The Super Mario Bros. Movie Director Defends Chris Pratt Casting: He's "Perfect" for Mario

Nintendo's original Jumpman is an everyman in Illumination's Super Mario Bros. Movie. Before leveling up as super Mario in the "origin tale" from directors Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, Mario (voice of Chris Pratt) and his brother Luigi (Charlie Day) are blue-collar plumbers from Brooklyn, New York. Pratt's casting as the mustached Italian caused some commentators online to speak out against the Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy star, with some suggesting Pratt be replaced by Danny DeVito. Horvath defended Pratt's casting in a new interview with Total Film, telling the magazine: 

"For us, it made total sense," the director said. "He's really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart. For the way that Mario is characterized in our film, he's perfect for it." Horvath described the Mario brothers as "blue-collar guys… from a family of Italian immigrants" who find themselves warped to the land of Goombas and Toads and Koopas (oh my!): the Mushroom Kingdom.

Pratt has called his casting a "dream come true," saying of his Mario voice in a 2021 Instagram video: "We've been working hard at it, and I'm really excited to announce that I'm going to be the voice of that video game that I dreamed about playing as a kid. Dreams come true."

Pratt leads a cast that includes Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike. Horvath and Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) direct from a script by Matthew Fogel (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Illuminations's Minions: The Rise of Gru). The producers are Chris Meledandri for Illumination and Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo.

"When people hear Chris Pratt's performance, the criticism will evaporate, maybe not entirely — people love to voice opinions, as they should," Meledandri said last summer. "I'm not sure this is the smartest defense, but as a person who has Italian-American heritage, I feel I can make that decision without worrying about offending Italians or Italian-Americans... I think we're going to be just fine."

The Super Mario Bros. Movie opens only in theaters April 5th from Universal Pictures and Illumination.