Seth Rogen Accepted The Donkey Kong Role In The Super Mario Bros. Movie Under One Condition
After a fairly disastrous adaptation in 1993 with "Super Mario Bros.," it seems as though the iconic video game plumber will receive the big screen treatment he deserves with "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." There's a ton of anticipation surrounding the upcoming animated flick, with much of that stemming from the talented voice cast assembled to give these characters life.
One of the most intriguing additions to the cast is Seth Rogen, who lends his voice to Donkey Kong. And as evidenced by the trailers, Rogen pretty much does his own voice for the character. While Mario has always had a pretty iconic voice, Donkey Kong usually just makes ape noises (although he has spoken English at random points). Rogen was clear from the start that he wouldn't be doing anything too crazy for the character if cast, as he told ComicBook.com, "I was very clear, I don't do voices. And if you want me to be in this movie, it's gonna sound like me and that's it." Fortunately for Rogen and all those who worked on "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," Donkey Kong was enough of a blank slate to where the actor's voice fit the character perfectly.
Seth Rogen took the basics of Donkey Kong and ran with it
Donkey Kong has been around just as long as Mario (both made their video game debuts in 1981), but Mario certainly has a richer history. It sounds as though Seth Rogen and the crew were able to use what they knew about Donkey Kong to fully flesh out the character and make Rogen's voice sound natural to that. Rogen went on to say, "It did seem to work, you know, I think in the film and in the game I think all you really know about Donkey Kong is that he throws barrels and he does not like Mario very much."
While Bowser will be the big bad in the movie, it does seem as though Mario and Donkey Kong aren't exactly best friends, at least from the look of the trailers. Rogen took that idea and ran with it to make Donkey Kong funnier and ultimately more compelling. He also stated, "That's honestly kind of what I ran with was this idea that he hates Mario, that they are kind have like an adversarial relationship, that he's annoyed by him, that he doesn't want to be stuck with him, that he wishes he was on this adventure without him. To me that was, that was funny and that was kind of the root of the character and it was kind of born of the mythology of the games."
While he may just use his own voice, Rogen may have landed a lucrative gig. If the movie does well, it's safe to say sequels and spinoffs are in the cards. Some rumors (that you should take with a grain of salt) hint that a "Donkey Kong" movie from Illumination and Universal may even be in the works. For now, fans can look forward to "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" coming out in theaters on April 5.