TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Sequels May Lean Into The Teen Cast Hitting Puberty [Exclusive]
One of the more striking details of Jeff Rowe's new animated film "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" is that — for the first time in the franchise's decades-long history — the central turtles are actually played by teenage actors. Micah Abbey, who played Donatello, was only 15 at the time of recording. Brady Noon (Raphael) was only 16, while Nicolas Cantu (Leonard) and Shamon Brown, Jr. (Michelangelo) were only 17 or 18. The filmmakers also insisted that the four lead actors all be allowed to record their lines together, capturing a certain kind of sloppy spontaneity that only real teenagers possess.
In animation, younger characters — especially those on long-running TV shows — are typically played by adults, usually adult women. Bart Simpson, as we all might know, has been 10 years old for 35 years, and is played by actor Nancy Cartwright. Bobby Hill from "King of the Hill" was played by Pamela Adlon. Jimmy Neutron was played by Debi Derryberry. Examples are myriad. Casting adults as child characters makes logical sense, as a younger actor would eventually grow up and experience puberty, causing their voice to change. This is anathema to the world of cartoons where time generally stands still.
In a recent interview that Rowe had with /Film's own Ethan Anderton, the director noted that there may very well be sequels to "Mutant Mayhem," forcing him to confront the changing voices of his young cast. If the sequels are made, however, and the actors begin to sound more grown-up, it wouldn't pose too much of a problem, he said. Indeed, it would be an opportunity to let the characters grow parallel to their actors.
Casting
Firstly, Jeff Rowe wanted to relate that casting his four lead actors was a massively long process, and that he and the film's casting agents listened to hundreds of voices before finally settling on the actors they did. The studio, perhaps naturally, wanted to include bankable, recognizable stars in the lead roles, something Rowe definitely didn't want. Luckily, there were a dozen other supporting players that could fulfill the studio mandate. Rowe said:
"[D]oing the film was contingent on casting real teenagers in the roles, and I think it was just understood very early on that this will be four unknown actors. We're going to do a big casting search. We worked with Rich Delia who was so good at this and brought us hundreds of people and we found Nick, Brady, Micah, and Shamon, who are all amazing. But I think beyond that, the studio wanted some names in there and some marketability, so we went bigger on all of the other roles."
The cast also includes Jackie Chan as the mutant rat Splinter, and Ice Cube as the film's villain. Rose Bryne, Paul Rudd, John Cena, Hannibal Burress, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, Maya Rudolph, and producer/co-screenwriter Seth Rogen all appear in smaller roles, many of them playing additional mutant animals.
Once that was clarified, Rowe moved on to address the potential crisis of Cantu, Noon, Brown, and Abbey developing deeper voices. Rowe was unconcerned, knowing that puberty can play cruel pranks on a child, and bodily growth is sometimes unpredictable.
Puberty monster
Rather than defy puberty, Jeff Rowe wanted to let it happen naturally and develop any additional sequels accordingly. He said:
"I think we'll lean into it. It would be the funniest thing in the world if for movie two, Micah Abbey just has the world's deepest voice and we're just like, 'Okay, great. Let's make him huge now. Let's give him muscles,' whatever. Our whole filmmaking philosophy is built around accommodating reality, if that makes sense. So if the kids are changing in their lives, then the Turtles should change in the film and we'll just write to that."
In short, Rowe intends to make "Ninja Turtles" movies in a similar fashion to how Richard Linklater made his 12-year epic "Boyhood." If there is a quirk of puberty or a shift in personal interests among his cast, then that will be written into the script for another feature film. If it takes a few years to be made, and the teen actors are no longer teenagers, then perhaps he might want to go so far as to change the title. "Twentysomething Mutant Ninja Turtles" has a fine ring to it. And then, instead of eating pizza, they could become interested in terrible, too-sweet cocktails, wage-slave jobs, disastrous relationships, and all the other hallmarks of passing through one's 20s.
"Mutant Mayhem" is currently playing in theaters, and Rowe's ambitions have matched the ambitions of Paramount chief Brian Robbins. It seems that more Ninja Turtles films are most certainly in the works (although no official announcements have yet been made).