Anya Taylor-Joy: The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s Peach Is an ‘Empowered Woman’

The Super Mario Bros. Movie star Anya Taylor-Joy has spoken a bit about how the movie’s version of Princess Peach differs from that of the games.

On an episode of the GamesRadar’s Inside Total Film Podcast, Taylor-Joy compared this new iteration of Peach to the game version, who has often been depicted as a damsel in distress that the player must rescue.

“From the very first meeting that the creators and I had about her, I was really impressed and excited by the fact that we were all on the same page as to who Peach should be in this new era,” Taylor-Joy stated. “When I first saw the film, I came out so unbelievably excited and quite moved that this is now somebody that kids could have as a role model, and that this is what female leadership is. This is how we’re presenting female leadership. I just felt so proud to be a part of that.

“And really, really inspired. And so I’m really proud to be a part of this, and I’m proud to be a part of … Peach is an empowered woman,” the actress explained. “And if you think about it – and this is when I get really nerdy — [laughs] if you think about the storyline, it makes more sense that she’s strong and in control, because she is the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. And that’s not an easy job. So if she was constantly being plucked out of her castle, she wouldn’t be very good at ruling, would she?”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!) from a screenplay written by Minions: The Rise of Gru scribe Matthew Fogel. It is produced by Chris Meledandri for Illumination and Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo.

The film features the voices of its all-star cast including Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.