Donald Glover Reveals The True Story Behind His Yoshi Casting In The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is already filled with stars, and Donald Glover reveals the true story behind his casting.

The divisive Super Mario Bros. Movie was released in 2023 and had a 59% rating from critics versus a 95% rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the mixed reviews, the movie was a major success and grossed over $1.36 billion worldwide. Nintendo revamped the legendary gaming characters Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and Luigi (voiced by Charlie Day) in an animated adventure, and now the two plumbing brothers are heading for the stars.

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Jack Black, who’s returning as Bowser, and new star Glover spoke about the upcoming and highly-anticipated sequel. Glover also revealed how he got the role as the beloved character Yoshi, who will be a new character arriving in the movie, but is a well-established and adored character known throughout the Super Mario Bros. franchise.

ScreenRant: Now you’ve both appeared in some amazing universes, Star Wars Universe, Nintendo World. What is the secret third thing that you’d like to tap into?
Jack Black: Dude, I think she’s asking who are we going to write an email to?
Donald Glover: Yeah, she kind of is.
Jack Black: We were just talking about this. It doesn’t feel cool to call out and reach out and say, “Hey, I’d love to be part of your universe.
Can I please come in?” You want to be invited in. You don’t want to be the person who invites yourself to the party.
Donald Glover: Although, that’s exactly what I did. To be fair.
I literally hit up Chris, and I was like, “I know y’all got to use Yoshi.” But they told me, “He’s just going to say, probably, ‘Yoshi.’ We’re going to keep it very traditional.” I was like, “I can be traditional.”

Glover revealed he got the role of Yoshi by simply calling Pratt, who is playing the world-famous plumber Mario, and promised to keep the character’s voice traditional, as Yoshi has a unique pitch and tone recognizable to fans of the franchise.

Jack Black: I was like, “Who’s the genius who cast Donald?” And now that I’m realizing you called them– “I nominate myself to be Yoshi.” It’s so rad.
Donald Glover: Always ask.
ScreenRant: The worst they can say is no, right?
Jack Black: Also, as a director or a producer, when you know that someone wants to do the role, that’s a big plus. Anyone out there who wants to get in on the ground floor of the industry, put yourself out there. Let them know how much you want it.

Black and Glover’s advice for getting what you want has clearly worked for Glover, who is now part of a multi-billion-dollar franchise, as he simply called and got the job. The Mario Bros. sequel shows a whole new threat as Mario and Luigi have to try and stop Bowser Jr. from freeing his father, Bowser, and venturing into space far from the Mushroom Kingdom, facing some galactic challenges along the way.

New characters arriving for the sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, include Rosalina (voiced by Brie Larson), Bowser Jr. (voiced by Safdie), Fox McCloud (voiced by Glenn Powell), and the directors have promised even more fun surprises, with fans suspecting Wario or Waluigi making a chaotic entrance into the movie.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie soars into theaters on April 1.