John Turturro Reveals Why Carmine Falcone Was Recast In The Penguin

Although Colin Farrell agreed to reprise his role as Oswald “Oz” Cobb in HBO’s The Penguin, the series was forced to recast the part of the late crime boss Carmine Falcone, as played by John Turturro in The Batman. Now, Turturro has suggested that he turned down the chance to return over objections to violence against women in The Penguin.

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

There was violence against women in The Batman as well, and Turturro’s Falcone was personally responsible for the murder of Annika Kosolov (Hana Hrzic), the best friend of Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz). Falcone even chokes Selina onscreen during one of their scenes together.

When asked about the film’s depiction of violence against women, Turturro responded that, “It happens off-screen. It’s scarier that way.” Annika’s murder does happen off-screen, but Falcone placing his hands on Selina’s throat was seen by everyone.

Mark Strong stepped into the role of Falcone for flashback sequences in The Penguin. While speaking with IGN, The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc previously said that Turturro didn’t return because of a scheduling conflict.

“John was just unavailable to us,” said LeFranc. “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.”

As Turturro notes, there is plenty of violence in The Batman–both perpetrated by and against women. However, that doesn’t dismiss his character’s actions in The Batman.

The Penguin airs Sunday nights on HBO and Max.