John Leguizamo reveals 'dark vision' for OG Super Mario movie with strippers: 'Disney wasn't happy'
John Leguizamo has revealed that the original Super Mario Bros. movie directors attempted to level up the video game adaptation's grit and grime.
The actor, who portrayed Luigi opposite Bob Hoskins' Mario in the widely derided 1993 film, says filmmakers Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel initially saw the project much differently than Buena Vista, Disney's former distribution arm that released the film domestically.
"They were the biggest commercial directors of the era. They had this dark, dark vision that Disney was not okay with, so there was all this [head-butting] that was incredible," Leguizamo recently told GQ. "That party scene? Those are all strippers from North Carolina that they put on the set that they had in the most revealing clothes and costumes. Disney was not happy. They had to cut a lot of it out, blow it out, CGI it, whatever bad technology they had back in the day."
EW has reached out to Disney for comment.
Leguizamo went on to praise the directorial duo for their decision to cast him in the role.
"I love those directors. They gave me an opportunity — they stuck their neck out to put a Latin guy as as lead, to play Bob Hoskins' brother. That was unheard of at the time. It was so innovative," he explained, adding that he tried to give Luigi a Brooklyn flair with a "backwards baseball cap" and "clothes [that were] a little baggy, the way everybody was dressing" to "appeal to young kids" instead of an older demographic.
Despite Leguizamo's enthusiasm for the movie, neither critics nor audiences were big fans. However, it has since gained a cult following.
"The movie was not received as well as we'd hoped," he recalled. "We all had big hopes for it, but it was the first video game [movie] of the era, of all time. Nobody was prepared for that. It did okay, but then kids fell in love with it and found it on DVD and VHS. A lot of people come up to me and [say] they love it, so, through their eyes, I love it."
The 62-year-old actor said in April that he wouldn't be watching the new animated Super Mario Bros. movie, which features the voices of Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Jack Black, and Anya Taylor-Joy and is currently dominating the global box office.
"No, I will not be watching," he told TMZ. "They could've included a Latin character. I was groundbreaking, and they stopped the groundbreaking."
Watch Leguizamo discuss Super Mario Bros. in the video above.
Wanna take a road trip? Join John Leguizamo for Leguizamo Does America, a new six-part series celebrating Latino culture airing Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on MSNBC. Find out more!
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