John Leguizamo Criticize Super Mario Bros Chris Pratt Casting

Super Mario Bros. alum John Leguizamo has criticized the casting of Chris Pratt in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The 62-year-old actor, who portrayed the role of Luigi in the 1993 live-action film, spoke with Indiewire Tuesday on the topic of the animated movie that is due in theaters next year.

He questioned why filmmakers would go 'backwards' in not casting an actor of color into one of the roles of Mario and Luigi in placing Pratt, 43, and Charlie Day, 46, in the titular roles.

'I’m O.G. A lot of people love the original,' said the Bogotá, Colombia-born star, who performed opposite the late Bob Hoskins in the original film. '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.'

The Emmy-winning actor revealed the behind-the-scenes battles in working on the original film.

'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,' Leguizamo said. 'They fought really hard, and it was such a breakthrough.'

Leguizamo, who has also been seen in films such as Summer of Sam, Spawn, Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet, added that 'for them to go backwards and not cast another [actor of color] kind of sucks.'

Pratt and Day are joined in the animated feature - which is slated to debut April 7, 2023 - by a cast including Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Jack Black (Bowser), Keegan-Michael Key (Toad), Seth Rogen (Donkey Kong) and Fred Armisen (Cranky Kong).

Leguizamo last month has slammed the lack of 'Latinx leads' on Saturday in the film.

Taking Twitter, he penned: 'So glad #SuperMarioBros is getting a reboot! Obviously, it's iconic [enough].

'But too bad they went all white! No Latinx in the leads! Groundbreaking colour-blind casting in original! Plus I'm the only one who knows how to make this movie work script-wise!'

Latinx is a term is intended to be gender neutral, and inclusive of people who are transgender or non-binary. 

He attached three screenshots of himself as Luigi and Bob Hoskins, who played Mario, from the 1993 film.

In the photo captioned, he wrote: 'Apologize to this movie right now!'

John has long been an advocate for Latin actors in Hollywood, which extended to sitting out the 2020 Emmy Awards ceremony after no Latin actors were nominated in acting categories that year.

Super Mario fans got a sneak peek of the highly-anticipated animated film last month. The very first trailer for the upcoming film, Super Mario Bros., was released and kicked off with a bang with Bowser (Jack Black) obtaining a gold star after facing off against an army of penguins.

Mario is then introduced landing in Mushroom Kingdom and meeting Toad (Keegan-Michael Key).

In June, Chris opened up on the discussion of his landing the role of Mario in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. film, as he's not of Italian heritage.

The Minnesota native, 43, spoke with Variety about the notion some people could be put off by the accent he uses to play the famed video game plumber, as a number of people took to social media last fall skeptical of the casting decision.

'I worked really closely with the directors and trying out a few things and landed on something that I’m really proud of,' Pratt said, 'and can’t wait for people to see and hear.'

The Guardians Of The Galaxy star clarified that the film is 'not a live-action movie' but 'an animated voiceover narrative,' adding, 'I’m not gonna be wearing a plumber suit running all over. '

One of the film's producers, Chris Meledandri, told TooFab last November, said of Pratt's performance: 'All I can tell you is the voice that he's doing for us, and Mario, is phenomenal. Yeah I can't wait for people to hear it.'

Meledandri said that 'as an Italian-American,' he understood 'the comments,' adding that 'Charlie Day, who's playing Luigi, actually comes from Italian heritage. Yeah so that's our nod.' 

Meledandri, the founder and CEO of Producer and Illumination Studios, showed his support for Pratt at the CineEurope convention last year, Deadline reported.

'We are collaborating with Chris and his experienced team to not just create a character-licensed film, but a new piece of entertainment which brings Super Mario Bros to life on the screen, and allows everyone to enjoy whether or not they know about the game,' Meledandri said. 'When people hear Chris Pratt’s performance, the criticism will evaporate, maybe not entirely - people love to voice opinions, as they should.'

He added: '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.'

November 17, 2022