John Leguizamo, who played Luigi in the 1993 'Super Mario Bros.' movie, thinks it's a step 'backwards' to not cast another actor of color for the role in the upcoming animated movie.
ew.com
John Leguizamo, OG cinematic Luigi, says new Super Mario Bros. movie casting 'kinda sucks'
Leguizamo feels that it's a step "backwards" to not cast another actor of color as the beloved video game sidekick.
By
Lester Fabian BrathwaiteNovember 16, 2022 at 09:47 PM EST
There have been
a lot of opinions shared about
Chris Pratt's
casting as Mario in the new
Super Mario Bros. animated film — but what about Luigi?
Charlie Day is on board to voice Mario's taller, more handsome brother, but the original cinematic Luigi,
John Leguizamo, is apparently disappointed in the casting.
In
a recent interview with IndieWire, Leguizamo recalled what a "breakthrough" his Luigi casting was and said it "kind of sucks" that the new film didn't go with another actor of color.
"I'm OG. A lot of people love the original," Leguizamo said of the 1993 adaptation of the iconic video game, in which he starred opposite
Bob Hoskins as Mario. "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."
John Leguizamo as Luigi in 'Super Mario Bros.'
| CREDIT: EVERETT COLLECTION
If you haven't seen the '93
Super Mario Bros. movie, do yourself a favor and get on that immediately. First of all, it's live action, which was
a choice. Second,
Dennis Hopper plays King Koopa
by way of Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Third, it's
such a product of the early '90s — from the use of Snap's "The Power" in
the trailer to the weirdly dark yet campy, Tim Burton-esque aesthetic — and bears absolutely no resemblance to the more faithful animated adaptation coming next year.
While Hoskins — whom you might recognize from his work in
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? — might have seemed like a natural choice for Mario, Leguizamo said the directors took a chance on casting him as Luigi.
"Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton fought really hard for me to be the lead because I was a Latin man, and [the studio] didn't want me to be the lead," he told IndieWire. "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."
Reps for Universal Pictures, the studio behind the new
Mario movie, didn't immediately respond to EW's request for comment on Leguizamo's remarks.
John Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins as Luigi and Mario in 1993's 'Super Mario Bros.'
| CREDIT: EVERETT COLLECTION
Of course, Luigi is (A) Italian, and (B) a video game character and therefore not real. And the new
Super Mario Bros. Movie is animated, so Pratt, Day, and
the rest of the cast are only providing voices for their characters. But that hasn't stopped detractors from criticizing some of the casting choices, such as having noted non-Italian Chris Pratt voice Mario.
Responding to such critics, producer
Chris Meledandri said in June, "When people hear Chris Pratt's performance, the criticism will evaporate, maybe not entirely — people love to voice opinions, as they should."
Judging from the first trailer at least, Pratt's Mario voice…
is basically just Pratt's voice. But in any case, Leguizamo has a point: A lot of people
do love the original
Super Mario Bros. movie. That wasn't the case initially, as the film was considered a huge critical and commercial failure, and Hoskins publicly disowned it
multiple times. But over the years, it's grown in cult status. Fans were treated to a theatrical re-release for the film's 20th anniversary, and last year they even got an extended cut.
Hollywood will probably never make anything as weird and silly ever again. As for the new
Super Mario Bros. Movie, it will hit theaters April 7.
