When it was announced that Seth Rogen would be providing the voice for fan-favorite Nintendo character Donkey Kong in The Super Mario Bros. Movie it came as a surprise to many, especially since DK isn’t really known for talking. After the trailer was released though and a first hint of the character arrived, everyone realized that…well, Donkey Kong just sounds like Seth Rogen. Speaking with ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis in an interview for the upcoming film, Rogen admitted that he knows this and that he made it clear to the filmmakers that if you hire Seth Rogen for a voice over role, you’re getting one voice. That said, Rogen still had a style for DK that he brought to the recording booth.
“I was very clear, I don’t do voices. And if you want me to be in this movie, it’s gonna sound like me and that’s it,” Rogen said with a laugh. “And that was the beginning and end of that conversation. I was like, ‘If you want Donkey Kong to sound a lot like me, I’m your guy.’ But it did seem to work, you know, I think in the film and in the game I think all you really know about Donkey Kong is that he throws barrels and he does not like Mario very much.”
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He continued, “That’s honestly kind of what I ran with was this idea that he hates Mario, that they are kind have like an adversarial relationship, that he’s annoyed by him, that he doesn’t want to be stuck with him, that he wishes he was on this adventure without him.To me that was, that was funny and that was kind of the root of the character and it was kind of born of the mythology of the games.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie also stars Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Mario, Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) as Princess Peach, Keegan-Michael Key (The Lion King) as Toad, and Jack Black (the Jumanji films) as Bowser. The cast also features Fred Armisen (Saturday Night Live) as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson (American Dad!, Family Guy) as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco (Green Book) as Spike. The Super Mario Bros. Movie opens only in theaters April 5th.
