Super Mario Bros voice actor Chris Pratt has revealed that his initial voice for the character was rejected, with Pratt claiming that his first take at Mario was heavily inspired by Tony Soprano from the hit TV series, The Sopranos.
The new Super Mario Bros movie has proven to be unstoppable at the box office, with the film smashing all-time records within its first week in cinemas.
In Dexerto’s review of the film, we wrote that “there’s enough here to keep entertainment levels up to an adequate level – even if it does cater primarily to the younger market. But adequate means there’s potential here for so much more.”
And while the voice acting cast for the film has been getting major praise, particularly Jack Black’s commitment to Bowser, one actor who fans were initially extremely apprehensive of was Chris Pratt.
Pratt, who takes on the role of Mario in the film, was slammed by fans initially after his voice for the character was revealed. With users online point out that Pratt sounds too much like himself and less like the iconic voice of Mario.
However, it turns out that Pratt didn’t initially plan on using a more mainstream voice, with the actor first going for a more Tony Soprano-like performance.
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Chris Pratt’s first Mario voice was too much like Tony Soprano
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Pratt and fellow castmate Charlie Day discussed the process they went on when finding their voices for Mario and Luigi respectively.
“We tried different things, different voices,” Day said. “Every now and then they would say, ‘Charlie, maybe a little less Goodfellas in this one’ — I’m like, ‘Alright! I think you’re wrong, but fine!’ — until they landed on something they liked.”
Pratt, too, had similar feedback. “For a minute, I walked in and they were like, ‘That’s a little New Jersey. You’re doing a Tony Soprano thing,'” he said.
Ultimately, both had to scale things back a little for the final voice. But given the film’s early success, it certainly seems the crew hit it out of the park in the end.
For all the latest TV and movie news and updates, be sure to check out Dexerto’s full coverage here.