There was a bit of controversy surrounding the casting of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ actor Chris Pratt as Mario in the upcoming video game adaption ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ from Illumination and Universal Studios. However, Pratt himself disclosed that the creator behind the iconic Nintendo video game Shigeru Miyamoto requested the ‘Passengers’ star to take the role of the plumber.
“I got to spend time with Miyamoto,” Pratt told Games Rader in an interview. “I’d met him before backstage of a talk show that we were both doing years ago, and I don’t know if that was part of the reason why he wanted me to be cast as Mario. Then I met him again at the opening of Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios in Hollywood. He’s such a big kid at heart, he’s so energetic and enthusiastic and has this big smile on his face. He was wearing a graphic Mario t-shirt and he was there introducing his world that he created to the West into the world. It’s just wild.”
Pratt celebrated the film’s debut by arriving at the Los Angeles premiere with Luigi co-star Charlie Day in a van resembling one that the Mario Bros. use in the video games.
“Thank you Universal, Illumination, Nintendo and everyone else involved in creating the most powered up red carpet ever,” he wrote on Instagram. “What a ride!!! Wahooo!!”
The movie also stars Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) as Princess Peach, Jack Black (The School of Rock) as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key (Playing House) as Toad, Seth Rogen (The Interview) as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen (Portlandia) as Cranky Kong, Sebastian Maniscalco (Green Book) as Foreman Spike, and Kevin Michael Richardson (Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge) as Kamek.
The original voice of Mario from the video game, Charles Martinet, also has several voice cameos throughout the film.
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