Jack Black has described his decision to voice Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie as a “no-brainer”.

When the School of Rock star was asked to voice Mario’s evil nemesis Bowser in the movie adaptation of the Nintendo video games, he knew in his gut that he had to say yes.

“For me, it’s one of those no-brainers. ‘They want you to play Bowser in Super Mario Bros.?’ That just sounds like a home run,” he explained to BBC News. “There’s a built-in audience of kids around the world who are familiar with this brand. So it’s got that, and it’s being made by Illumination who have done some of my favourite animations over the years.

“Who wouldn’t want to party with that band? It’s two ginormous brands meeting together in a perfect storm of entertainment.”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a collaboration between video game giant Nintendo and Illumination, the animation studio behind the Despicable Me franchise.

Black added that it was “cool” to be the voice of such an iconic video game villain and be part of a film that already has a huge fanbase.

“There’s always a little pressure when you’re dealing with something that has a following already. That’s not as big a concern as doing something brand new that no one’s ever heard of,” he continued. “Like how are we going to catch people’s interest? What if it goes straight to the streamers? It’s actually a big plus to be dealing with big characters. It’s cool to be the most recognisable villain in the world of video games.”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie, also featuring the voices of Chris Pratt, Charlie Day and Anya Taylor-Joy, is in cinemas now.

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