The Super Mario Bros. Movie may have had a near-record-breaking opening box office haul, but don't count John Leguizamo in as someone who caught the latest big-screen adaptation of the Mario Bros.
Leguizamo, who played Luigi in the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, recently spoke to TMZ about the new film while taking pictures with fans and was very adamant about not watching. “No, I will not [be watching]. They could've included a Latin character,” he said.
“Like I was groundbreaking and then they stopped the groundbreaking. They messed up the inclusion. They dis-included. Just cast some Latin folk! We're 20% of the population —the largest people of color group — and we are underrepresented.” He would add, “Overrepresented in the worst kinds of jobs, though.”
After being asked one last time about seeing the new flick, Leguiziamo responded with a simple, “Hell no!”
This isn't the first time Leguizamo has spoken out about this film. On September 27, 2021, Leguizamo said the following on Twitter: “So glad #superMariobros is getting a reboot! Obviously it's iconic enuff. But too bad they went all white! No Latinx in the leads! Groundbreaking color-blind casting in original! Plus I'm the only one who knows how to make this movie work script wise!”
So glad #superMariobros is getting a reboot! Obviously it’s iconic enuff. But too bad they went all white! No Latinx in the leads! Groundbreaking color-blind casting in original! Plus I’m the only one who knows how to make this movie work script wise! pic.twitter.com/lNokmdpwMq
— John Leguizamo (@JohnLeguizamo) September 27, 2021
Speaking to IndieWire last November, Leguizamo once again discussed the new cast for The Super Mario Bros. Movie. “I'm O.G. A lot of people love the original. 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,” he said. “I'm not bitter. It's unfortunate.”
Perhaps Leguizamo's resentment of the new cast stems from the experience working on the 1993 film. He would discuss how the filmmakers pushed for him to be in it: “The directors Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton fought really hard for me to be the lead because I was a Latin man, and they [the studio] didn’t want me to be the lead. 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.”
The Super Mario Bros. Movie features an all-star cast of Chris Pratt and Charlie Day as Mario and Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad. While the cast is predominantly white to Leguizamo's point, it does seem as though he's fixated on the roles of Mario and Luigi as Taylor-Joy does have Argentine ancestry and lived in Buenos Aires for a period.
John Leguizamo has been busy as of late, appearing in The Menu as an actor past his prime and as the antagonist of Violent Night. On the television side, he starred in The Power for Prime Video.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is in theaters now.
Follow Us
Subscribe