(NEW YORK) — It is the last full day of spring in 2013 and one of the nicest days New York City has seen for months. Down on Wall Street, the tourists are snapping photos and wandering through one of city's many landmarks. Unbeknownst to those tourists, one of those buildings they're taking pictures of is not a bank or any other sort of financial institution. It actually houses a set for the Jonathan Liebesman directed, Michael Bay produced, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
The famed heroes in a half-shell-Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael-are not present inside on this day, nor are the actors who will eventually be digitally replaced. Today, we are being treated to the human side of things in the form of April O'Neil (Megan Fox) and Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett).
After watching the two work on a scene, they took some time out to speak to us about the new movie, their roles, and about human on turtle loving. Here then are a dozen things we gleaned from our discussion.
THIS ISN'T VERNON'S FIRST RODEO
Okay, he may never have come across ninja turtles or Shredder before, but according to Will Arnett, Vernon Fenwick has, “Seen some shit… he”s covered action before and now he”s really just wants to do kind of the puff pieces with April O”Neil.” Clearly he isn't going to be too pleased then with the talking turtles and the rat and the generally bad things that go down in the film.
WILL ARNETT LIKES MICHELANGELO BEST… SORT OF
He calls it a “loaded question,” but Arnett says that his favorite turtle is, “Probably Michelangelo just because he”s my kids favorite Turtle and he”s the funniest.” It should be noted though that after saying that, he instantly backtracks and offers reasons to love Donatello, Leo, and Raphael as well.
MEGAN FOX LIKES MICHELANGELO THE BEST… AND ZACK MORRIS
Fine, Zack Morris isn't a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, but that doesn't mean that Megan Fox can't use Zack Morris in an answer about crushing on turtles. “My favorite Turtle was Michelangelo because he was the funny one. He”s actually my first crush and I know everyone thinks that”s weird but little girls have crushes on cartoon characters because it”s what we”re exposed to first. So him and Zack Morris were my first crushes.”
YOU CAN DEFINITELY EXPECT VERN TO CRACK WISE
Will Arnett is well known for being a funny man so one would expect him, particularly as he has something of a sidekick role here to toss in a few jokes here and there. One would not be disappointed, as Arnett admits to there being some wisecracking in the film.
WILL ARNETT PRETENDS TO BE SHREDDER AT HOME
It can't be easy having kids and working on such a popular kids' franchise. Apparently there are days during filming when Arnett will head home, walk in the door, and have his kids “Instantly go, 'Dad, can you be Shredder?'” We aren't saying that Vern will turn evil in the movie, but perhaps the producers want to consider that for a sequel.
MEGAN FOX THINKS SHE WAS THE BIGGEST TURTLE FAN OF THOSE WHO COULD HAVE BEEN APRIL
As she said, “I did a lot of talking in the past when I was on the 'Transformers' press tours about this being one of my favorite comics and cartoons and film franchises when I was a kid.” Not only that, but she thinks that she, “Was, of the actresses on the table, probably by far the most legitimate or biggest fan which is why it ended up being me because I really wanted to do it badly.”
EVEN IF SOME OF THE OTHER TURTLES MOVIE WERE DARK, THIS ONE GOES FURTHER
Will this movie follow the same modern-day superhero mold of being gritty and true to life? According to Fox, “It”s just a darker, scarier, world than we”ve seen previously and it”s very realistic. And I think that”s a big thing of just selling the reality so that you stop thinking I”m looking at mutant Turtles and it just becomes like, 'Oh, okay. These are the heroes of the film' and you sort of separate from the toy or the cartoon aspect of it.”
DON'T EXPECT THE FOOT CLAN TO BE A BUNCH OF TEENS
Continuing the theme of gritty and realistic, speaking of the Foot Clan, Fox tells us, “It would be much harder to probably sell that these are like kids that have run away from home or like mad because their stepdad works too much and doesn”t pay attention and they ran away or whatever.”
MEGAN FOX PERSONALLY KNOWS ABOUT MUTATED CREATURES
Really. She does. “Where I”m from in Tennessee, I was born next to a chemical plant and I”ve seen mutated creatures. So it”s not totally unrealistic.” We don't expect she saw any with a bo staff, but perhaps she did. Now, that really is a movie we would pay to see.
APRIL IS SORT OF LIKE WENDY DARLING
According to Fox and Arnett, director Jonathan Liebesman uses lots of references from other films on set, including “Peter Pan.” Says Fox, “They wanted it to be sort of a Wendy and the Lost Boys relationship where she”s the mom they never had. And then, of course, oh, I almost said something I shouldn”t say.” We don't know where she was headed there, but it seems likely you can expect a change in that relationship. Maybe she's Shredder?
THERE MAY BE SOMETHING APPROACH HUMAN-TURTLE LOVE
When asked about potential romance in the film (presumably between April and Vern), Fox responds that it that there maybe something, “Between April and one of the Turtles.” She goes on to say, “Maybe it does border on romantic. It”s a weird psychological love, right.” Arnett echoes the sentiment which, ends up with us quite intrigued to see the final product.
THE UNDERLYING THEME IS ALL ABOUT FAMILY
Even if things might get a little weird between April and a turtle, it's still all about family. Fox tells us, “I think the underlying theme is the need for family and for help and support from others – that no man is an island.” Arnett agrees here too, saying that kids heading out of the theater after seeing the movie will be left with that.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is in theaters this Friday, August 8. Be sure to check out Drew McWeeny's review.