Actor Khary Payton, best known for playing King Ezekiel on AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and voicing DC hero Cyborg, has stepped out in defence of actor and co-star Chris Pratt in the upcoming “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” at Illumination and Universal Pictures.
Since Pratt was first announced as the voice of Mario in the film, the casting decision has been surrounded by debate and controversy.
Payton plays the Penguin King in the film, a character whom we saw in the first trailer ordering an unsuccessful snowball attack against Jack Black’s Bowser and his army.
Talking with Insider to promote the final run of “The Walking Dead,” Payton revealed that he thinks the people who dislike Pratt’s Mario voice are overdoing it:
“People always overreact online… I actually think that he’s doing kind of like this New York, Italian guy – like a cousin of The Sopranos or something, which, I think, is kind of a fun take on it rather than being, ‘It’s a me, a Mario.'”
Charles Martinet has voiced Mario, using an exaggerated Italian accent, in video games to date. Payton adds Pratt’s more Brooklyn-styled take could “be more interesting and updated”.
The movie’s voice cast also includes Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek,
Matthew Fogel penned “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” which will hit theaters on April 7th.
