I haven’t seen A Minecraft Movie yet, but I already know that it would have been completely different, definitely epic, if the reported first-choice to play Steve had been cast.
It’s being reported by Puck that Jack Black was not, in fact, the first choice to play Steve. Originally, Matt Berry, star of The IT Crowd, What We Do in the Shadows, Toast of London, and of course, the voice of Mr. Handy in Fallout, was supposed to be Steve. Alas, scheduling conflicts prevented this from ever coming to life.
I generally love Jack Black, I have for many, many years. I will tell anyone who ever gives me half a chance about how I met him, and he hugged me, in Las Vegas after a Tenacious D show one CES past. My one limited interaction, he’s a really good guy.
I enjoy his movies, and especially his music, but I’m just imagining now what I have seen of A Minecraft Movie, and how it would have been with Matt Berry delivering Steve’s lines. Berry is known for his voice and the unique way he enunicates words, delivering them in a way no other can.
That’s not to say Jack Black isn’t a good fit, just a different type of fit. Much has been said of Black’s enthusiasm for the Minecraft franchise, and how much he was playing the game during filming. That type of passion is irreplaceable.
Equally, Matt Berry is one of my absolute favorite actors, and I will never, ever, get tired of hearing the man’s voice. Berry does still have a small role in A Minecraft Movie, though, which I can’t spoil, because I haven’t seen it yet.
Our pals over at PCGamer put it better than I ever could:
“…somewhere out there in the infinite expanse of space, beyond our comprehension, there’s a universe where Matt Berry ended up playing Steve in A Minecraft Movie—it’s not much, but it’s something to hang on to.”
