Tony Shalhoub & Johnny Knoxville join cast of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

You can add two more actors to director Jonathan Liebesman‘s TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. Johnny Knoxville (JACKASS) and Tony Shalhoub (Monk) have been added to the roster, but only as voice actors. Knoxville will supply the voice for Ninja Turtles leader Leonardo, while Shalhoub will supply his vocal stylings for their master, Splinter. The catch here is that both of these character were portrayed by actors already (in mo-cap suits, of course), with Shameless star Pete Ploszek as Leonardo and Danny Woodburn as Splinter. It’s certainly curious why their voices aren’t being used for the final product, but supposedly it was never a guarantee.

Deadline is reporting that changing up voice talent was always in the cards, though:

“Insiders tell me they were always open to changing the voicing component of the Jonathan Liebesman-directed film that Paramount releases August 8, and those actors were only guaranteed to physically perform the roles in costume.”

Certainly Knoxville and Shalhoub have the talent and energy to supply the necessary voices for the characters, although I’m sure there will be plenty of folks up in arms over Knoxville being anywhere near the project. The first TMNT movie series was done similarly, however, so it really shouldn’t be that big of a shock that voice actors are coming onboard.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES opens on August 8, 2014.