The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Anya Taylor-Joy and Jack Black Interview

Anya Taylor-Joy: It's been amazing. I will say Japan is one of my favorite countries. I've only ever been here for 30 hours before, so I'm thrilled to spend a bit more time. But I've really loved getting to spend time with this wonderful cast of people and to explore a country all together feels pretty once in a lifetime.

Jack Black: I think the highlight for me so far has been the dinner that we had. A beautiful dinner. It looked like a 100 year old restaurant in Kyoto, which is Miyamoto-san's hometown. I don't know if he grew up there, but that's where Nintendo...

Anya Taylor-Joy: Nintendo is.

Jack Black: Yeah, Nintendo headquarters and I think that's where it all began with Mario. But he took us out to dinner. I got the feeling it was like one of his favorite restaurants and we got to sit there with the whole cast and Miyamoto-san and our families and my boys were in heaven because they know everything about Miyamoto and about Nintendo and they got to ask him questions through a translator and I just loved to see my boys smiling so big. And delicious food.

Anya Taylor-Joy: Yeah, divine.

Jack Black: And they hooked you up with good vegetarian cuisine.

Anya Taylor-Joy: I just felt like it was so nice to come back to work with our wonderful directors. At this point we have such a shorthand with each other that it feels very like a well-oiled machine and that does offer you more freedom because you kind of get through the maybe more specific way to play something and then you can kind of go a bit larger with it because you get that really quickly.

Jack Black: I agree that the second time was sweeter because we could hit the ground running. The first time it was like we were drilling down a lot to find the character voices and we didn't have to do that this time. We just cut right to the chase and we're having a ball right out of the gate.

Anya Taylor-Joy: I love that Peach is both a combination of extreme compassion and empathy whilst also she gets the job done. Any problem, it's right, okay, I hear all of the information, I'm going to apply it now and I will fix this for you. Do not worry about it. And that kind of capability makes me really happy to portray on screen.

Jack Black: Bowser's a blast and this time around he was really trying to come out of his shell, so to speak, and he became a little more interested in his artistic side and his softer, gentler side and he wanted to earn the trust of Mario and Luigi.

Anya Taylor-Joy: I think our directors do a really good job of being able to, if you're somebody that doesn't understand any of the Mario lore, you'll have a great time, you'll enjoy the movie, but if you are somebody that's very deep into the lore, there are many things to tickle your fancy.

Jack Black: Totally. It's a mind blower for the kids that are well-versed in the Nintendo universe. There's tons of Easter eggs and cool characters that will be revealed.

Anya Taylor-Joy: I think what's really wonderful about doing animation jobs is you go into the booth, you do your part, but you're obviously not a part of the animation studio. You're not a part of Jack's session or Chris's session, sorry. So when you go and sit down and see the film, you get to watch it as an audience member. You get to just enjoy the feast that is sort of laid out before you. And I'm always so impressed at the amount of imagination on display. It's just so creative and as you said, beautiful. And I think it's wonderful to be a part of something that sparks delight.

Jack Black: Yeah. I can't wait to see it with a Japanese audience because it really is a love letter to Nintendo and the Mario universe.

Anya Taylor-Joy: 1,000 percent.

Jack Black: And what better place to unveil it than the birthplace of Nintendo.

Anya Taylor-Joy: Get your friends, get your family, get some popcorn, settle in.

Jack Black: I was just going to say popped corn. Yeah, what's your movie snack choice?

Anya Taylor-Joy: Look, this is controversial.

Jack Black: I like to get a big old popped corn, not buttered, because I don't like butter finger.

Anya Taylor-Joy: Wait, question, is the butter the thing like the additional butter? Yeah, I don't like that either. I didn't grow up with that and it kind of it blows my mind a little bit and not in a positive way.

Jack Black: Butter finger. Big popped corn, Diet Coke. But here's the real controversial part. I also like to get... oh, I know you don't like these, we talked about this... Raisinets. I like... okay, so forget about Raisinets. But do you understand the allure of sweet and salty combination? Okay, so maybe like some M&Ms or something.

Anya Taylor-Joy: I get it. I get it. Don't want to try it.

Jack Black: You're strictly popped corn and a Diet Coke. That's your safe place.

Anya Taylor-Joy: I'm quite simple, but you know in the UK you have sweet and salty popcorn, which I think in America is called kettle corn.

Jack Black: Do you go for that?

Anya Taylor-Joy: But you... so there's a method to the madness, which is you put the salty popcorn on top and the sweet popcorn at the bottom. Because if you flip it over the other way, then you end up with a really dry mouth. So you go salt first and then you get to the sweetness.

Jack Black: You got to pay your dues to get to that sweetness.

Anya Taylor-Joy: Exactly.