Cowabunga! I am so excited to share my latest interview which happens to be the the teenage stars of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. This is the first time that the turtles have been played by actual teenagers, how cool it that? These teens are so funny and witty and they have great chemistry with each other. We talked about pizza toppings, turtle powers and more! Check out the full interview!
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, after years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them. This new story is a film made by a generation who grew up on Turtles who wanted to make the best Turtles movie ever for the next generation, and for their younger selves.
Watch the trailer
Interview with the cast
TMNT stars Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, & Brady Noon as the turtles!
Meet the Cast
TMNT Mutant Mayhem Fun Facts
- The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were created almost by accident, in November 1983, when friends and comic book authors Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were hanging out in their ‘studio’ (aka the living room of the apartment they shared). At the time, they were just trying to make each other laugh. “The Turtles came out of love, passion and a late-night bout of goofiness,” says Eastman. “I’m a big fan of Bruce Lee. I thought, ‘If Bruce Lee was an animal, what would be the silliest animal he would be?’ And so I did this drawing of a turtle standing upright with a mask on, nunchucks wrapped around his arms.” It got the desired reaction from Laird, so the pair kept the gag going. “I did a pencil sketch with all four Turtles, each with different weapons,” continues Eastman. “Pete inked it in and added ‘Teenage Mutant’ to the ‘Ninja Turtle’ title. That was it. We fell in love with the idea!” The rest, as they say, is history.
- Rowe wanted to make a movie that was not slick and polished – like most CG movies – but as messy, fun and unpredictable
as the story’s heroes. “We just wanted it to look like teenage drawings,” says Rowe, simply. “You know, the kind of drawings you did when you were in high school that have weird shapes and bad perspective but are lovingly rendered in places. And were always sincere.” - The turtles have more individuality than ever! In the designs of the Turtles themselves, it was important to everybody that they be given more
individuality than in any other Turtles movie or TV show to date. In fact, they wanted them to be so distinct that you could tell them apart even without their colorful headbands. I think you definitely can and I love that about this version. - Teens playing teens! Rogen, Goldberg, Weaver and Rowe conducted a huge search to find their heroes in a half- shell, looking at countless actors before they settled on the perfect quartet. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, those Turtles are: Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Brady Noon as Raphael and Micah Abbey as Donatello. And that quartet’s mix of youth and comic talents make this a Turtles line-up unlike any before. These guys nail their turtles and bring so much life and youth to the characters.
- Mutant Mayhem brings back many familiar mutants, but its main mutant bad guy is a new mutation in and of himself. Superfly is a giant fly who believes the world would be better off without humanity. And he’s got a plan to make that happen too, which includes unleashing other mutants on the wider world.