Chris Pratt has revealed that his first attempt at voicing Mario for The Super Mario Bros. Movie was rejected by the film’s directors, and for a pretty comical reason.
Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic both believed that Pratt’s first rendition of the iconic Nintendo character sounded too close to that of Tony Soprano, the mob boss played by the late great James Gandolfini in HBO’s The Sopranos.
“For a minute, I walked in and they were like, ‘That’s a little New Jersey. You’re doing a Tony Soprano thing,’” Pratt said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. The actor went on to say that he was so eager to star in the film that he didn’t even have a chance to work out what the character should sound like.
“I think both [Charlie Day and I] said yes. Didn’t even ask, ‘What’s the deal? What’s the story?’ ‘Yes, I’m in.’ And then we had to really dig in and figure out…are they Italian? Are they American?”
According to the two leads, both Pratt and Day worked with a variety of different voice iterations for the film, including taking inspiration from the original Mario voice actor, Charles Martinet.
“I tried out a few things and landed on something that I’m really proud of and can’t wait for people to see and hear,” Pratt added.
Thankfully, despite the change, directors Jelenic and Horvath have gone on record defending Pratt, saying that he is perfect for the role.
It appears the decision to cast Pratt paid off, with The Super Mario Bros. Movie scoring the top opening of all time for an animated film earning $375.6 million in worldwide ticket sales during the long Easter weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Source: Entertainment Weekly Via: Variety
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