The Video Game Adaptation Dennis Hopper Regrets Filming
Dennis Hopper was known for his manic approach to not only acting, but life itself. This kind of hunger caused him to have somewhat of a reputation in Hollywood, and according to the Independent, he even once got into a fight with Marlon Brando during the filming of "Apocalypse Now," which resulted in their scenes together being shot separately and on alternating days. However, this did little to stop Hopper from working in movies and television, and he later went on to star in "Speed," "Rumble Fish," "True Romance," and "Hoosiers," to name just a few.
For his efforts, Hopper earned 23 awards, consisting of the Best First Work at Cannes Film Festival, Best Supporting Actor at the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, and Best Villain at the MTV Movie Awards (via IMDb). Dennis Hopper received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame two months before his tragic death on May 29, 2010, but his legacy lives on through his extensive work catalog.
With Hopper's hard-living lifestyle, he was sure to have a few regrets, and one movie in particular stuck out in the actor's mind.
Dennis Hopper regretted appearing in Super Mario Bros.
The movie in question is none other than 1993's infamous "Super Mario Bros." Starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Samantha Mathis, and Dennis Hopper, the "Super Mario Bros." movie took a simple side-scroller and turned it into a post-apocalyptic alternate dimension where dinosaurs have evolved into what are essentially humans. Gone are the bright, shiny worlds of the source material, instead replaced by a sprawling and decaying city on a planet where most of the natural resources have been consumed. Hopper played the role of President Koopa, who plans to invade our reality with "de-evolution guns" that have a striking similarity to the Super Nintendo's Super Scope.
Although according to Rotten Tomatoes the movie was savaged at the time of its release, it later went on to gain a cult-like status (per The Strand).
In an interview with Conan O'Brien in 2008 (via YouTube), Hopper recounted his regret with an anecdote involving his child by saying, "I made a picture called 'Super Mario Bros.,' and my six-year-old son at the time — he's now 18 — he said, 'Dad, I think you're probably a pretty good actor, but why did you play that terrible guy King Koopa in 'Super Mario Bros.?' And I said, 'Well Henry, I did that so you could have shoes.' And he said, 'Dad, I don't need shoes that badly.'"
At least even after all of those years, Hopper still had a sense of humor about his time on "Super Mario Bros."