Chris Pratt Addresses His ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Casting Backlash – ‘I Totally Get It’

Over the past few months, the Hollywood A-list star Chris Pratt has been hit with tons of backlash over him being cast as Mario in the upcoming animated movie The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which is set to come out next week on April 5. In a new interview, Pratt is opening up about this backlash and admitting that he can understand the outrage.

Chris Pratt spoke more on his experience with Mario games to E! News:

“I saw the backlash over my supposed lack of knowledge of the series so I decided to play some of the modern games. Gotta say, Paper Mario: Sticker Star might be one of the best video games I’ve ever played.” pic.twitter.com/8oWmfLV5NU

— Ultima | #вʟм (@UltimaShadowX) March 30, 2023

Pratt Understands Backlash

“Oh, I totally get it, man,” Pratt told Gizmodo when asked for his thoughts on the backlash. “There’s a passionate fan base, and I’m one of the fans. I get it. Mostly, people don’t want something like this to get screwed up.”

Pratt went on to say that he is “grateful” for the fan concern, adding, “They’re precious about it. They’re careful.”

The movie also stars Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Jack Black as Bowser, and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad. In Pratt’s new interview, Day chimed in to say that he understood why fans “don’t want the franchise messed up at all” because the game has “taken care of people.”

“I think Super Mario Bros., really, when you think about what a video game does for people, it is a place to escape to,” Day said. “So people would go, after maybe having a tough day at school or in your work life, whatever it is, you put on Super Mario Bros., you play for an hour and you just disappear into that land and that world.”

“So in many ways, the game had taken care of people, I think, in a way that they don’t want the franchise messed up at all,” he continued. “So I think they’ll be really happy when they see the movie two, three, maybe four times in the theater.”

Chris Pratt and Charlie Day are awesome!

So excited to see their interpretation of Mario and Luigi in the movie! 👏 pic.twitter.com/ZdkPRGcEqz

— Aiden129 (@Aiden1291) March 29, 2023

Related: Chris Pratt Defended By ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Director After He’s Hit With Backlash

Backlash Against Pratt

Fox News reported that the backlash against Pratt started as soon as it was announced that he would be voicing Mario back in 2021.

Some fans were livid that Pratt doesn’t come from Italian ancestry, as they felt that an Italian American should be voicing the role.

Others felt that Charles Martinet, who has voiced Mario and Luigi in the Super Mario Bros. video games since 1992, should have been given the part over Pratt.

Chris Pratt reacts to criticism of voice accents in #SuperMarioMovie: "Go watch the movie and then we can talk." Full interview: https://t.co/p2LDxJcOmf pic.twitter.com/BhMZSsSHZC

— ExtraTV (@extratv) March 27, 2023

Related: Chris Pratt Blames Viral Beekeeper After He’s Stung In The Eye By A Bee – ‘F*** That Bee Lady’

John Leguizamo Sounds Off

John Leguizamo, who played Luigi alongside Bob Hoskin’s Mario in the 1993 live action Super Mario Bros., spoke out last year to say that the new movie went “backwards” by having two white actors voice Mario and Luigi.

“I’m O.G. A lot of people love the original,” Leguizamo told IndieWire. “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.”

“My 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,” he continued. “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.”

OG Luigi actor John Leguizamo slams the #SuperMarioMovie starring Chris Pratt

"For them to go backwards and not cast another [actor of color] kind of sucks"

(via @IndieWire) pic.twitter.com/SIqDIleLZw

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) November 16, 2022

Pratt is frequently targeted by woke leftists because he has expressed conservative views in the past, so the backlash he’s receiving for this latest project is sadly not surprising. At the end of the day, Pratt is a fantastic actor who will undoubtedly give the role of Mario all that he’s got, so we hope that fans still go see this movie and make it a success!