Fanboys Anonymous

One of the glaring absences from the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot was the lack of a core character, Casey Jones. Fans have naturally been speculating that the hockey mask wearing vigilante would make an appearance in the sequel that has been announced. If that is going to happen, who should play the part? Hollywood is packed to the brim with talented guys that could pull it off, but who stands out in our minds? On this edition of FANBOYS CAST, several members of the website discuss who they would like to see take on the role of April O'Neil's love interest—as much as she wouldn't want to admit it.


Nicholas D'Agosto (Tony Mango's choice)

Casey Jones to me consists of basically four different characteristics all combined into one person that somewhat embodies the collective mindsets of all four turtles. First and foremost, he must be humorous. He's interacting with giant mutant karate expert turtles, but after the initial shock, he's game. This puts him in a good spot with Mikey, being able to play off the other's jokes. The original '90s film had a great scene where he and Donatello bonded over fixing the car, showing that he's not a complete lunkhead. Obviously, there's the jerk mentality that he brings to the table. This puts him at odds with Raphael, but eventually leads to a mutual respect. Then, there are times where Casey steps up to the plate and can be a true leader, like Leonardo.

Nicholas D'Agosto has all of these in his repertoire. His time on Heroes showcased a rebellious side where he was charming in his anti-hero ways. He's kind of a prick in it and defies authority, but he does it with a smile on his face. He eventually succumbs to his good heart rather than being all about his own desires. He's done some comedies since then, which allowed him to improve on his acting chops and comedic timing. D'Agosto is close enough to Megan Fox's age and handsome enough to be a justifiable love interest. I doubt there would be an issue with him pulling off the action required of him.
 
Three other names that I had considered when thinking about this were Kellan Lutz, Garrett Hedlund, and Jared Padalecki (who I almost went with, but decided that he would probably cost more money in comparison to D'Agosto). All in all, D'Agosto has a cocky sense of humor, but doesn't rub people the wrong way, which is exactly what Casey Jones does to not only April O'Neil, but the rest of the team.

Taylor Kitsch or Zac Efron (Sam Lascio's choice)

There are two different ways we can go with casting an actor to play Casey Jones:

First, the studio could go with someone younger. Megan Fox herself is 28, but they could get an actor in his mid-to-late 20s. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot was made primarily for younger audiences, and with this in mind, I would choose Zac Efron. Now, let's all take a deep breath. When we think of Casey Jones, our minds don't automatically go to the kid from High School Musical, but have you seen the guy lately? The dude's got some muscles. Not to mention that actors put on muscle mass (or lose muscle mass) for roles all the time. Efron could totally bulk up more and pull off the intimidating physique of Casey Jones. This would draw in that younger audience they're looking for, but I think Zac Efron could give even us older fanboys a great incarnation of the character.


Now, the studio could also go with a slightly older actor. This would give us a Casey Jones that would be older than Megan Fox, but not so much older that it's creepy. You know, like they tried doing with Will Arnett? Call me old fashioned, but a 44 year old trying to hit on a 28 year old just seemed odd, and I think the general movie-going audience agreed. With that in mind, I'd go with 33 year old Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch. Aside from giving us a sub-par, albeit not completely trashed, performance as Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I thought his acting in John Carter was one of the highlights of the film. He tried to have a break out role in Gambit and it didn't work out. He tried to carry a film with John Carter and THAT didn't work out. However, I believe that if he were to be cast as Casey Jones, that he's got the look, he could give us the attitude, and he could reignite the flame of an old fan favorite character that we all loved from the 1990 film played by Elias Koteas (we won't talk about the 3rd film in '93).

Jason David Frank (Mike Paden's choice)

Casey Jones is a rough, yet cheesy character. It requires a certain look and attitude to portray accurately. For me, the perfect mix lays with the former Mighty Morphin Power Ranger turned MMA fighter Jason David Frank. His skills earned while fighting give legitimacy to his tough-guy persona while his time as a Ranger showed his ability to act for a young audience, yet still put on an entertaining performance for all ages. Perhaps he can call in the Dragonzord to battle the Technodrome? Fun fact: JDF's second professional MMA fight was against Chris Rose, who made his entrance wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles robe.