Original 'Mario' Star John Leguizamo Won't Watch New Film Due to Lack of Representation: 'They Messed Up'
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"Hell no!" Leguizamo responded when asked whether he'd be seeing the new animated film
John Leguizamo has doubled down on his criticism of the new Super Mario Bros. Movie, confirming he won't be among those seeing it.
Speaking with TMZ on Wednesday in New York City, the 62-year-old actor answered "Hell no!" when asked whether he'd be seeing the new animated film, which comes just under 30 years since his live-action adaptation, Super Mario Bros., was released.
"No, I will not be watching," he said, before posing for selfies with fans and speaking to the outlet while doing so. "They could've included a Latin character. I was groundbreaking, and then they stopped the groundbreaking."
The 1993 film — which marked the first-ever U.S. theatrical release of a live-action movie based on a video game — starred Bob Hoskins and Leguizamo as the titular plumbers Mario and Luigi, respectively, with a supporting cast that included Samantha Mathis and Dennis Hopper.
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.
"They messed up the inclusion. They dis-included," Leguizamo told TMZ on Wednesday. "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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Speaking with IndieWire in November 2022, Leguizamo called the new movie's casting "unfortunate" after his "breakthrough" representation in the 1993 version.
"The directors Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton fought really hard for me to be the lead because I was a Latin man, and [the studio] didn't want me to be the lead. They fought really hard, and it was such a breakthrough," the Menu actor said. "For them to go backwards and not cast another [actor of color] kind of sucks."
He added, "A lot of people love the original. I did Comic-Con in New York and in Baltimore, and everyone's like, 'No, no, we love the old one, the original.' They're not feeling the new one. I'm not bitter. It's unfortunate."
Despite his criticism of the new film, the actor included it in a Wednesday post to his Instagram Story 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.
Related: The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Everything to Know
Meanwhile, Rogen, 40, recently spoke with Variety at Saturday's premiere of the animated film about how "disappointed" he felt as a kid watching the original live-action Super Mario Bros. movie.
"When I was 11, I saw the original Mario Bros. movie and I was so excited," he recalled. "But it's one of the worst films ever made. I was so disappointed. I think it made me realize that movies, like, could be bad. That never occurred to me until that moment."
And while the realization "really bummed [him] out," Rogen added of his new film, "It's nice to vindicate that moment. It's nice to know that 11-year-olds out there won't be disappointed in the same way that I was."
While it has gone on to be considered a cult classic by many, Super Mario Bros. bombed at the box office and holds just a 29% rating and audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The zany, darker film featured music from Oscar-nominated composer Alan Silvestri and was also the first movie to use Autodesk Flame, a CGI software that has since become an industry standard in digital effects, marking a historical jump from practical effects.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is in theaters now.
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