Mario’s Voice Actor Is Retiring After Nearly 30 Years
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Charles Martinet first voiced Mario in a little-known PC game in 1994. Since then, he’s performed the character (and his brother and nemeses) more than 100 times.
Charles Martinet, who has voiced Nintendo’s legendary plumber Mario for nearly 30 years across more than 100 video games, is retiring. Nintendo announced in a social media post that the actor “will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games.” It’s likely that the actor’s final performance as Mario will be in this October’s Super Mario Wonder, releasing on Nintendo Switch. With Martinet moving away from yelping “wahoo” and “here we go,” Mario will be in need of a new vocal performer—as will his brother Luigi and nemeses Wario and Waluigi, all of whom he voiced. Fans got a taste of a non-Martinet future earlier this year in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, in which Mario was voiced by Chris Pratt. But considering the mini-controversy that erupted around that casting, and the fact that Pratt is a multi-millionaire with regular acting jobs, Nintendo will likely go with someone a little more available for its most famous character.
