“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is a very fun ode to your favorite jumping plumber, with a number of very big stars in the voice cast, including Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad and Jack Black as Bowser.
But chances are your vocal favorite of the bunch will be Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, the menacing giant ape-turned-ally to Mario. Rogen is delightful in the movie and, as it turns out, just as delightful in person. You can watch our chat with him above.
“Fundamentally, people don’t much about Donkey Kong besides that he throws barrels and hates Mario,” Rogen explained. “I’ve started with less.”
Rogen’s earliest memories of Donkey Kong and Mario go “back to the start.”
“We had a Commodore 3000 I believe with a floppy disk that had Donkey Kong on it. Mario is from that game, so he’s in there,” Rogen explained. “Then I remember my dad buying a Nintendo when they came out. I didn’t have a Super Nintendo but I had a Nintendo 64, which I played a lot.”
Rogen also revealed some of his key decision making is based around, well, jealousy.
“It’s probably a bad gauge but I often am like, ‘Would I be jealous or upset if I saw this movie out in the world and I was not a part of it? Would I be mad that I wasn’t given the opportunity to be in that movie? Would I be like, How come I wasn’t asked to be in Mario Bros? I love Mario Bros!’” Rogen said. “Which, again, is not the most productive way to gauge your life decisions. But it’s worked for me over the years. I tap into the most petty part of myself.”
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is out on Wednesday, here and (we can assume) in the Mushroom Kingdom too.