Elias Koteas

beardcore84 · 02-12-2018, 06:22 AM

Hello everyone. I rewatched the original trilogy this weekend, and one big thing that stood out to me was how awesome Elias Koteas was in his role. To me he is the perfect Casey Jones and he is my personal favorite iteration of the character.

I wanted to start a discussion thread, and I have some questions that some of you may know the answers to.

Does anyone know if Elias looks back on his time with the turtles fondly? I'm curious if he enjoyed his time working on these films and being in such a unique place in pop culture history, or if it was more like "just another movie" for him.

Does anyone know why he was omitted from the second film? Keno is fine, but I would have like to have seen more of Elias. I wonder of there was a scheduling conflict, or if he just wasn't written into the movie in the first place. Or, if the reason both he and Judith weren't in the second one had to do with money.

I'm also curious if he's ever spoke about how he felt about the 3rd movie. Personally I think his scenes in that film provide some pretty great comic relief, but I'd still rather see him kicking ass with the turtles.

If anyone has any other fun tidbits about Elias regarding his role in the TMNT films, please post them here!

beardcore84 · 02-12-2018, 07:29 AM

I did find this interview which sheds some light on how he feels about that time:

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...750708692.html

d_osborn · 02-12-2018, 08:49 AM

Koteas was thought to be the next DeNiro at the time. The production was pretty lucky to snag him. Amazing acting talent. Considering the low budget, Barron and the casting director really did a great job casting the film.

Casey was written into the first draft script of SOTO, but didn't survive heavy revisions.

*CyberCubed* · 02-12-2018, 11:49 AM

If you look at his rotten and idmb page, he's gotten constant work as an actor but nothing big, and he mainly played minor support roles in movies.

bwwd · 02-12-2018, 04:23 PM

He does look like young deniro in his early years and his acting was based on deniro as well, im sure he knew that and director commentary on turtles has info about him being like deniro and its basically why they casted him, he was supposed to be vigilante like deniro in taxi driver.

~~AquaParade~~ · 02-12-2018, 05:21 PM

Such a fantastic Casey Jones. Sure, he didn't have a ton of range to show off within that role, but he captured the wrecklessness and charm that you want out of Casey.

The first movie's characters feel so rich, despite going on a pretty basic emotional journey.

*Andrew NDB* · 02-12-2018, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwwd

He does look like young deniro in his early years and his acting was based on deniro as well

"Hey, this is an actor that looks and acts exactly like such-and-such actor!" <--- has never been said about any A-list actor, ever.

That I'm aware of, anyway.

*MikeandRaph87* · 02-13-2018, 06:10 PM

I have not seen Elias Koteas in anything except for his two films as Casey Jones. I looked him up a few years ago to see whatever happened to him and was shocked to see he had steady work since 1988. His roles are consistent, but never as any major role let alone major film. I also don't think I would recognize him without long hair and these days he is nearly bald. I guess he is content in being an unknown so long as work is consistent. Some actors are like that. They want to be able to have regular acting roles and be able to immerse themselves in the art of it. Another example of this is Amy Jo Johnson of Power Rangers fame. Could have been more, but chose not to.

d_osborn · 02-13-2018, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

I have not seen Elias Koteas in anything except for his two films as Casey Jones.

The Thin Red Line in incredible-- great place to start.

*Powder* · 02-13-2018, 06:26 PM

It was cool seeing him pop up in The Sopranos (as a wise guy turned substance abuse counselor). Too bad he didn't have more than one small appearance, though.

*MikeandRaph87* · 02-13-2018, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by d_osborn

The Thin Red Line in incredible-- great place to start.

I saw Shuter Island when it came out, but could not identify him. I guess he only had the long hair briefly yet is how he is most recognized. Could that have hurt his recognizeability to people in films? Having seen the film, it was a couple of years later whwn I looked through his filmography, I went, "wait, that balding guard was Casey Jones?!".

