The Super Mario Galaxy Movie: 5 Actors Who Could Voice Rosalina

After becoming one of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, Universal, Illumination, and Nintendo have finally announced that the sequel to "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" will be adapting "Super Mario Galaxy" and "Super Mario Galaxy 2" to create "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie." This is great news for anyone completely smitten by the nihilistic Lumalee from the first movie, but it should also make for some beautiful animation as the "Galaxy" games are some of the most visually interesting in the entire series. 

At the time of the announcement, it was confirmed that Mario (Chris Pratt), Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), Luigi (Charlie Day), Bowser (Jack Black), Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), and Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson) would be returning, but fans quickly noticed that a major character was not a part of the line-up — and they weren't talking about Seth Rogen's Donkey Kong.

Rosalina, the guardian of the cosmos who seeks Mario's help to save the universe, has not yet been announced as part of the film. This leads us to believe that Illumination is saving the casting announcement for a later date, which, fortunately, means everyone involved in the movie understands how popular the character has become over the years. While we await the announcement, we're spending our days doing what nerds do best and fantasy booking the role. Here are five actors who we think would be perfect to voice Rosalina. May the stars shine down on you!

Nintendo megafans have concluded that Rosalina's height is estimated to be somewhere between 7'3" and 7'7", so her voice needs to sound like one resonating in the body of a tall woman. With that in mind, the 6'3" Elizabeth Debecki would be a perfect choice. She brings a calm, measured cadence with a quiet intensity to every role, like as director Elizabeth Bender in "MaXXXine." While she's a master of dialects, if she chooses to use her natural speaking voice, her Australian accent is subtly refined, making her the perfect mother of the Lumens.

Not only is Debecki's voice as commanding as it is beautiful, but after years of playing Diana, Princess of Wales on "The Crown," she knows how to bring a regality to her tone to embody the watcher of the cosmos. Additionally, she's provided the voice of Mopsy Rabbit in the "Peter Rabbit" movies, so she knows her way around voicing an animated character. Debicki's performance as the golden High Priestess Ayesha in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" series could essentially double as an audition tape, because it proves she already has experience playing a celestial being that gives directions to a character played by Chris Pratt.

Universal is the home of the growing "Super Mario Bros." cinematic universe, so there's always going to be a studio preference for actors with a pre-existing relationship. Johansson recently starred in "Jurassic World Rebirth" and has already been announced as returning for the sequel. If anyone is going to be willing to work around that schedule, it's Universal. Johansson is known for having a deeper voice, a preference for hardcore Rosalina fans, so she'd be a great fit. While her roles in action films and Marvel fare are what the general public is most familiar with, Johansson is also a seriously funny leading lady, consistently crushing it on "Saturday Night Live."

As far as animated credits are concerned, Johansson has "The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie," "The Jungle Book," "Sing," "Isle of Dogs," and "Transformers One." While it's a live-action movie, she also provided the AI voice for Samantha in "Her" and was so good that an AI company tried to illegally steal her voice for a real AI chatbot. "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is so big that the studio wouldn't have to resort to celebrity stunt casting, but if they really wanted an A-lister, Johansson would check that box.

Rosario Dawson is one of the most versatile — albeit comparatively underutilized — power players working today, and has one of the best speaking voices in the game. Thanks to her background in both comedy and singing, Dawson's naturally rich, deep, and expressive speaking voice is enhanced by the commanding power behind it. There's a sense of authority, as seen when playing the titular "Ahsoka," but there's always a tinge of warmth to whatever she says. It's why she can scream at Randal Graves in "Clerks II" one second, and comfort Dante Hicks the next, and it never sounds jarring or unnatural.

As the frequent voice of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman in the world of DC Animation and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in "The Lego Batman Movie," Dawson has already proven that she can take a beloved character from a familiar IP and make the character her own, so Rosalina would be a welcome addition to her roster of animated voices.

Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Jack Black as Bowser, and Charlie Day as Luigi were some of the best performers in "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," largely because they weren't afraid to get a little weird with their voices. Patti Harrison is not only one of the funniest comedians working today, but she's also one of the most fearless. "I Think You Should Leave," and "Together Together" are proof positive of her incredible range, but "Big Mouth" and "Q-Force" prove that she's just as hilarious voicing a character as she is in live-action.

It would be pretty brilliant, subversive casting to have Patti voice such a regal character, but also completely perfect because there's a running joke within the queer community that if you main as Rosalina (or Daisy or Birdo) in Mario Kart, it's because you're trans. It would also send a bunch of bigoted weirdos into cardiac arrest, which is a real win-win as far as I'm concerned. But more importantly, it would be a hell of a payday for a hardworking comedian who deserves to be a part of a massive franchise that will mail her residual checks until the sun burns out. Given the unhinged hilarity of Lumalee, Rosalina needs to be a mother who can match the freak of her kids. No one in the business could even dream of pulling that off like Patti Harrison.

Anyone even remotely familiar with my work here at /Film knows that I am always going to encourage the recasting of original voice actors from video games when properties get their mainstream adaptations, but I also recognize that Hollywood ... doesn't always care about that level of integrity when they can plaster a big name on the top of a poster. However, using the wildly popular "Sonic the Hedgehog" film franchise as an example, sometimes bringing back a key voice is a recipe for success. Don't get me wrong, Ben Schwartz is a fantastic Sonic, Idris Elba is the Knuckles we didn't know we needed, and Keanu Reeves brought a perfect intensity to Shadow the Hedgehog. But the decision to keep Miles "Tails" Prower's longtime voice actor, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, in the role for the live-action films proved to be the best one possible.

Mercedes Rose was the original voice of Rosalina, and played the character in the games "Super Mario Galaxy," "Mario Kart Wii," "Super Mario Galaxy 2," and "Super Mario 3D All-Stars." Bringing her back would be something worth celebrating, and fans would absolutely show up in droves to be reunited with the OG Rosalina. Or, if Nintendo/Illumination/Universal wanted to stick with the current voiceover performer, they could extend the casting offer to Laura Faye Smith, who succeeded Rose in the role and also provides the voice of Baby Rosalina in the franchise. The "Super Mario Bros." fandom extends beyond kids who want to watch the movies in the theater, and this would be a great way to get them all to show up.