John Leguizamo Would 'Consider' a 'Super Mario Bros. Movie' Sequel Role If They 'Add More Inclusivity'
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"If they start to do the right thing and add more inclusivity, I'd consider it," the actor said
John Leguizamo hasn't completely sworn off a return to the Mushroom Kingdom.
In a new interview with IndieWire, the actor was asked if he'd ever lend his voice to a potential sequel to or spinoff of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which has been breaking box-office records since its release earlier this month.
"If they start to do the right thing and add more inclusivity, I'd consider it," said the Power star.
Leguizamo, 62, recently made headlines when he responded "Hell no!" after being asked whether he'd see the new movie. (The actor previously played Luigi in the 1993 adaptation Super Mario Bros.)
"They could've included a Latin character. I was groundbreaking, and then they stopped the groundbreaking," he previously told TMZ, in part.
"They messed up the inclusion. They dis-included," Leguizamo continued. "Just cast some Latin folk. We're 20 percent of the population — the largest people-of-color group, and we're underrepresented. Over-represented in the worst kinda jobs, though."
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Expanding on his comments about what he considers a lack of diversity, Leguizamo told IndieWire that he stands by them, despite the financial success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
"I spoke my mind," he said. "The directors of the last one fought really hard to have inclusivity, to have me in there and it's sad that they went backwards instead of forwards. They didn't meet the times. I know it's a big hit, but that doesn't make it okay."
The new Super Mario Bros. Movie's voice cast features Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, plus Sebastian Maniscalco, Kevin Michael Richardson and Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong.
The film officially reached $500 million at the worldwide box office earlier this month after only a week of release.
Not only does this make it the highest-grossing movie of the year so far — outdoing Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which opened in February — but it has become the biggest video-game movie ever.
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The 1993 film starred Bob Hoskins and Leguizamo as the titular sibling plumbers Mario and Luigi, respectively, with a supporting cast that included Samantha Mathis and Dennis Hopper.
Despite his criticism of the new film, the Emmy-winning actor included it in a post to his Instagram Story recently that celebrated "Smb history," spotlighting his movie and the new one plus The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, which aired in the fall of 1989.
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