John Leguizamo says 'hell no' to watching 'Super Mario Bros. Movie': 'They messed up the inclusion' of diverse actors

• John Leguizamo said "hell no" when asked if he's going to watch the new "Super Mario Bros. Movie."

• He said that the producers "messed up" by not including diverse actors in the cast.

• The actor previously played Mario's brother, Luigi, in a 1993 live-action adaptation of the game.

John Leguizamo has been acting in Hollywood since the 1980s, and he's starred in a number of classic movies like "Die Hard 2," "Romeo + Juliet," "Moulin Rouge," and "John Wick."

But he's recently been very outspoken about the lack of Latin representation in the industry, recently telling Insider that he gets frustrated by the fact that Latin actors are typically overlooked by major movie studio heads.

Some fans may remember that Leguizamo starred in the 1993 live-action "Super Mario Bros." movie as Luigi, opposite Bob Hoskins' Mario. While the film was a flop at the time, it has since become a cult hit over the years.

But the actor isn't interested in Universal and Illumination's new animated take on the franchise: "The Super Mario Bros. Movie."

After taking photos with fans on the street, Leguizamo told TMZ that he won't be watching the "Super Mario Bros. Movie" because of its lack of representation.

He said: "No, I will not be watching. They could've included a Latin character. I was groundbreaking and they stopped the groundbreaking."

Leguizamo criticized producers for their casting, adding: "They messed up. They messed up the inclusion, they disincluded."

The star went on to point out that the Latin audience is a huge part of the population, but they're often underrepresented on screen.

Leguizamo added: "Just cast the Latin folk. Latin folks, we're 20% of the population, the largest people of color group and we're underrepresented. Overrepresented in the worst kind of jobs though."

Fans were previously disappointed with Chris Pratt's casting as the voice of Mario in the movie, with many pointing out that he's an American playing the Italian plumber. The "Guardians of the Galaxy" star recently said that he "totally" gets the backlash and understands that "people don't want something like this to get screwed up."

In the TMZ video, Leguizamo was asked for a second time about watching "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," and he had a very simple response: "Hell no!"

The 62-year-old star's comments come after his open letter to Hollywood in the Los Angeles Times back in November 2022, in which he pointed out that white actors are often cast in roles that should've gone to people of color.

He wrote: "You had Al Pacino in tan makeup, coked up and wild as a Cuban in 'Scarface.' The studios loved it so much they put him in 'Carlito's Way' as a Puerto Rican from Spanish Harlem. They surrounded him with Latino actors, but not one of us had a lead role. In our own stories, we were still just supporting players."

Read the original article on Insider