PoP! Top 6-Pack: 6 Better Choices for April O’Neil
The PoP! Stars narrow it down to the cream of the crop in categories ranging from (but not limited to) Comics, Movies, Toys and Geek Culture in general. This is the PoP! Top 6-Pack.
As a Ninja Turtles fan from the very beginning, and having crushed on April O’Neil for just as long, last week’s casting news regarding the Michael Bay-produced Ninja Turtles live-action reboot made me a little butt-hurt. I don’t hate Megan Fox. I’m sure she’s a lovely person, and now that she’s a wife and a mother, she’s probably grown out of her sex-pot image. But the reconciliation between herself and Michael Bay on Ninja Turtles disappoints me, because not only is she not the type of actress I would cast as the plucky female sidekick to the heroes-in-a-half-shell, but it shows Bay’s lack of effort in regards to the project as a whole. Any sliver of hope that existed after Bay’s “alien” plotline was apparently scrapped has been crushed, and the Ninja Turtles reboot will likely be another loud, soulless cash-grab in the same vein as the Transformers franchise.
It could’ve been so much more, and a different actress as the female lead could’ve made all the difference. That being said, let’s hope Megan Fox and Michael Bay have another falling out between now and the start of shooting, and if so, here are 6 actresses who could fill the yellow jumpsuit nicely.
Poor Adrianne Palicki, man. This chick can’t catch a break. She was in the Aquaman pilot that sunk to the bottom, she was the face of the ill-fated Wonder Woman TV reboot, and two of her most recent box office outings, Red Dawn and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, sat on the shelf long after principal photography wrapped. She COULD be a household name if she didn’t have such terrible luck. As the one person who watched the Wonder Woman pilot and enjoyed it (mostly because of Palicki running around in the costume), I’d give her a go as Channel 6′s intrepid reporter and the Turtles’ platonic girlfriend. Who am I kidding….I’d just like to give her a go…
Cobie Smulders has a new found nerd-cred thanks to her role as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill in The Avengers, and has a loyal following as Robin “Sparkles” in How I Met Your Mother, so she has experience dealing with crime-fighting heroes and hanging out with a bunch of bros! If Smulders can split the difference between her cold and calculating Maria Hill and her goofy How I Met Your Mother characterization, she might be able to zero in on just the type of April O’Neil us Turtle-fans would fall in love with all over again.
Rebecca Hall is an up-and-comer, probably best known as the female lead in Ben Affeck‘s The Town, and soon to be seen this summer opposite Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 3. Hall would play a much more “adult” newshound April O’Neil, along similar lines of Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale in Tim Burton‘s Batman. Rebecca Hall might be unknown enough, talented enough, and just far enough outside of the box to become more synonymous with the April O’Neil character than the character’s infamous yellow-coveralls.
I’d debate that while most see April O’Neil as a redhead, I wouldn’t tend to associate the character with any certain hair color. However, if we want to go redhead, I’d say Jessica Chastain has the classic movie star looks and firey hair to play the respected Channel 6 anchorwoman. Chastain has been award-show-hopping this season thanks to her turn in Kathryn Bigelow‘s ZeroDarkThirty, so she might be too “revered” at this point to share the screen with a bunch of CGI reptiles. However, there’s something about her that harkens back to the original live-action April O’Neil, Judith Hoag, that makes the little boy in me tingle.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead has played the ditzy collateral in Death Proof, the aloof manic pixie dreamgirl in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the President’s wife in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and John McClane’s daughter in two awful Die Hard sequels. She’s adorable, young, and poised for a breakout role, so why not Zoidberg….I mean…April O’Neil? If Jessica Chastain is my modern Judith Hoag, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Paige Turco from Secret of the Ooze. Turco played a different April than Hoag, neither better, nor worse, just different. Winstead could likely go in many different directions with her April…the intrepid reporter, the mischievous college student, or straight up damsel-in-distress.
Rachel McAdams was mentioned by PoP!-Star Rob Eddleman as a candidate in the most recent PoP!-Cast chat, and she immediately become my #1 pick, despite Jason Kerouac‘s weird hate-on for the Mean Girls and Notebook actress. She even has experience on a fake newsroom set from her time on Morning Glory! McAdams has it all to play April O’Neil: cute-hotness, youthful maturity, softened strength and subdued celebrity. McAdams as April would provide a suitable role model for young women and a credible casting for life-long Turtle fans. McAdams might just be able to pull off the unenviable task of making a movie about teenaged mutated ninjitsu-trained turtles not seem so far-fetched!
Those are my picks, PoP!ulation. What say you? Who’s your favorite of the 6? Is your pick not on the list? Are you cool with the casting of Megan Fox? Let us know, and be sure to comment!
*Hyper-realistic April O’Neil art by Dave Rapazo
–Knize
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Filed Under: PoP! Top 6-Pack
I have to go with other, and my choice is former Attack of the Show host, Candace Bailey.
Yes to all these girls… with Judith Hoag as the mother. I'm sure she can get pulled away from Halloween Town.
Juan Davila: What is your fascination with Candace Bailey? Is she an actress?
She is an actress, not a very long resume, but she was a regular cast member on the short lived Jericho series. She is also stunning.
I think Isla Fisher would make a cute, funny, redheaded April O'Neil.
I love Isla Fisher…but a little TOO cute for April, methinks.
To Hell with April! They should give Irma her time to shine!!
I want Scarlett Johannson in everything. Can't get enough. Is Christian Hendrix a little too busty for April?
Christina Hendricks was on my long list….but a little too buxom for April, I'd say.
Amy Adams.
I'd be down for any of these choices, especially Jessica Chastain. They are all much better, and way more creative, choices than Megan Fox.
Rachel McAdams gets my vote, but she is one of those actresses I will sit through every piece of crap she is in.
I went with Rachel McAdams. I think she has the right look but there are a few ladies in hollywood that would make a good April. I think that woman who played Scarlett in the G.I. Joe movie would have been a good choice as well but Rachel McAdams would be perfect. Good look, very talented and someone who I think can can get people into the theater. Another person that I would have chosen is Amy Adams. Another great actress who brings people to the theater.
that April in the Banner, Reminds me of an Actress that i don’t think was listed.
Imogen Poots
Indeed she does.
How about April O’Neil the actress? (heyitsapril.com) NSFW She even does cosplay as TMNT’s April.