Following his comments on the recent casting announcement for Super Mario Bros: The Movie, many people are wondering how and why John Leguizamo was cast as Luigi in the original film. Leguizamo’s comments were mostly made in reference to his disappointment in the lack of diversity of the cast for the new film which will star Chris Pratt, Anya-Taylor Joy, and Charlie Day in voice performances as Mario, Princess Peach, and Luigi respectively. Although African American actors Keegan-Michael Key and Michael Richardson have also been cast, Leguizamo criticized the film for not featuring any Latinx actors saying it was “too bad they went all white!“
Leguizamo played the tall, green-clad, Italian plumber brother of Mario in the 1993 version of Super Mario Bros, the first live-action movie to be based on a video game. While the film performed poorly at the box office and the story was negatively reviewed at the time of release, it has since gained a cult following. The film also starred Bob Hoskins as Mario alongside Leguizamo’s Luigi, with supporting performances from Dennis Hopper and Samantha Mathis.
Although Leguizamo’s claim that the Super Mario Bros cast is “all white” doesn’t fully ring true in the light of Key and Richardson’s casting, his further comment that his casting in the original was “groundbreaking” holds more weight. Leguizamo himself was the only Latinx performer in the 1993 film, surrounded largely by white actors. It was his role as Luigi that paved the way for Leguizamo to star in other popular films but how did he receive the role in a time when Latinx performers were hard-pressed for on-screen jobs in movies?
Whereas audiences today are used to color-blind casting such as in the well-loved musical Hamilton or television show Bridgerton, it was not at all common in the early 90s. Leguizamo was not the first choice for the role of Luigi; production first considered Tom Hanks for the part but decided against it after Hanks starred in a few films that were box-office failures. Leguizamo was ultimately offered the job; here is what co-director Annabel Jankel said about his casting in the book “Lights, Camera GAME OVER!: How Video Game Movies Get Made”:
“John was a brilliant up and coming stand-up comic and actor […] We went to see him at Second City, and we were 100% sold. He had a wonderful combination of empathy and irreverence but was entirely without guile. It was not specifically scripted to be cast with a Hispanic or Latino actor, but it made perfect sense that the Mario Bros. themselves should be this contemporary unconventional family, so the small unit of just two, couldn’t be pegged as one thing or another.“
While Leguizamo is Latino rather than Italian, the casting department for Super Mario Bros saw his talent and recognized that it wasn’t necessary for Luigi to be portrayed by a white actor. Leguizamo’s casting was quietly groundbreaking for the time period, even if it did not open the floodgates for other Latinx performers. The casting certainly made a difference in Leguizamo’s career, who afterwards went on to receive roles in films such as Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet, and even a voice role in an episode of The Mandalorian. Color-blind casting may not have as much of a social impact in an animated film but the new film could be missing an opportunity to highlight the performances of latinx actors, such as in the case of Leguizamo in the 90s.
