LOS ANGELES — Chris Pratt has revealed that he’s spent the last decade preparing for his upcoming role voicing Mario in the video game mascot’s long-awaited animated feature film debut by preparing to be a blue collar guy for the last 10 years or so.
“I’ve had some amazing opportunities these last few years,” said Pratt. “But nothing compares to playing this working class Italian hero that so many people grew up loving. In order to both lobby for the part and show that I could do him justice, I spent the early part of my career completely coming across as a normal guy you could see yourself getting a beer with. I hope it worked, because this is the role I’ve been waiting my whole life for. Well, besides Garfield, Starlord, and the Jim Preston role in Passengers.”
While the initial announcement of the casting spurred many outraged fans, Nintendo has insisted that they have found the right man for the job.
“Mario is a character who spent years growing beyond his schlubby, blue-collar origins, and ended up with more gold coins than you or I will ever see and is romantically linked with a princess,” said Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America. “I’m sorry, how do we not get Chris Pratt to play this dude?”
Despite the controversy surrounding the casting, many lifelong Nintendo fans have stated that they’ll give the film a shot and watch it with an open mind when it’s released.
“Anyone that can go from headlining The LEGO Movie to making posts on Instagram shading your ex-wife and special needs son in the matter of a few years definitely has range,” said Kip Birmhingham, a fan who admits to being cautious about Pratt’s portrayal of the iconic plumber. “So I don’t know, it might not be awful. I hope he doesn’t do some atrocious voice, and just shows up in Jurassic World mode, doing the bare minimum amount of acting every day before he can go home and work out some more.”
As of press time, Chris Pratt had been revealed to be the star of upcoming film adaptations of Max Payne, Duke Nukem, and Parappa the Rappa.