Not directly related to SMB but I figured it was interesting enough to bring up... I was skimming through the March 1999 issue of Game Informer and came upon a bit of news suggesting that Samantha Mathis was planned to play Jill Valentine alongside Jason Patric as Chris Redfield in an upcoming Romero-direct Resident Evil adaptation. Obviously none of this transpired but I found it interesting to see Mathis willing to potentially act in another video game adaptation.
Mathis hasn't exactly been a big name since the SMB movie, but a big-budget Resident Evil adaptation surely would have put her in the (gaming scene's) spotlight again. If we ever have the opportunity to interview her I think it'd be interesting to ask about her candidacy for the early Resident Evil, with a focus especially on its status as an adaptation. Who knows, maybe she was dropped because of her previous video game role?
