When it comes to memories of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the star of the reboot -- Will Arnett -- has a few that land at different stages of his life. “I had a younger brother who was really into the Turtles, years ago,” Arnett told Movie Fanatic.
Then, his current boys began to get into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as toys and comics. “Right before I met for this film, my young sons organically started really getting into the Turtles. I sensed that there was something going on. They were talking about the Turtles, and I realized they were watching the new animated Turtles on Nickelodeon.”
His boys weren’t alone. The Turtles were making a comeback that will clearly culminate in the film teased with this awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailer.
“And then, I started seeing their friends wear Turtles t-shirts to school. It was pretty remarkable to see an entire new generation respond organically, and not be pushed into it,” Arnett said.
“They entirely discovered them on their own and fell in love with those characters, in the same way. I thought that was pretty remarkable. So, by the time I did meet [on the film], I was really familiar with the whole mythology.”
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Arnett stars as Vern, the cameraman for April O’Neill’s (Megan Fox) journalist. He clearly has a crush on her. But as she discovers the Turtles and aids in their fight to stop Shredder from killing millions in New York City, it becomes clear that she is more interested in progressing her career. Then, of course, Michelangelo makes it clear he kind of likes her.
“It’s pretty early on in the movie that Vern makes his lame attempt at romancing April, and he gives up on it quite quickly,” Arnett said. “Then, Mikey moves in there. It’s hard to compete with a Turtle!”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is Arnett’s first true action movie, if you don’t count his animated turn as Batman that can be seen when you watch The LEGO Movie online.
“I really enjoyed it on every level. It was certainly a departure for me,” Arnett said.
He was thankful to star with Fox, a veteran of those Transformers movies, as she seemed pretty adept at not only the action scenes, but the green screen CG work.
“I learned a lot from Megan in the process of making this movie. Megan has done these big blockbuster movies. There’s almost a different language that you speak in these kinds of movies,” Arnett admitted.
“I remember being on set and watching one of the monitors and the camera moved in on Megan. When you see Megan in certain frames and there’s a lot going on and a lot of action, she makes you think of big summertime action blockbuster movies. I’m just used to being a jack-ass.”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits screens August 8, and in the meantime, check out the original and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles online.
