Mario’s Voice Actor Retiring After Nearly 30 Years
Nintendo announced in a tweet this morning that Charles Martinet, who has been the voice of Mario for the past 27 years, will no longer be portraying the character. Instead, he will take on the role of a “Mario Ambassador,” created specifically for him, where he will continue to spread the joy of Mario through global travels. The company has not revealed any information regarding a replacement voice actor. Additionally, Nintendo shared that a special video message featuring Martinet and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto will be released in the near future.
We have a message for fans of the Mushroom Kingdom. Please take a look. pic.twitter.com/U1ASicOuTO
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 21, 2023
While most gamers likely encountered Martinetti’s work in Mario 64, he was originally hired in 1991 to present an interactive 3D model of a plumber at a trade show. He also played the character in the 1994 Mario Teaches Typing movie and the 1992 Mario Pinball game. After working on Mario 64, Martinet also brought his talents to Luigi, Wario, Waluigi and several other Nintendo characters over the years. Notably, he only had a few cameo roles in the recent Super Mario Bros movie where Chris Pratt voiced Mario himself.
It’s unclear which game will be Martinet’s last as Mario, but fans are already speculating that the mascot’s voice sounds different in early videos of Mario Wonder and WarioWare: Move It.
