When you consider that the title sounds like the caffeinated fever dream of a particularly excitable eight-year-old, it’s perhaps not that surprising that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has had so many incarnations: Gritty monochromatic independent comic book, beloved ’80s cartoon, mega-grossing feature-film trilogy, an endless assortment of action figures, fondly-remembered videogames, a second animated series that ran for several years in the 2000s, and a big-screen animated reboot.
Next year, Nickelodeon will relaunch Turtles as a new animated series, and EW can report exclusively that Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings‘ Sam, The Goonies‘ Mikey, and Rudy‘s Rudy) will be voicing red-masked Raphael. He’ll be joined by a cast that includes Jason Biggs as Leonardo, Greg Cipes as Michelangelo, and Rob Paulsen as Donatello. The series will be executive produced by Ciro Nieli, Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia, and is currently set to debut in Fall 2012, although select fans can get an exclusive first look at the reimagined Turtles at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con. EW caught up with Astin to talk about his role in the new Turtles series, why Lord of the Rings led him into voiceover work, and his favorite cartoons growing up.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Raphael has typically been portrayed as the grumpiest Turtle. Is that still true in the new series?
SEAN ASTIN: Do you mean to say the coolest?
Well, he was explicitly “cool, but rude” in the original cartoon. Is he still rude?
He’s still working through issues. He’s really good at what he does, and he doesn’t suffer fools lightly. Sometimes that arrogance can get him in a little bit of trouble. READ FULL STORY »