Chris Pratt Robbed a Wishing Well to Feed His Childhood Super Mario Bros. Habit
The star of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie reveals his genius scheme to play Mario video games.
Content availability may vary over time.
Key Takeaways
- Chris Pratt shared that as a child in Lake Stevens, Washington, he searched for spare coins behind jukeboxes and at laundromats so he could play Super Mario Bros. arcade games.
- When he couldn’t find enough money, Pratt admitted he used a stick to pull coins out of a local wishing well to fund his gaming habit.
- Pratt joked that stealing from the wishing well may have led to him eventually voicing Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and the The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
In the video game world, there are two types of gamers: the casual gamer and those who are deeply invested.
In the case of actor Chris Pratt, long before he voiced the CG iteration of Mario in 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie (streaming on Peacock) and 2026’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (also streaming on Peacock), his tiny Nintendo-playing self knew exactly what kind of gamer he was.
During a March 17 visit on TODAY to promote the theatrical release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the now grown-up Pratt admitted to host Sheinelle Jones that his younger self may have resorted to some petty theft to feed his Nintendo Super Mario Bros. franchise obsession. Find out how he was able to find the funds to play, below.
RELATED: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie: Everything You Need to Know
Chris Pratt used to steal quarters from a wishing well to play Super Mario Bros.
"We had a wishing well in my small town in this area called Frontier Village, it was a very small town... Lake Stevens, Washington. And that was part of my routine; every day, I'd go by the laundromat, and I'd go by the pizza parlor... and stick my little arm behind the juke box to see if any coins had come out of the coin return,” Pratt told Jones. "And it was all about getting to the laundromat to play Super Mario Bros. And when there were no coins anywhere, I'd get a little crafty and go down to the wishing well and get a long stick."
Pratt motioned using the stick to push the coins towards him. "And I'd play Mario," he confessed.
RELATED: Meet the Cast & Characters of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
"I honestly think that I did steal someone's wish because I'm now Mario,” Pratt added about how he’s ended up voicing Nintendo’s cornerstone character of its video game empire.
If you want to know more about Pratt’s connection to the Mario character, be sure to watch The Super Mario Galaxy Movie on Peacock, because in the "Extras" tab there’s a special featurette, Cast of Characters. It specifically explores how this incredible cast masterfully embodied the iconic Mario Bros. characters, honoring their legacy while captivating audiences across generations worldwide.
Catch Chris Pratt as Mario in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, streaming exclusively on Peacock.
