Why is John Turturro not in The Penguin? Explained

Fans accustomed to seeing John Turturro portray Carmine Falcone in Matt Reeves's The Batman were surprised when they learned he would not appear in the recently released The Penguin series on HBO.

While many speculated about the reasons for Turturro's absence from the series, with some even suggesting fallout between the actor and the showrunners, it was found that his lack of involvement in the show was a result of scheduling conflicts.

Turturro had previous commitments that could not be overlooked, which prevented him from participating in The Penguin series. As a result, Mark Strong took on the role of a younger version of Carmine Falcone in several flashback scenes from the HBO series.

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The reason behind John Turturro's absence from HBO's The Penguin series

John Turturro made his first appearance as Carmine Falcone, a supervillain from the DC Comics, in Matt Reeves's The Batman, which was released in 2022.

Some fans expressed their disappointment concerning the actor's absence from the show while reflecting on the choice of recasting Mark Strong in the role, across various popular social media platforms, including X.

"Mark Strong is a great actor, but I would love to have seen John Turturro act with Cristin Milioti in this week's episode of THE PENGUIN," said one user.

"The only thing I don’t like about the penguin series is that they didn’t bring John Turturro as Carmine Falcone… the actor they have is dope but John is my guy," wrote another user.

"I’m enjoying episode 4 of #ThePenguin, and Mark Strong makes a good Carmine Falcone, but I can’t stop thinking about how thrilling it would have been to see John Turturro reprising the role here, " added another user.

Showrunner Lauren LeFranc, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly on October 13, 2024, explained why they could not involve John Turturro in the HBO series while addressing the audience's inquiries. She said:

"Initially, did we want to be able to have John come back and be Carmine Falcone? Of course! John's a really talented actor and was exceptional in the film, but once we realized that his schedule wasn't going to work out for our show, it became quickly about who has that sort of gravitas and ferociousness, that Mark Strong actually does have."

She also stated that they could not entirely do away with Carmine's character in the show, as they had planned for him to play a major role in Sofia's character development. She also noted that Mark Strong's portrayal of Carmine Falcone in The Penguin represents a younger version of John Turturro's Falcone in The Batman.

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Who is in the cast of the show?

Colin Farrell leads the cast of the show as Oswald Cobb or Oz, also known as The Penguin. His leading role is closely followed by Cristin Milioti who plays Sofia Falcone, aka The Hangman. Some of the other actors featured in the show include:

• Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar/Vic
• Michael Kelly as Johnny Viti
• Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadia Maroni
• Deirdre O’Connell as Francis Cobb
• Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maron
• James Madio as Milos Grapa
• Scott Cohen as Luca Falcone
• Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone
• Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo
• Theo Rossi as Julian Rush
• Mark Strong as Carmine Falcone
• Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál
• David H. Holmes as Nick Fuchs
• Marié Botha as Magpie

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The next episode of The Penguin will be released on Max October 20, 2024.