The Penguin: John Turturro Didn’t Return Because of Series’ ‘Violence Towards Women’

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The Penguin: John Turturro Didn’t Return Because of Series’ ‘Violence Towards Women’

John Turturro says he didn’t reprise his role as Carmine Falcone in The Penguin because the series contains too much “violence towards women.”

Turturro played the villainous Carmine Falcone in 2022’s The Batman, which was directed by Matt Reeves and stars Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight.

The Penguin is a new spin-off series set in the same world as The Batman that sees Colin Farrell reprise his role as Oswald “Oz” Cobb. Turturro opted not to reprise his role as Carmine Falcone in the show, with the character instead being played by Mark Strong.

What did John Turturro say about not reprising his Batman role for The Penguin?

Speaking to Variety, Turturro revealed why he didn’t return for The Penguin.

“I did what I wanted to with the role,” he said. “In the show, there was a lot of violence towards women, and that’s not my thing.”

Turturro noted that Carmine’s presence in The Batman largely involves “off-screen” violence, which he believes to be “scarier.” He noted that having other work opportunities also contributed to his reasons for not returning.

Showrunner Lauren LeFranc previously cited scheduling conflicts as Turturro’s reason for not returning as Carmine Falcone in The Penguin. She told IGN last month, “Well, practically, John was just unavailable to us. He had scheduling conflicts, and we couldn’t make it work, but honestly, I’m so thrilled that we brought Mark Strong on. I think he’s really good. Even though, maybe in the beginning when you first meet him, you might think, ‘Oh. Well, for fans of The Batman, I’m so used to John Turturro,’ and obviously John’s a great actor, but I feel like the gravitas that Mark brings, it’s different. It’s very specific, and I hope, by the end of that episode, you’re just thinking, ‘That’s Carmine Falcone,’ and you’re engaged in what Mark brings to it.”

Along with Farrell, The Penguin stars Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, Rhenzy Feliz as Victor “Vic” Aguilar, Deirdre O’Connell as Francis Cobb, Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, and Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo. The first five episodes of the series are currently streaming on Max.