John Leguizamo criticizes Super Mario Bros. animated film’s lack of diversity

Last Updated on September 29, 2021

Last week, Nintendo and Illumination revealed the main voice cast for their upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated movie. The cast is led most notably by Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario and Charlie Day as the voice of Luigi. John Leguizamo, who played Luigi in the 1993 live-action adaptation, responded to the announcement with some praise but also some criticism about the lack of diversity featured in the main voice cast.

Leguizamo took to his Twitter page to express that he was thrilled that the franchise was getting another shot at the big screen treatment but he wasn’t particularly thrilled with the casting choices. His tweet reads, “So glad [Super Mario Bros.] 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.” You can check out Leguizamo’s tweet below!

The full voice cast for the upcoming animated Super Mario Bros. film includes 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, Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike, and Charles Martinet, the best-known voice of Mario, providing various cameos in the film. Leguizamo, who was born in Colombia, is right that his casting as Luigi was color-blind casting back in 1993 and maybe should be applauded in its own right but I feel like he’s looking for an issue that just isn’t there. Social media has expressed some confusion over Pratt and Day’s casting as Italian plumbers but Leguizamo definitely isn’t Italian and neither was his co-star Bob Hoskins, who played Mario in the 1993 film. Considering his comment about being the only one who can get a Super Mario Bros. script right, it seems like he’s more upset that he wasn’t asked to be involved. Also, it should be pointed out that Keegan Michael-Key (voicing Toad) and Kevin Michael Richardson (voicing Kamek), are both African American so this isn’t an all-white voice cast as Leguizamo stated.

What are YOUR thoughts on John Leguizamo’s statement about the animated Super Mario Bros. voice cast?