I am not familar with The Thin Red Line. I will watch the trailer on Youtube as soon as post this and of it is interesting enough to put in the Netflix queue.

d_osborn · 02-14-2018, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

I am not familar with The Thin Red Line. I will watch the trailer on Youtube as soon as post this and of it is interesting enough to put in the Netflix queue.

Arguably one of the best war films. Directed by Terrence Malick, who should be regarded as a damn national treasure.

I highly recommend it.

beardcore84 · 02-14-2018, 01:20 PM

He has appeared in over 100 episodes of Chicago PD which is a fairly popular television show, so I am glad he found steady work like that in a co-starring role.

sgtfbomb · 02-14-2018, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by d_osborn

Arguably one of the best war films. Directed by Terrence Malick, who should be regarded as a damn national treasure.

I highly recommend it.

Great film! It also has a great contribution by Hans Zimmer.

I love Koteas! He's one of those "it's that guy!" actors who I love seeing in supporting roles, kinda like Tom Noonan, Charles Dance, and Bruce Dern, to name a few.

One movie that comes to mind is Fallen, where he small, memorable role that set the tone for the rest of the film. The man plays crazy well.

Chabrendeki · 02-14-2018, 11:35 PM

He had major roles in some films of Atom Egoyan - Exotica, The Adjuster.

*pferreira* · 02-15-2018, 02:03 PM

Some actors are terrible or average at their job because they try so hard their acting feels forced. This applies to A-listers who have won Oscars. Koteas seems to breeze through films offering a natural and interesting performance without any effort. He's a true actor.

*Wesley* · 03-13-2018, 04:35 PM

I watched the original trilogy for the first time in the past few days (well, aside from Turtles in Time, which I had seen first as a kid) and thought Elias Koteas was awesome. Best version of Casey, imo. Haven’t seen him in anything else, though.

*plastroncafe* · 03-13-2018, 09:37 PM

You've got to check out The Prophesy!
He was great in that.

Bonus Christopher Walken as Gabriel.
And Vigo Mortensen.

*Wesley* · 03-14-2018, 11:34 AM

Never heard of The Prophesy before but the premise of the film sounds good. I’ll try watching it sometime.

Avenger · 03-14-2018, 12:08 PM

About TV roles, he was the guy that shot House on the last episode of Season 2 of House MD.

I'm sure he did many more roles on TV, but it's one I remember.

02-12-2018, 06:22 AM	#1
beardcore84 Foot Soldier Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 141	Elias Koteas Hello everyone. I rewatched the original trilogy this weekend, and one big thing that stood out to me was how awesome Elias Koteas was in his role. To me he is the perfect Casey Jones and he is my personal favorite iteration of the character. I wanted to start a discussion thread, and I have some questions that some of you may know the answers to. Does anyone know if Elias looks back on his time with the turtles fondly? I'm curious if he enjoyed his time working on these films and being in such a unique place in pop culture history, or if it was more like "just another movie" for him. Does anyone know why he was omitted from the second film? Keno is fine, but I would have like to have seen more of Elias. I wonder of there was a scheduling conflict, or if he just wasn't written into the movie in the first place. Or, if the reason both he and Judith weren't in the second one had to do with money. I'm also curious if he's ever spoke about how he felt about the 3rd movie. Personally I think his scenes in that film provide some pretty great comic relief, but I'd still rather see him kicking ass with the turtles. If anyone has any other fun tidbits about Elias regarding his role in the TMNT films, please post them here!

