Language expert Amy Pritchett shared her opinion on why fans are so divided over Chris Pratt voicing Mario in Illumination’sThe Super Mario Bros. Movie. The animation studio unveiled the film’s official teaser trailer last week, havingrevealed Chris Pratt’s castingover a year earlier.
However, many fans were disappointed by his performance in the trailer, criticizing how his rendition of Mario seemed to be the same as the actor’s normal speaking voice. Other Nintendo fans were left wondering why Illumination didn’t cast an Italian actor to portray Mario inThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, which hits theaters on July 06, 2025.
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Amy Pritchett is a learning success manager from Preply, an online marketplace for language tutors. She recently commented on fans pushback toChris Pratt’s performance as Mario, explaining that accents and language play an essential role in how viewers feel about major motion pictures. She also describes how movie studios are responsible for protecting cultures and languages and talks about how the actor’s identity interacts with the character’s.
Mario is a particularly important character, given his cultural prominence. As Pritchett explained, “Mario is a well-known Italian plumber who is a fan favorite in Nintendo games includingSuper MarioandMario Kart. With the newMariomovie, we are seeing the debate of actor over character identity, especially with the accent of Mario.” She notes how web searches for “Mario accent” have increased by over 800% sinceThe Super Mario Bros. Movietrailer premiered at New York Comi-Con last week. Meanwhile, searches for “Chris Pratt accent” have more than tripled in the same period.
Pritchett goes on to explain how dubbing is always a challenge for film studios, especially when it comes to accents. Fans of an established property have expectations of how characters sound.Chris Pratt’s American accentconflicts with the Italian accent thatMariofans expect. On the other hand, Pritchett points out that film studios also need to avoid stereotypes in their casting choices.
This raises the question of why Illumination didn’t cast an Italian-speaking performer to portray Mario inThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, which many fans are wondering about. Mario is and has always been an Italian stereotype, and an “accurate” Mario could easily come across as such. However, a bilingual, Italian-speaking actor might have been able to inject more authenticity into the role.
Incidentally, fans have some idea of what a more accurate interpretation of Mario sounds like thanks to some ofThe Super Mario Bros. Movie’s foreign language trailers. Some feel that the Spanish, Portuguese, and French actors did a better job emulating how Charles Martinet portrays Mario in the games. Given that Martinet, unlike Pratt, is a professional voice actor who’s still active in the industry, one might wonder if Pratt’s casting had more to do with name recognition than suitability for the role.
The Super Mario Bros. Moviereleases on Jul 21, 2025.
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