John Turturro Turns Down 'The Penguin' Role Over Violence Concerns
John Turturro Turns Down 'The Penguin' Role Over Violence Concerns
In a revealing interview, John Turturro shared why he chose not to return as Carmine Falcone in the upcoming series 'The Penguin.'
According to Turturro, his decision was influenced by the portrayal of violence towards women in the show, which he found unsettling. This stance is not new for Turturro; he has always been vocal about his discomfort with such themes in his projects.
That's actually a very respectable stance to take. Good on him. That being said, the episodes out so far don't really have that much violence towards women so maybe there will be some kind of scene in the future? The only thing I could think of was the torture Sophia endured in Arkham but I would classify that as only violence and not violence towards women personally.
I think they probably wanted him to do things he didn't want to do. Not sure if they'll have someone else fill that role in his stead (not casting-wise, but committing the same acts).
I think the position is understandable, but dumb. Bad guys in media should be allowed to do bad things. It's not like he's playing a protagonist that you're supposed to relate with or cheer for or anything.
What next? Should we keep bad guys from killing people too?
Mark Strong already played the character in flashbacks and based on where the story is now, I don't see the character returning.
Spoilers for episode 4/5
The last episode ended with Sophia rejecting the Falcone name and taking her mother's maiden name. Similarly we've already seen in a flashback her mother killed and another character implied that her father hanged her. (And framed Sophia as The Hangman.)
So while the character was clearly violent, we don't see him doing the violence directly, but maybe the implication is enough. (Although, then why play a gangster.)
It's really too bad Mark Strong wasn't playing the role in the movie.
As a man, I'm offended. I don't want to be a victim of violence either.