Megan Fox, Will Arnett and Jonathan Liebesman Talk ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’

Desde Hollywod was invited to attend the Los Angeles press conference for “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (in theaters now) and here are the best soundbites from its human stars and director.

Megan Fox

On her training:

We did originally have kick box training. They would teach us on site as we went along. I was also pregnant so I couldn’t do myself most of the stunts, but we had an amazing stunt crew that did the serious stuff that I couldn’t do but I did what I could, it’s a lot because I’m a badass.

If playing a character who is a journalist in the movie changed in any way her perspective:

I’m not trying to tell you guys you are obsolete but everyone with an iphone nowadays is a journalist in their own way. Especially because we live in a tabloid culture and when you watch CNN and they’re giving you news based on tweets that people are sending out, you realize that society is changing and the collective public has now a very big voice now that it didn’t have before and their influencing how we interact with each other. Without getting metaphysical, I realized that your job is now much more tedious, you really have to keep track of a lot of shit.

When asked how she knows how much information to give away to the media:

I’m probably the worst person to ask, I clearly haven’t learned yet. I understand that what I say can be sensationalized because of what you do and because people is hungry to read scandals. I don’t have a good gage on how to edit but my intention is a good one so you should all behave yourself and be nice when you report on things that I say.

On bringing the Turtles to life:

Megan Fox: I was a big fan as a kid; my sister was really into them and I got into because of her. I watched the cartoons but did not read the comics.

On haters and complaints that they’re crashing moviegoers dreams with this movie:

How much money did Transformers 4 make?…Exactly. Those people can complain all they want, they all go to the theaters, they’ll buy the tickets, they’re going to love it and if they don’t, they can fuck off.

On the difference between acting in TMTN and Transformers:

In Transformers there were no references and I was just screaming at things in the sky, there was nothing there. On this one we have four actors that were perfectly casted for their roles, they really embody them. They were so good them made me look better; whenever you have the opportunity to work with real people that’s always helpful.

Director Jonathan Liebesman

On the secret for the Turtles to remain so popular:

I was a big fan and because of their personalities. The fact that they were these absurd teenage mutant ninja turtles but with personalities that were so relatable keeps you interested in them. I remember when I met Kevin Eastman and he told me he’d created them as a parody on superheroes. No matter what the iteration is, whether is this movie or new cartoon series, they’re so absurd and the fact that they’re these weird combinations of things but at the same these normal personalities it what I think will keeps us watching.

In regards to the elements he was able to bring in to the movie in terms of special effects:

The real challenge of the movie for which I would have to give credit to other people like the writers because they didn’t allow the technology to get kind of in the way of the characters charm which is what made me a fan in the first place so I get to piggyback off the writers, the actors, etc. No matter how advanced the filmmaking gets, movies people will enjoy the most are the ones in which you’re able to keep the story in the forefront and I had a lot of people helping me do that.

About how he decided how much darker to go with the Turtles’ designs in comparison with the cartoons or earlier versions:

In that sense, Bay was super helpful. He has an instinctive reaction very quickly we would show him something and he would say if it was too creepy or too light, he was always the gage. What was important to him was that the turtles were all distinct, which is different from the cartoons which are all the same and they just have different bandanas. So we tried to give them each one a different physicality which would sort of dramatize their personalities. Essentially Bay helped to keep us in that narrow path between what’s too dark and what’s too light.

On TMNT being a “goofier” comic book hero movie than others we’ve seen recently:

Very timely question. I think there’s a definite place for serious super heroes, I like Batman and the Iron Man movies. But when you have a movie like TMTN that’s a parody and takes the pace out of super hero movies, it’s just supposed to be fun, that’s what TMTN are and I’m so happy that everybody at this table sort of pull the movie into the fun zone because it’s such a great ride, especially when you watch it with an audience, it has no pretenses to be anything else, and that’s the charm of Ninja Turtles.

Will Arnett

On his favorite Ninja Turtle memory and his character’s chances with April O’Neal in a sequel:

I have several memories from when my brother was really into the turtles years ago. But more recently my younger son was talking about the turtles and his friends started wearing turtle t-shirts to school and I realized they were watching the new animated turtles show on Nickelodeon. It was pretty remarkable to see a new generation respond organically not to the old turtles but entirely discovering them on their own and fall in love with those same characters.
About the second part of the question, it’s hard to compete with a turtle.

When asked about this being his first blockbuster:

It certainly was a departure in every level for me and I learnt a lot from Megan in the process of making this movie. Theirs is almost a different language that you speak on these movies.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is playing in theaters now nationwide.

“The city needs heroes. Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) and her wise-cracking cameraman Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett) to save the city and unravel Shredder’s diabolical plan. Based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Characters Created by PETER LAIRD and KEVIN EASTMAN with a Screenplay by JOSH APPELBAUM & ANDRÉ NEMEC and EVAN DAUGHERTY, Producer MICHAEL BAY (the blockbuster Transformers franchise) and director JONATHAN LIEBESMAN (Wrath of the Titans) bring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the popular franchise that has captivated audiences of all ages for decades, into the 21st century.”