<Li> Shea Whigham as James Turner: Light's father and a police officer who aids L in bringing down the mysterious Kira, unaware that he is Light . </Li> <Li> Paul Nakauchi as Watari: L's assistant and father - figure . </Li> <Li> Willem Dafoe and Jason Liles as Ryuk: A demonic god of death and the creator of the Death Note, who begins communicating with Light when he receives the book and warns him about its repercussions . Liles played the character in costume, while Dafoe provided voice work and performance capture for the facial elements . </Li> <P> In 2007, the Malaysian newspaper The Star stated that more than ten film companies in the United States had expressed interest in the Death Note franchise . The American production company Vertigo Entertainment was originally set to develop the remake, with Charley and Vlas Parlapanides as screenwriters and Roy Lee, Doug Davison, Dan Lin, and Brian Witten as producers . On April 30, 2009, Variety reported that Warner Bros., the distributors for the original Japanese live - action films, had acquired the rights for an American remake, with the original screenwriters and producers still attached . In 2009, Zac Efron responded to rumors that he would be playing the film's lead role by stating that the project was "not on the front burner". On January 13, 2011, it was announced that Shane Black had been hired to direct the film, with the script being written by Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry . Warner's studios planned to change the background story of Light Yagami into one of vengeance instead of justice and to remove Shinigami from the story . Black opposed this change, and it had not been green - lit . Black confirmed in a 2013 interview with Bleeding Cool that he was still working on the film . In July 2014, it was rumored that Gus Van Sant would replace Black as the film's new director, with Dan Lin, Doug Davison, Roy Lee and Brian Witten producing through Vertigo Entertainment, Witten Pictures and Lin Pictures . </P>

Who plays ryuk in the movie death note