50 Huge Movie Characters That Were Completely Miscast

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have gone through a huge array of iterations over the years, with one of the biggest being their live-action turn in 2014. In the wake of The Dark Knight, as with many comic book properties, they were created as a dark and gritty version of themselves, and it didn't work.

This goes all the way back to the original casting. While Jeremy Howard, Alan Ritchson, and Noel Fisher did both the motion capture and the voice work for Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo respectively, Johnny Knoxville voiced their leader, Leonardo, while the on-set work was done by Pete Ploszek.

It's an odd set-up, and Knoxville never felt particularly right in the role. He may be the leader of the Jackass guys, but to lead the Ninja Turtles was a step too far. He is not an actor, and the character was lacking something in authority, and with Knoxville's very unique and recognisable voice, Leonardo wasn't done any favours.

For the sequel, Out of the Shadows, Ploszek was put back in the motion capture suit, but was also given the voicing role as well, similar to how Doug Jones took over from David Hyde Pearce for Abe Sapien in Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Knoxville has said he was never sure why he wasn't invited back, but when you compare Ploszek's performance to his over the two films, it's not that hard to put together.