Chris Pratt said he changed his Italian accent in 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' after directors said it was too 'New Jersey' and Tony Soprano-like

• Chris Pratt and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" cast spoke with Entertainment Weekly on Thursday.
• Pratt, who voices Mario, said he had a hard time perfecting his Italian accent for the movie.

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" star Chris Pratt said his Italian accent needed some work before he could successfully voice Mario. The actor spoke with costars Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, and Charlie Day for Entertainment Weekly's "Around the Table" segment on Thursday.

Pratt said it was hard for him to perfect his Italian accent. "For a minute, I walked in and they were like, 'That's a little New Jersey. You're doing a Tony Soprano thing,'" Pratt said during the roundtable.

Pratt's costar, Day, who voices Luigi in the movie, also had trouble nailing his Italian accent.

"We tried different things, different voices," Day said. "Every now and then they would say, 'Charlie, maybe a little less 'Goodfellas' in this one' — I'm like, 'Alright! I think you're wrong, but fine!' — until they landed on something they liked."

In "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," plumber brothers Mario and Luigi are sucked into a magical portal where they meet iconic characters Princess Peach (Taylor-Joy), Bowser (Black), Toad (Key), and Donkey Kong (Seth Rogan). Mario, with the help of Princess Peach and Toad, must stop Bowser from taking over the world and save Luigi.

"It was a really exciting and daunting challenge," Pratt said. "Talking to these guys, they say, 'You wanna do the Mario movie?' I think both of us said yes. Didn't even ask, 'What's the deal? What's the story?' 'Yes, I'm in.'"

"And then we had to really dig in and figure out, Are they Italian? Are they American? We know a little bit about Charles Martinet's voice that he's sprinkled in there with the 'Wahoo!' and 'It's-a me!' and these Mario things, but how do you craft a 90-minute narrative with an emotional through-line and create a living, breathing person about who you'll care?" Pratt continued.

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" was released in theaters on April 5.