Chris Pratt actually does know how to use Mario’s voice, and there’s a good reason that he doesn’t try it in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The Guardians of the Galaxy actor has been a rising star in Hollywood and is working to continue his voice-acting career by becoming the beloved Nintendo character. Yet he has encountered a major stumbling block along the way.
After Jack Black upped the ante with his Bowser voice, Pratt hasn’t been quite as well received as Mario. Yet he is still capable of producing a passable Mario, as he revealed in an interview with BBC The One Show. He just couldn’t use it as a member of The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s cast. Check out his explanation below:
There are only a few things we’ve ever heard Mario say. This… ‘wapo!’ There’s a few things like… ‘It’s a me! Let’s go!’ These types of things, so we were trying to find a way to put that into the movie, but in a way that would be congruent with a storyline of these working class guys from Brooklyn. At one point, I was like ‘Can I just say it’s me? Try it’s a me?’ It’s still me.
Why Chris Pratt’s Mario Voice Is So Controversial
The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s Mario has no thick Italian accent to match the voice that permeates through every Mario game. When trying to translate the character to the screen, he sounds like little more than Chris Pratt trying to sound somewhat like a New Yorker. With the lack of an accent initially appearing to be a strange and unwelcome decision, it can be easy to assume that Pratt is simply incapable of using Mario’s voice.
With Pratt revealing that he does know how to put on a good Mario, it appears that The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s director wasn’t wrong when he referred to Pratt as “perfect” casting for Mario. Pratt is still capable of playing Mario and just decided to shed the accent to preserve the comprehensibility of the character. Besides, “It’s a me” might have grown irritating after a few too many uses.
Still, he might have been better off using a more accent, rather than abandoning it entirely. Mario’s voice is iconic and has echoed across numerous games through the generations. Just casting it aside in favor of a Brooklyn-based accent and a largely muted Mario is as disappointing as it is expected, given that Pratt is well-known for playing comedic roles that use his own distinct voice. While Pratt continues to troll The Super Mario Bros. Movie critics, his real mistake was expecting that no one would be offended by a massive change to an iconic hero.
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