The voice of Super Mario is a dream role for Chris Pratt, who still remembers stealing quarters from the wishing well as a kid to play the original arcade game.

New Mario actor Chris Pratt has also spoken out after it was announced that he’d be leading the cast of the animated Super Mario Bros. movie. On Thursday, Illumination announced the entire cast for the film, and it was revealed that Pratt would voice Super Mario himself. Shortly after the news broke, Pratt posted a video on Instagram talking about the casting. He was blown away that he was now going to be the voice of Mario.

“So when I was a kid, I lived in Lake Stevens, Washington. And near my house was this coin-operated well, and there was Super Mario Bros, the original arcade game. Oh, I loved that game. But I never had a quarter. So most of the time, I’d steal them from the wishing well… it’s wild. I just remembered. That quarter I stole from the wishing well for Super Mario Bros. made my wish come true that I could be the voice of Mario. But obviously, I stole someone else’s wish, so I’m just waiting for the dominoes of karma to fall on me.”

While Pratt will be singing Mario’s famous catchphrase, he didn’t reveal what voice Super Mario will be voicing. The actor says fans will have to wait for now as he is still working on perfecting it, but Pratt is still excited about the work. Although some fans would have preferred to see Danny DeVito as Mario, the reaction from the Super Mario Bros. cast has been very positive indeed. And for Chris Pratt, it’s a dream role.

As previously announced, the Super Mario Bros. animated film will star Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya-Taylor as Joy Peach, 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 Foreman Spike. Chris Meledandri of Illumination and Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo are producing. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic will be direct from a script by Matthew Fogel.

“Mario and Luigi are two of the most beloved heroes in all of the popular culture, and we’re honoured to be working so closely with Shigeru Miyamoto and the highly imaginative team at Nintendo to bring these characters to life in an animated film the likes of which Illumination has never done before,” said Meledandri of the project.

The Super Mario Bros. animated film will be released in cinemas on 21 December 2022. Perhaps if the film is a bigger hit than the 1993 live-action film, the long-awaited movie based on The Legend of Zelda could finally be a reality. In any case, the cast alone is promising.

Source: Instagram