Chris Pratt on How he Almost Blew Audition for Super Mario Bros
Mario's first voice sample did not find approval from the movie's producers. Chris Pratt had to try harder.
Recently, the big screens debuted the Super Mario Bros. Movie. The production managed to conquer cinemas around the world and quickly became the the most profitable game film adaptation in history. However, it was not without a few controversies. Initially fans could not accept Chris Pratt providing voice to the title protagonist. Now it has come to light that the first attempt to express Mario's voice also did not meet the expectations of the movie's producers," reports IndieWire.
In an interview, Chris Pratt revealed that his performance reminded the filmmakers of the voice of Tony Soprano, the boss of the DiMeo mafia family, known from the The Soprano Family.
"'That’s a Little New Jersey’ they said. They claimed I was doing a Tony Soprano thing," Pratt revealed.
The actor admitted that he and Charlie Day, who dubbed Luigi, accepted the roles without a second thought. Only later did they realize that dubbing Americanized Italian immigrants would not be easy.
"Are they Italians? Are they Americans? How do you create a ninety-minute narrative with an emotional message and create a vivid person you care about?"
Learning about the cast, many people approached the movie with some skepticism, and some even suggested boycotting it. According to CBR, it was feared that Chris Pratt would ineptly play his role, stereotypically creating the impression of Italian accent, although he himself is not of Italian descent. At the time, Christopher Meledandri, the film's producer and CEO of Illumination Studios, came to his defense.
"I'm not sure it's the wisest line of defense, but as someone of Italian-American heritage, I feel I can make this decision without worrying about offending Italians or Americans with Italian ancestry. I think everything will be fine."
Although Super Mario Bros. Movie was criticised for some of its elements, it was not as large and widespread as initially expected. The movie can now be seen in theaters.
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Author: Mateusz Libera
He began his writing adventure by creating stories, later he followed the humanities path, choosing studies in journalism and social communication. He published his first texts on his personal blog and for contests. At the beginning of 2023, he joined the film department of GRYOnline.pl, where he started working as an author of articles about movies. He is interested in fantasy, history, RPG games, and strategies. He is also a long-time player of League of Legends - he has been playing since the second season. Additionally, he writes adventure and fantasy books, but in this field he is still a novice. Currently, he has published one collection of stories.
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