Actor Chris Pratt found a supporter in Aaron Horvath, the co-director of 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie', after earlier facing fan backlash for being cast in the video game adaptation.
According to Fox News, a USA-based news outlet, during a new interview with Total Film, Horvath, who is one half of the directing team behind the film along with Michael Jelenic, stood by the decision to cast Pratt as Mario.
"For us, it made total sense... 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," Horvath said.
He continued, explaining that Mario and his brother Luigi, voiced by Charlie Day, are Brooklyn-based plumbers who are "blue-collar guys... from a family of Italian immigrants."
In 2021, after Pratt was announced as the voice of Mario, the actor faced backlash from fans of the franchise. Some of them argued that Pratt wasn't right for the role as he's not Italian and believed that the part should be voiced by an actor of Italian descent, reported Fox News.
As Charles Martinet, who has given the voices for Mario, Luigi, and other video game characters since 1992, was not chosen for the role, fans of Nintendo also expressed their displeasure.
When the first trailer, which featured the actor's voice, was publicly revealed in October 2022, the criticism against him escalated. Many attacked Pratt for not using an Italian accent, stating that the voice he used for Mario was too similar to his own.
Meanwhile, 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' cast is rounded out by Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, as per Fox News.
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