For fun: Live-action casting for characters

[wyze2099]

Okay, yes, I know the upcoming movie is CGI; that's been made abundantly clear. And I'm definitely okay with CGI. But I can't help wondering...

If this new movie franchise were live-action instead, who would be decent casting choices for the various TMNT characters?

The Turtles themselves would be in full costume and voiced over, so I'll skip over them for now and focus on the human(ish) ones.

April O'Neil: Since it's been over a decade since the live-action movies of the '90s, it's probably not a good idea to cast the same actors in the roles unless I want the movie to acknowledge that over a decade has passed. And I really don't. So April O'Neil would stay a twenty-something, and she'd have to be equal parts, classy, smart, affectionate, and sassy. Er ... I'm open to suggestions on who that might be.

Casey Jones: Also open to suggestions. It's gotta be a guy who can convincingly act like a dirt-poor New Yorker who's ready and willing to bust some heads. And the rest of the time, he should act like (paraphrasing April) "a seven-year-old trapped in a grown man's body."

Oroku Saki/Shredder: Sho Kosugi dominated the '80s with starring roles in a bunch of ninja movies. He's played villains as well as heroes, so I doubt he'd have any problem playing Shredder as the most badass ninja of all time.

Karai: I suppose it depends what version we'd go with: the grown woman who takes over the Foot Clan during "City at War", or the younger animated version who serves as Shredder's conflicted adopted daughter. In the case of the former, I'd go with Kelly Hu, who's kicked serious butt in "Martial Law", "X2: X-Men United", and "Cradle 2 the Grave". In the case of the latter ... I'm open to suggestions.

Baxter Stockman: This man is smarter than you, and he knows it. He rarely shuts up about it, but that's beside the point. I'd pick Isaiah Washington from "Grey's Anatomy" as a man who absolutely oozes intelligence; I could just see him lecturing someone to death even as his Mousers chomp away at that person.

Hun: He's gotta be big enough to squash mutant turtles like bugs, as well as smart enough to lead the Purple Dragons. As much as I'm usually reluctant to cast wrestlers, Triple H surprised me in "Blade: Trinity" by actually being fun to watch. He seems like he'd do a lot with a role that might strike some as one-note.

Anyone else?

[Sewer Bull]

Hun: He's gotta be big enough to squash mutant turtles like bugs, as well as smart enough to lead the Purple Dragons. As much as I'm usually reluctant to cast wrestlers, Triple H surprised me in "Blade: Trinity" by actually being fun to watch. He seems like he'd do a lot with a role that might strike some as one-note.


Mickey Rourke as Marv from "Sin City", anyone?

[Warhorse]

^Good idea for Hun Sewer Bull.

Uhh, watch me get flamed for this. But for April, Rachel McAdams.

For Casey, Scott Caan (but he's kind of short) or maybe Scott Speedman from Underworld?

That's all I can think of right now.

[Draconic]

Casey Jones: Alex Winter

April O'Neil: Molly Ringwald

Shredder: Gedde Watanabe

Baxter Stockman: Pauly Shore

Karai: Sora Aoi

It's an all-star cast, I could totally do this for a living.

[raphaelprime]

Mickey Rourke as Marv from "Sin City", anyone?


I too would have to agree with that for Hun. As for the rest..

Casey - Elias Koteas....sorry, i just think he IS Casey.

Karai - i dont know, for some reason who they chose in the CG movie i was in some ways always thinkin could play her in live action, Zhang Ziyi, altho i wont disagree with Kelly Hu, she could do it aswell.

Triceraton(either Traximus or Zanramon, or someone new) - John Travolta..now wait, dont hate yet haha, just think about Battlefield Earth(yes it sucked) but think of the prosthetics he wore in it and how we looked, it could prolly work for a triceraton too.(least i think so).

Baxter - no idea, but for the hell of it, Forest Whitaker?

Bishop - Hugo Weaving...ok, so maybe its the obvious choice or just stereo-casting hahaha.

[SLASH!!!]

Baxter Stockman: Samuel L. Jackson
Watch Jurassic Park, he kind of looks like him.

As for the others I'll have to think about it.

[wyze2099]

Mickey Rourke as Hun? Yeah, I could definitely see that.

Zhang Ziyi as Karai would make me very, very happy.

Scott Speedman as Casey? Could work.

Forest Whitaker would make a great Baxter. He's such an excellent actor. I also wouldn't mind seeing Samuel L. Jackson in the role.

Hugo Weaving as Bishop? Not a bad choice, but hopefully he'd do something different with the role than he did with Agent Smith.

[Spawn Guy]

I could see Vinney Jones doing Hun. If we decided to make Hun british, but if we can have a black Wilson Fisk...

Not to put down Weaving's talent, but I really wouldn't play him as Bishop. Same goes for Jackson as Stockman. Maybe Eddie Murphy if he played it homicidal.

[Warhorse]

What about Joe Morton for Stockman? Or is he too old. He was the main boss in Speed. The one that said everyone is fired when he realized the road the bus was traveling on wasn't finished like it indicated on the map.

[Venom Symbiote]

Jeez, really liking the McAdams suggestion for April. Although maybe I'm a little biased, being a fan. She definitely has that "classic cartoon April" demeanor about her. Nice.

Can't really think of any Casey replacements off the top of my head, because yes, Koteas defined him so well.

[TerranigmaFreak]

Baxter Stockman: Samuel L. Jackson
Watch Jurassic Park, he kind of looks like him.

