There are many established actors who refused to do superhero movies. But Danny DeVito is not one of them.
If you can recall, the legendary It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia actor starred in Tim Burton's gothic comic-book take on The Dark Knight, Batman Returns.
In the 1992 action fantasy, he played Oswald Cobblepott, AKA The Penguin; a role that Colin Farrell will be playing in the upcoming The Batman starring Robert Pattinson.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, Batman Returns generally garnered strong reviews and is well-liked by the fanbase. In part, it has to do with Danny's wonderfully disgusting and campy performance. But Danny recently claimed that working on Batman Returns wasn't always fun... especially when that monkey was around.
Danny Told The Story On The Graham Norton Show
The story came up while Graham Norton and the guests on his acclaimed British chat show were talking about working with animals. Danny seemed not to have been bothered by all of the penguins he worked with on the set of Batman Returns, but the monkey was a different story.
"That was horrifying. That was a horrifying experience", he told Graham and his massive studio audience.
Danny explained that there was a little spider monkey on the set of his Batman movie, which co-starred Michael Keaton in the titular role, Christopher Walken, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle/Catwoman.
This monkey was a pet of one of the gang members that supported The Penguin in the film. So, it made sense that Danny had to do a few scenes with it.
One scene, which involved the monkey delivering a letter from Batman, proved particularly challenging.
The Moment When The Monkey Turned Violent
In the scene, Danny was required to be in heavy costume and make-up, which included the black-green dye he had in his mouth to give The Penguin a more menacing look.
Director Tim Burton explained that the monkey was going to walk down the stairs and hand Danny a note. That was the extent of the shot.
There were even trainers on either end of the stairs with "clickers" to guide the monkey from one place to the next.
Danny said that he felt comfortable and it all seemed easy enough. During the first rehearsal, everything worked well. But when they actually went to shoot it, things changed drastically.
For one, Danny DeVito had finally put in the black-green mouthwash that was a little unnerving. But he had no idea that it would bother the monkey.
"I go over to the staircase. They roll the cameras. They let the monkey go up top. And he walks up to the edge and go [Penguin grunting noises]. Waiting for the monkey. The monkey comes down... Takes one look at me... and leaps at my balls! I swear to God, it was horrifying!"
Danny said that the whole moment felt like it happened in slow-motion as he saw the monkey viciously coming after him with its teeth out...
The Penguin Costume Saved Him
In The interview with Graham Norton, Danny DeVito claimed that the only thing that saved him from the monkey attack was the Penguin's costume. It appears as though all the long hours spent in the dreadfully uncomfortable suit paid off as the monkey could only get his teeth through the bodysuit.
"He took a big, big mouth full!"
At this point in the interview, the other celebrity guests, including Ewan McGregor and Jurassic Park star Sam Neil, were in hysterics.
But Danny wasn't done with the story...
After all, the best part was the fact that the money didn't detach from Danny's costume.
The director had to call "Cut!" and the monkey trainers had to be brought over to try and safely pull the money away from Danny's crotch.
"I did not feel a thing, thank God."
He laughed and said that he probably wouldn't be telling this story if the monkey had successfully bitten through the Penguin bodysuit.
While this seemed to be a joke, Danny claimed that a "tremendous chunk" of the bodysuit was taken off by the monkey's teeth. So, if that had actually been him, things would have undoubtedly been 100% worse.
Danny was a trooper though... As he had to go back and attempt to film the scene again. It worked and the moment was kept in Batman Returns... Although, it's a strange scene since fans still can't understand why Batman would have personalized stationery to give to The Penguin.
Still, Danny DeVito's performance was outstanding and many people still agree that The Penguin should be one of the Batman villains to re-appear in DC films. With The Batman on the way, fans will get their wish.
For the sake of Colin Farrell and the other actors, let's just hope a monkey isn't involved.
