Chris Pratt felt the 'pressure' of playing Mario

Chris Pratt felt a sense of pressure on 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie'.

The 43-year-old actor lends his voice to Mario in the film adaptation of the beloved Nintendo video game and knows that he had lofty expectations on his shoulders in playing the Italian plumber.

Chris told Magic Radio Breakfast: "There is pressure. These are really iconic characters. Probably the most famous video games characters in the world.

"And there are so many iterations of the game, stretching all the way back to when I was a kid in the mid to late 80s when it first came out. Every generation has had some form of Mario so it's a big part of the tapestry that makes up our youth."

The 'Guardians of the Galaxy' star continued: "So people are pretty passionate about it and the fan base does not want it to be screwed up, I am one of those people and I was grateful to be part of the collaborative process that would ultimately make this movie.

"And I am proud to say we didn't screw it up, the movie is great."

The decision to cast Chris – rather than an Italian actor – as Mario was met with a backlash in some quarters and the star can "totally gets" the criticism from fans.

He told Gizmodo: "Oh, I totally get it, man. There’s a passionate fan base and I’m one of the fans. I get it.

"Mostly, people don’t want something like this to get screwed up. They’re precious about it. They’re careful. And I’m grateful for that."

You can hear the full interview with Chris Pratt and Charlie Day this Friday (07.04.23) on Magic Radio Breakfast with Tom Price.