From his beloved turn as Gob Bluth on Arrested Development to his raw depiction of the battle for sobriety on the Netflix series Flaked, Will Arnett is a unique screen presence.

In the follow up to Michael Bay’s 2014 reboot, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, the Emmy-nominated funnyman reprises his role as Vernon Fenwick. His performance is one of the film’s highlights, providing some of its biggest laughs. The role utilizes the deadpan austerity the actor is best known for and makes use of his masterful ability to adlib.

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Directed by relative newcomer Dave Green (Earth to Echo), the action flick caters to longtime fans of the franchise while providing a fun, family friendly ride. It centers on The Turtles conflict with their enemy Shredder (Brian Tee), who has joined forces with the deadly scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) to unleash their own bread of mutants - Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams and Rocksteady (Stephen Farrelly). Megan Fox, Stephen Amell, and Laura Linney also star.

In my video interview with Arnett, he discussed how being creator of projects like Flaked has affected his collaborative process. He also spoke about having an input on his character and storyline in Turtles as well as the physicality of the role. Arnett also touched on how the skill set he developed from past work came into play for this film.  


Will Arnett:

  • How his work behind the scenes has influenced the way he approaches characters.
  • Staying true to the tone of the story.
  • What he brought to the role of Vernon Fenwick that was uniquely his.
  • What makes a good collaborator on a project.

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Here’s the official synopsis for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows:

Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael return to theaters this summer to battle bigger, badder villains, alongside April O’Neil (Megan Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), and a newcomer: the hockey-masked vigilante Casey Jones (Stephen Amell). After supervillain Shredder (Brian Tee) escapes custody, he joins forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) and two dimwitted henchmen, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (WWE Superstar Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly), to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. As the Turtles prepare to take on Shredder and his new crew, they find themselves facing an even greater evil with similar intentions: the notorious Krang.

For more totally tubular Turtles talk, check out some of our recent articles below:

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