by Pedro Pascal found success starring in an HBO drama based on a video game, ˜The Last of Us’.
According to “Saturday Night Live,” this is just the beginning. Guest host Pascal showed off the trailer for his upcoming (and fake) prestige drama based on another iconic video game: an apocalyptic ‘Mario Kart’.
Pascal starred as Super Mario turned morose and cynical now that Bowser (Kenan Thompson) has taken over the kingdom. But he agrees to take Princess Peach (Chloe Fineman) in a go-kart to Rainbow Road.
Looking out over the wasteland from the passenger seat, Princess Peach asks Mario, “How is it here?”
“Karting out here is not a game. If we’re going to make it, we’re going to need all the help we can get,” replies Mario, bringing in a shotgun-toting Luigi (Mikey Day) as reinforcements.
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The duo encounter characters made more complex by the drama, such as hipster Yoshi (Bowen Yang), who proudly announces, “I’m bisexual.” (Toad makes the same proclamation).
When Mario chews on a character-enlargement Mega Mushroom, he proclaims, “It makes me feel big, okay? I need to feel big.”
After Princess Peach’s go-kart lands on a banana peel, she asks what happens if they crash.
“A little boy on a cloud comes with a fishing rod to get you back on the road,” says Mario.
Fake review blurbs weren’t encouraging about the trailer. “HBO picked the wrong show to do it,” reads a Variety review for the saga.
In the real world, HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ received critical acclaim and was renewed for a second season last month.
Pedro Pascal Compares ‘The Last of Us’ To ‘White Lotus’ In ‘SNL’ Monologue
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During his “SNL” opening monologue, Pascal compared working on the post-apocalyptic “The Last of Us” to HBO’s hit show “The White Lotus.”
“For some HBO shows, you can shoot in a five-star Italian resort surrounded by beautiful people, but I said, ‘No, that’s too easy,'” Pascal said. “I want to shoot in a freezing Canadian forest while being chased by a guy whose head looks like a genital wart.”
Pascal said he is proud to work on successful series like ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘Game of Thrones’. But working on “The Mandalorian” has led to a difficult experience for fans.
“Next thing I know I’m FaceTiming with a 6-year-old, who has no idea who I am because my character is wearing a mask for the entire show,” Pascal explained. “So, the guy says, ‘Just do Mando’s voice,’ but Mando’s voice is like a bedroom voice. Without the mask, it just sounds like porn. So, people walking by on the street see me whispering to a 6-year-old boy, ‘I can take you warm or I can take you cold.'”
This article originally appeared in USA TODAY: ‘SNL’: Pedro Pascal Drives HBO’s Upcoming Drama Video Game ‘Mario Kart’