Hell yeah!!! Heck, maybe Samuel L. Jackson could play the entire cast!!! He's that badass!!!

Karai: Sora Aoi

Who the hell is that?

Anyway, he's my list.

April - Who was that lady who played Ellie in JP1 and 3? I think she would make a great April. She can definitely get the intelligent part down.

Casey - Chuck Norris!!! They really should have Chuck in the sequal.

Stockman - Already covered. Samuel L. Jackson is THE MAN!

Karai - No fricking clue! I don't know enough Asian actresses even though I'm asian myself. I generally don't keep up with entertainment news unless it's something like TMNT or Transformers.

[Warhorse]

Laura Dern played Ellie on Jurassic Park. But isn't she, kinda, old? What would she look like in red hair?

Or, what about Ashley Judd as April?

[yeahduderad]

wow, it was said before, but, yes...rachel mcadams as april would fit perfectly, she just looks like an april o' neil, and im sure she could pull it off...but its never gonna happen so i wont get my hopes up. and yeah, casey is not replacable, koteas is the best casey

[TerranigmaFreak]

Laura Dern played Ellie on Jurassic Park. But isn't she, kinda, old? What would she look like in red hair?

Or, what about Ashley Judd as April?

Yeah, you're right, she is a bit old for April now. Perhaps if this movie was made in 1992 then there's still a chance she's make a decent April.

[Warhorse]

wow, it was said before, but, yes...rachel mcadams as april would fit perfectly, she just looks like an april o' neil, and im sure she could pull it off...but its never gonna happen so i wont get my hopes up. and yeah, casey is not replacable, koteas is the best casey

I saw Rachel in Red Eye, and I thought she was great in that. And then someone mentioned that the music score in the new TMNT movie is going to be done by the guy who did the score for Red Eye, and that is the reason why you see Raph and Leo on the roof with that big RED EYE neon sign in the background. So, she already has a (6 degrees of seperation) thing going on with TMNT. So this is why I mentioned her for April.

[Venom Symbiote]

Really? That's the reason for the sign, because they share the same composer?

That's kind of...weird. I'm not doubting you obviously (you seem to know what you're talking about a lot more than I do :) ), but Red Eye, while a pretty awesome movie, doesn't seem to be the kind of "huge pop culture phenomenon" that other movies tend to include references to.

But nice. So McAdams has a TMNT link! It'd never happen, but it's cool to think of the possibilities. She seriously reminds me a lot of classic cartoon April, for some reason. Both in terms of looks and the characters she usually plays. Sweet yet intelligent and driven, with a kind of maturity to her.

[wyze2099]

Ooooh, Rachel McAdams would definitely make a great April.

For Casey, I just thought of Nathan Fillion, who played Mal Reynolds in the "Firefly" TV show and "Serenity" spin-off movie. He's a funny, gifted actor who can convey serious badass intensity. "Serenity" more than proved he could hold his own in fight scenes (according to Joss Whedon in the movie's commentary, Nathan's stunt double spent a lot of time hanging out by the food because Nathan ended up doing a lot of his own stunts). And I'm pretty sure the cowboy accent he had for the role of Mal was put on, so that part wouldn't be a problem (though it probably wouldn't matter too much; Elias Koteas had a Canadian accent as Casey and nobody complained).

[Warhorse]

Whatever happened to Elias Koteas? I seen him in one of the Look Who's Talking Sequels and recently on USA's Traffic mini series, but that's it.

[Spawn Guy]

I'm not entierly sure about this, but what about Erica Durance as April? And while I'm aware he's not a choice, for the voice of Nobody (since we'd never see his face and they could simply use a stunt actor for the fight scenes) I'd like to go for Ron Pearlman.

[Toonami Tom]

April- Natalie Portman
Baxter Stockman- Samuel L Jackson
Oroku Saki- Jet Li
Karai- Lucy Liu
Agent Bishop- Kiefer Sutherland

I have no idea who could play a good Casey Jones.

[Raph]

I don't know if anyone saw 'Honour of the Dragon' with Tony Jaa?

That big guy that he is unable to hurt in the first fight. That guy screams Hun!!

http://media.outnow.ch/Movies/Images/2005/TomYumGoong/dvd-film.ws/26.jpg

http://media.outnow.ch/Movies/Images/2005/TomYumGoong/movie.fs/05.jpg

[Jester]

I honestly think live action or CGI Chris Evans could be a good fit for Casey Jones.

[Jo Dawn]

Michael Clarke Duncan would make a cool (if not a tad too big) Baxter.

[J Legault]

I always picture Kristen Dunst making a decent April O'Neil.

Otherwise I couldn't think of any actress being everyone's favorite TMNT heroine.

[ThemanthatwouldbeRaphael]

April: Some Chick
Casey: Some Dude
Shredder: Some Japanese Dude

Thats my cast list.

[Spawn Guy]

ThemanthatwouldbeRaphael wins teh internet!

[ThemanthatwouldbeRaphael]

ThemanthatwouldbeRaphael wins teh internet!

YAAAAAAAAAY! Eat it Richards!

But I will say this, for a live-action TMNT movie, they need to find some way to clone Ray Park 3 times, so he can play Leo, Raph, Don, and Mikey simultaniously.

[TMNT]

Elias Koteas will appear in the movie 'Shooter' with Mark Wahlberg. Watch the trailer and you'll see him in the background. His voice is pretty obvious and he's bald.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/shooter.html;_ylt=AndVdjhN.u1CoUW.vol0WMpfVXcA