Jack Black's Mario Wardrobe Was Not Suitable For National TV
Jack Black is a national treasure; that much is not up for debate. The comedic actor is known for his quick wit and soul-baring performances in hilarious movies such as "High Fidelity" and "School of Rock," which have earned him positive notices from moviegoing audiences. But the actor recently bared it all on TV in a totally different way (sort of). And would you believe it was all in service of promoting "The Super Mario Bros. Movie?"
The response to Jack Black's casting as Bowser, King of the Koopas, has been nothing short of enthusiastic. With the film's release rapidly approaching, the two elements that gamers seem to have responded to the most positively are Black's Bowser and the film's tough-as-nails Princess Peach, voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy. The jury is still out regarding Chris Pratt's controversial portrayal of the titular Mario, but video game fans can't seem to get enough of Black's growly performance as the plumber's greatest nemesis.
Much of the principle voice cast for the film was on-hand for a recent taping of "The Kelly Clarkson Show," and things got weird. The cast was obviously there to promote the movie, but things took an awesomely unexpected turn when Jack Black took the stage and delivered yet another scene-stealing performance. However, it was hard not to notice an odd bit of censorship that presumably came from the show's producers. Jack Black arrived at "The Kelly Clarkson Show" in style, but it was apparently too hot for daytime television.
Jack Black becomes Bowser for real
A clip of Jack Black's "Kelly Clarkson Show" appearance has quickly gone viral, and it's a true delight. As the segment begins, Chris Pratt, Charlie Day (who voices Luigi), and Keegan-Michael Key (who voices Toad) take their places on Kelly Clarkson's couch. Ahead of what's sure to be a chill interview, the actors are all smiling and generally seem happy to be there, but Kelly's visibly confused. She quickly does a headcount and realizes that someone is missing.
It immediately becomes apparent that Jack Black hasn't made it to the stage. Since the other cast members say they don't know where he could be, Clarkson runs backstage to find the actor sulking — and wearing a full Bowser costume. The audience begins cracking up at this point, finally catching onto the bit.
When Kelly asks Jack why he won't come on stage, he replies, "'Cause everybody said we were gonna get dressed in costume, and I'm the only stupid guy that got dressed in a costume, and I'm not going out there now." After some reassurances from Kelly that he's going to be the coolest-looking person out there, Black agrees to make his grand entrance.
And what an entrance it is: high kicks, pretend fire-breathing, and booty-shaking in the way that only Jack Black can bring it. But if viewers at home glance just slightly downwards, it's apparent that someone has made the decision to blur out Black/Bowser's – ahem – nether regions. Of course, the actor is fully clothed (in a suit that looks super warm, no less!), so the blur effect adds a truly confusing layer to the whole silly scene.
Why was Jack Black censored as Bowser?
It's unclear at this time why Jack Black's Bowser suit was censored for the airing of "The Kelly Clarkson Show." It's entirely possibly that the show did it as a joke, pointing out that Bowser, technically, is always naked. It's also possible that the suit was a bit snug in that area, and Black's subsequent hip-swaying moves might have left too little to the imagination for the folks at home.
The rest of the interview segment proceeded as normal. Jack Black sat down and made a quip about the cast pranking him and gluing him inside of his costume. Otherwise, the cast went on to about their work on the film, but there was no mention of any kind of wardrobe malfunction that might warrant censorship. It's also worth noting that the show didn't censor his crotch during the earlier backstage segment, which makes it seem even more likely the blur was done as a joke.
Whatever the case, fans at home loved the segment, and Twitter was full of people reacting to the sight of Bowser twerking on television. Considering Jack Black is also attached to the upcoming "Borderlands" movie in the role of Claptrap, one can only wonder if he'll repeat a similar stunt when promoting it. There should be less high kicks happening as Claptrap, so maybe he can just be wheeled out on stage for that one.