Chris Pratt says he was nervous to voice Super Mario character in new movie

Hollywood star Chris Pratt says he was aware of the fan investment in iconic video game character Super Mario, which is why he was careful in voicing the part in The Super Mario Bros Movie.

The Universal film, based on the famous Nintendo games, revolves around two brothers Mario and Luigi, both plumbers from Brooklyn who are transported down a mysterious pipe and into a magical new world. The two are separated and Mario sets off to find Luigi, alongside classic characters Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), Bowser (Jack Black), Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key).

It makes sense, I was pretty nervous when they offered it to me. I thought, Wow, let's not s** this up,' Pratt told entertainment website The Hollywood Reporter.

That's where it all comes from, I think. People are passionate about this character and they've probably seen some of their favorite IP getting s**** up. It's kind of a cynical business. People make movies just because a title has reach, he added.

The Guardians of the Galaxy star said he had already had some experience of working on Lego Movie and that turned out great.

So it's a big challenge. Just because something has reach doesn't mean it's going to be a good movie and there's instances of people making bad movies and ruining people's childhoods. So the pressure was on to not do that and, thankfully, we didn't. I think the movie is fantastic and I think your childhood is firmly intact.

The film's director Aaron Horvath said Mario is this everyman character who goes on to become a hero. Pratt, he said, fit the bill perfectly.

He's funny, he's down-to-earth and he's also superheroic, so he really checked all of the boxes for us, added Horvath.

The film releases on April 5.