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John Leguizamo on Saturday criticized the all-white cast of the Super Mario Bros. movie and the lack of “Latinx leads.”
The 62-year-old actor, who played Luigi in the 1993 live-action, criticized the casting choices as Chris Pratt takes on the iconic role of Italian plumber Mario in the film.
After the release of the first trailer for the upcoming film, John expressed his concerns while praising the original’s groundbreaking color-blind casting.
Thoughts: John Leguizamo, 62, on Saturday criticized the all-white cast of the Super Mario Bros. movie and its lack of “Latinx leads” (pictured in March 2022)
He wrote on Twitter: ‘So happy that #SuperMarioBros is getting a reboot! It’s clearly iconic [enough].
‘But too bad they turned all white! No Latinx in the lead! Groundbreaking colorblind casting in original! Besides, I’m the only one who knows how to make this film work script-wise!’
Latinx is a term that is gender neutral and includes people who are transgender or non-binary.
Not happy: After the release of the first trailer for the upcoming movie (pictured), John expressed his concerns as he praised the groundbreaking color-blind casting of the original
Criticism: On Twitter he wrote: ‘But too bad they turned all white! No Latinx in the lead! Groundbreaking colorblind casting in original!’
He added three screenshots of himself as Luigi and Bob Hoskins, playing Mario, from the 1993 film.
Captioned the photo, he wrote, “Apologies for this movie now!”
The reboot will see Chis take on the role of Mario, while American actor Charlie Day will star as his twin brother Luigi.
John has long been an advocate for Latin American actors in Hollywood, extending to attending the 2020 Emmy Awards ceremony after no Latin American actors were nominated in acting categories that year.
Role: In the new film, Chris Pratt (pictured) takes on the iconic role of Italian plumber Mario
Super Mario fans got a sneak peek of the highly anticipated animated film starring Chris and Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach on Thursday.
The very first trailer for the upcoming movie, Super Mario Bros., was released and started off with a bang when Bowser (Jack Black) was awarded a gold star after taking on an army of penguins.
Mario is then introduced by landing in Mushroom Kingdom and meeting Toad (Keegan-Michael Key).
Upcoming: Super Mario fans got a sneak peek of the highly anticipated animated movie starring Chris and Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach on Thursday
sidekick! Mario’s brother Luigi, is voiced by American actor Charlie Day
In June, Chris opened up the discussion about his role of Mario in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. movie, as he is not of Italian descent.
The Minnesota native, 43, spoke to Variety about the idea that some people might be put off by the accent he uses to play the famed video game plumber, as a number of people took to social media last fall skeptical of the casting decision.
“I worked very closely with the directors and tried a few things and came up with something I’m really proud of,” Pratt said, “and I can’t wait for people to see and hear it.”
The Guardians Of The Galaxy star clarified that the film is “not a live-action film,” but “an animated voice-over story,” adding: “I’m not going to wear a plumber’s suit running everywhere. ‘
One of the film’s producers, Chris Meledandri, said: TooFab Last November, he said of Pratt’s performance: “All I can tell you is the voice he does for us, and for Mario, is phenomenal. Yeah, I can’t wait for people to hear about it.’
Meledandri said he “as an Italian-American” understood the comments, adding that “Charlie Day, who plays Luigi, is actually of Italian descent. Yes, so that’s our nod.’
Problems: The 43-year-old Minnesota native spoke to Variety about the idea that some people might be put off by the accent he uses to play the video game’s famous plumber