02-12-2018, 04:23 PM	#5
bwwd Hench Mutant Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 292	He does look like young deniro in his early years and his acting was based on deniro as well, im sure he knew that and director commentary on turtles has info about him being like deniro and its basically why they casted him, he was supposed to be vigilante like deniro in taxi driver. __________________

02-13-2018, 06:10 PM	#8
MikeandRaph87 Jedi Master Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: JLA Satellite Headquarters Posts: 11,127	I have not seen Elias Koteas in anything except for his two films as Casey Jones. I looked him up a few years ago to see whatever happened to him and was shocked to see he had steady work since 1988. His roles are consistent, but never as any major role let alone major film. I also don't think I would recognize him without long hair and these days he is nearly bald. I guess he is content in being an unknown so long as work is consistent. Some actors are like that. They want to be able to have regular acting roles and be able to immerse themselves in the art of it. Another example of this is Amy Jo Johnson of Power Rangers fame. Could have been more, but chose not to. __________________ Michelangelo: This looks like a job for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Raphael: Sheesh, Mikey this ain't a cartoon!

02-13-2018, 06:26 PM	#10
Powder So tired of this place Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Shell Ri La Posts: 26,803	It was cool seeing him pop up in The Sopranos (as a wise guy turned substance abuse counselor). Too bad he didn't have more than one small appearance, though. __________________ I'm convinced that none of you have ever experienced joy

03-13-2018, 04:35 PM	#17
Wesley Mad Scientist Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Republic of Ireland Posts: 1,589	I watched the original trilogy for the first time in the past few days (well, aside from Turtles in Time, which I had seen first as a kid) and thought Elias Koteas was awesome. Best version of Casey, imo. Haven’t seen him in anything else, though. __________________ Donatello: The tracker! It might work. Donatello goes to the back of the Turtle Van Raphael: Shrewd move, Donatello. If we ignore the problem, it might go away by itself. (from The Mean Machines)

02-12-2018, 07:29 AM	#2
beardcore84 Foot Soldier Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 141	I did find this interview which sheds some light on how he feels about that time: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...750708692.html

02-12-2018, 08:49 AM	#3
d_osborn Mad Scientist Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 1,338	Koteas was thought to be the next DeNiro at the time. The production was pretty lucky to snag him. Amazing acting talent. Considering the low budget, Barron and the casting director really did a great job casting the film. Casey was written into the first draft script of SOTO, but didn't survive heavy revisions.

02-12-2018, 11:49 AM	#4
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 41,003	If you look at his rotten and idmb page, he's gotten constant work as an actor but nothing big, and he mainly played minor support roles in movies.

02-12-2018, 05:21 PM	#6
~~AquaParade~~ Banned Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 8,450	Such a fantastic Casey Jones. Sure, he didn't have a ton of range to show off within that role, but he captured the wrecklessness and charm that you want out of Casey. The first movie's characters feel so rich, despite going on a pretty basic emotional journey.

02-14-2018, 01:20 PM	#13
beardcore84 Foot Soldier Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 141	He has appeared in over 100 episodes of Chicago PD which is a fairly popular television show, so I am glad he found steady work like that in a co-starring role.

02-14-2018, 11:35 PM	#15
Chabrendeki Hench Mutant Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Budapest, Hungary Posts: 265	He had major roles in some films of Atom Egoyan - Exotica, The Adjuster.

02-15-2018, 02:03 PM	#16
pferreira Foot Elite Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 2,514	Some actors are terrible or average at their job because they try so hard their acting feels forced. This applies to A-listers who have won Oscars. Koteas seems to breeze through films offering a natural and interesting performance without any effort. He's a true actor.

03-14-2018, 11:34 AM	#19
Wesley Mad Scientist Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Republic of Ireland Posts: 1,589	Never heard of The Prophesy before but the premise of the film sounds good. I’ll try watching it sometime. __________________ Donatello: The tracker! It might work. Donatello goes to the back of the Turtle Van Raphael: Shrewd move, Donatello. If we ignore the problem, it might go away by itself. (from The Mean Machines)

03-14-2018, 12:08 PM	#20
Avenger Thug Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Matane, Quebec Posts: 62	About TV roles, he was the guy that shot House on the last episode of Season 2 of House MD. I'm sure he did many more roles on TV, but it's one I remember.

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