See Jack Black Get Conned Into Dressing Up As Bowser From The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Jack Black showed up to The Kelly Clarkson Show in a Bowser costume during a Super Mario Bros promotional appearance as a prank by his co-stars.
We all knew Jack Black would be the best part of The Super Mario Bros Movie, and now he’s proving to be the best part of the movie’s press tour too. Cast members Chris Pratt, Keegan-Michael Key, and Charlie Day recently appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show where they “pranked” Black into showing up in a Bowser costume. You can check out the charming clip below:
So, yes, this is undoubtedly staged and not really a “prank,” so much as an excuse to get Jack Black in a Bowser costume to promote The Super Marios Bros Movie. Does that make seeing Black in a shoddy Bowser suit less awesome? Nope, it sure doesn’t.
Many people have been skeptical about the Mario movie since it was first announced, with most laughing and rolling their eyes about the cast. When we finally got to see the trailer, not everyone changed their mind, but one fact became clear. Jack Black was undoubtedly going to carry The Super Mario Bros Movie, whether good or bad.
Jack Black gives Bowser a gravelly, intimidating tone in The Super Mario Bros Movie that we don’t always hear from him. Black is obviously hilarious, so he’ll surely be bringing that energy to the movie, but his voice for Bowser was unexpected and immediately delighted fans. People are still on the fence about Chris Pratt as Mario, but at least we got a ‘wahoo’ at the end of one of the recent trailers.
Along with Jack Black as Bowser and Chris Pratt as Mario, The Super Mario Bros Movie has quite a star-studded cast (via IMDB). Other Mushroom Kingdom denizens along for the ride include Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, Khary Payton as Penguin King, and Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong. Charles Martinet, the original voice of Mario, Wario, and many others, is also cameoing in an undisclosed role.
Casting Jack Black in the Super Mario Bros Movie was definitely a good move, especially considering how excited he seems about it. Another good move was partnering with Illumination to animate the film. While films like Minions and Sing might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s hard to deny that the animation we’ve seen in the trailers has been fantastic.
Adapting a video game into a TV series or a movie will always be risky, but recent examples show that good casting can go a long way. For instance, Ben Schwartz as Sonic or Pedro Pascal as Joel in The Last of Us helps to improve these adaptations, matching the characters people love from the games to actors that fit them. Jack Black as Bowser is another example of pitch-perfect video game adaption casting.
We don’t have to wait too long to hear Jack Black’s full performance in The Super Mario Bros Movie. The film hits theaters on April 5. Stay tuned for more news on the movie until then.
