretty violent show so far, and Sofia Falcone's flashback episode was particularly gruelling.
The Penguin also stars Michael Kelly (Johnny Viti), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni), Deirdre O’Connell (Francis Cobb), Clancy Brown (Salvatore Maroni), James Madio (Milos Grapa), Scott Cohen (Luca Falcone), Michael Zegen (Alberto Falcone), Carmen Ejogo (Eve Karlo), and Theo Rossi (Dr. Julian Rush).
The eight-episode DC Studios drama series continues The Batman epic crime saga that filmmaker Matt Reeves began with Warner Bros. Pictures’ global blockbuster The Batman, and centers on the character played by Farrell in the film.
The series is executive produced by Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark, Colin Farrell, Lauren LeFranc, who writes and serves as showrunner, Craig Zobel, who directs the first three episodes, and Bill Carraro. Based on characters created for DC by Bob Kane with Bill Finger, the show is produced by Reeves’ 6th & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Reeves and 6th & Idaho are under an overall deal. Daniel Pipski also serves as executive producer.