​Chris Pratt Speaks Out About Mario Role Amid Backlash To Casting

Chris Pratt has spoken out about his recently announced role as Mario, saying he feels 'really excited' to voice the character from a game he loved playing as a kid - despite the fact not everyone's too happy about the casting.

Pratt was revealed as the voice of the moustachioed Italian plumber for the new animated Super Mario film, with comedian Charlie Day as long-suffering brother Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong and Jack Black as Bowser.

After the cast was announced, many people said they weren't on board with Pratt playing Mario, while others noticed an undeniable lack of Italian talent among the names.

One tweeted: "No I'm sorry why is Chris Pratt Mario they literally could not have picked a worse person to play Mario."

Another added: "Imagine surviving two recessions and a pandemic only to have to endure Chris Pratt as Mario."

A third said: "Chris Pratt playing Mario is Italiaphobia and i'm tired of acting like it isn't."

However, it seems Pratt is simply over the moon to have landed the gig, having shared an anecdote from his childhood on Instagram.

Alamy

In a video, he recalled: "So when I was a kid I lived in Lake Stevens, Washington, and there was this coin-operated laundromat near my house and it had Super Mario Bros - the original arcade game.

"I loved that game. I never had a quarter, it felt like. I'd either steal them from the wishing well..."

He then interrupted his own train of thought, saying: "That's wild! It just dawned on me right now. The quarter I stole out of the wishing well to play Super Mario Bros. has come true that I get to be the voice of Mario.

Instagram/Chris Pratt

"But I clearly stole someone else's wish, so just waiting for that row of karma dominoes to come crashing down on me.

"But as it is right now, it's-a me, Mario..."

He added: "That's not the voice, you'll have to wait to hear the voice, but we've been working hard at it and I'm really excited to announce that I'm gonna be the voice of that video game that I dreamed about playing as a kid.

"Dreams come true!"

Topics: Entertainment, Super Mario, TV and Film, Celebrity, Chris Pratt

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman