HBO’s The Penguin, based on the DC comics of the same name, burst onto our screens this year.
The American crime mini-series follows the events of The Batman and stars Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, and more.
One person noticeably absent from that list is John Turturro, the actor who played crime lord Carmine Falcone in the 2022 movie The Batman.
Despite John being asked to reprise the role, it’s gone to Mark Strong instead.
Speaking to Variety about the HBO show, the actor revealed why he didn’t want to go back to the part.
“I did what I wanted to with the role,” he told the publication.
He added that this was partly down to the on-screen treatment of women in that fictional world.
“In the show, there was a lot of violence towards women, and that’s not my thing,” the actor explained.
He added that a lot of the violence in the 2022 The Batman movie “happens off-screen. It’s scarier that way.”
Then, there’s the question of timing. “You can’t do everything you want to,” the actor, whose new Almodóvar movie The Room Next Door came out four days ago, said.
The Penguin’s showrunner Lauren LeFranc has responded to the comments, telling The Wrap: “I completely respect an actor who doesn’t want to take on a role for whatever their personal reasons.
“I only want people to join our show who are excited and want to further the story we’re trying to tell. I think Mark Strong did a really fantastic job. He made the character his own and also really honoured what John Turturro did.”
However, she also said: “to my knowledge [his absence] was due to scheduling conflicts.”
“Carmine in the movie killed Selina Kyle’s mother and then does try to actively kill Selina, and also kills Annika – Selina’s friend,” she said.
“I think it’s been established, and Matt and I are in agreement on this, that Carmine’s a very violent man and has a violent streak against women.”