The Super Mario Bros. Movie Directors Defend Chris Pratt’s Mario Voice

Though there’s been some outcry in regard to Chris Pratt’s casting as Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the film’s directors are firm in their belief that the Guardians of the Galaxy star is a good fit.

While speaking to Total Film magazine (via GamesRadar), Aaron Horvath explained the choice.

“For us, it made total sense,” said Horvath, referring to himself and fellow co-director Michael Jelenic. “He’s really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart. For the way that Mario is characterized in our film, he’s perfect for it.”

This lines up with how Horvath described the character of Mario earlier in the interview. “When you play the game, if you don’t give up, Mario will succeed,” Horvath said. “So we transferred that player experience from the game to a characteristic that [movie] Mario would have.”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is directed by Horvath and 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.