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John Leguizamo has slammed Chris Pratt’s upcoming flick The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
The actor who played Luigi in the 1993 movie Super Mario Bros. sat down with Variety and aired his thoughts on the casting for Pratt's film.
Leguizamo says it was 'backwards' to cast Pratt as Mario and Charlie Day as Luigi.
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He added: “I’m O.G. A lot of people love the original. I did Comic-Con in New York and in Baltimore, and everyone’s like, ‘No, no, we love the old one, the original.’ They’re not feeling the new one'. I’m not bitter. It’s unfortunate.”
Leguizamo distinctly remembered how directors for his Mario film faced pushback from the studio for casting a Latino actor.
He said: “The directors Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton fought really hard for me to be the lead because I was a Latin man, and they [the studio] didn’t want me to be the lead.
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“They fought really hard, and it was such a breakthrough. For them to go backwards and not cast another [actor of color] kind of sucks.”
Leguizamo first called out the movie's lack of diversity back in September.
According to Daily Mail, he wrote in a since-deleted tweet: "So glad #SuperMarioBros is getting a reboot! Obviously, it's iconic enuff.
"But too bad they went all white! No Latinx in the leads! Groundbreaking color-blind casting in original! Plus I'm the only one who knows how to make this movie work script-wise!"
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Many fans have accused the upcoming film of white-washing the iconic Nintendo character by casting Pratt in the lead role.
Some were also concerned that Pratt would not be able to master the Italian accent.
However, Pratt teased to Variety that he had spent months perfecting the voice of Mario while working closely with his directors.
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He said: “[We tried] out a few things and landed on something that I’m really proud of.”
But as the trailer debuted, fans were shocked to find that Pratt’s voice sounded no different to his own.
One person commented: “Mario nailed that Chris Pratt impression.”
Another said: “Chris Pratt voicing Mario was...a choice.”
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A third fan wrote: “Can someone please explain I have no idea why they did not use original voice actor who’s been voicing in Mario forever?”
While another shared: “I wish Mario’s voice was the Mario’s voice in the video games.”
Topics: Film and TV, Chris Pratt, Super Mario, Celebrity, News
Charisa Bossinakis