When one of the first trailers forThe Super Mario Bros. MovierevealedSeth Rogen’s Donkey Kong, there were many people who said the same thing – “Doesn’t he just sound like Seth Rogen?” It seems like there is a perfectly simple reason for this, as the actor recently explained in an interview withComicbook.com, when he explained that he simply doesn’t “do voices.” While discussing his role as the Nintendo character, Rogen said:
“I was very clear, I don’t do voices. And if you want me to be in this movie, it’s gonna sound like me and that’s it. And that was the beginning and end of that conversation. I was like, ‘If you want Donkey Kong to sound a lot like me, I’m your guy.’ But it did seem to work, you know, I think in the film and in the game I think all you really know about Donkey Kong is that he throws barrels and he does not like Mario very much. That’s honestly kind of what I ran with was this idea that he hates Mario, that they are kind have like an adversarial relationship, that he’s annoyed by him, that he doesn’t want to be stuck with him, that he wishes he was on this adventure without him.To me that was, that was funny and that was kind of the root of the character and it was kind of born of the mythology of the games.”
Related:Why Did It Take So Long to Get a Proper Super Mario Bros. Animated Film?
Seth Rogen’s Donkey Kong Was Not The Most Controversial Casting Choice In The Mario Movie.
When the original casting ofThe Super Mario Bros. Moviewas announced, no-one really gave a second thought toSeth Rogen taking on Donkey Kong, as all focus was put on Chris Pratt as the voice behind the newest iteration of Nintendo’s best known video game character. The internet took an almost unanimous dislike to the idea of Pratt being cast as Mario over existing voice artists an essentially any other actor in the world.
However, while a lot of the noise has fallen away, Pratt is still very much aware that there are some who are still not on board with his performance after hearing just a few lines in the trailers for the movie. He recently addressed the backlash, saying:
“Go watch the movie and then we can talk. I really think that once you see the movie, and in all honesty, I think you probably need to watch it twice. In all honesty, the answer though is that this is a passionate fan base, and I understand, I’m a part of it. This is the soundtrack to your youth, and you don’t want someone to come along and cynically destroy it as a cash grab with the movie. I fully understand that you do not want that to happen and there were so many hearts and souls and minds dedicated to making sure that didn’t happen.”
Fans will get a chance to see Pratt and Rogen in all their vocal glory whenThe Super Mario Bros. Movieis released on April 5.
