Charles Martinet will stop voicing Mario and Luigi in Nintendo games. Although it is the most well-known role of his, he has also done other roles in film, TV, and games.
Charles Martinet, the actor who gave voice and personality to Mario for 30 years, will cease to be the voice of the character. Nintendo has explained it today in a studied statement, thanking him for having been Mario for so many years, and announcing that they will publish a tribute video with Shigeru Miyamoto.
In a subsequent statement sent to some media, Nintendo has said that this decision has not been taken lightly, and responds to a “variety of factors.” Did Charles Martinet want to retire? or is it Nintendo the one that has dispensed with him looking for a new actor?
On Twitter, Martinet has expressed excitement about her new role as “mario ambassador“: he will continue to be linked to the brand, traveling around the world in events with fans.
But many users have expressed concern or disappointment about this decision. Martinet has voiced Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi since the early 90s, in promotional events (although for many his first role was Super Mario 64).
However, Martinet has not only worked with Nintendo games. Martinet’s career is broader than many people think… and if not retiredhas simply left Super Mario behind, now it can be even longer and more diverse.
The other roles of Charles Martinet apart from Mario
Charles Martinet began studying international law in Berkeley, California, but unhappy with the teaching methods he decided to take acting classes to overcome his fear of public speaking… only to discover an innate talent with voices and accents.
Martinet was almost unknown, having only worked in theater, when he was hired by Nintendo in 1991 to provide the voice of Mario at video game conventions: visitors could talk to a 3D image of Mariowhich actually had the voice of Martinet, hidden in a cabin.
Starting with Super Mario 64, everyone recognized Martinet as Mario, and he has given voice to the entire troop (Luigi, Wario and Waluigi, each with their own personality) in dozens of games.
Mario is Martinet’s character (he holds a Guinness record for voicing the character in more than 100 different titles), but he’s not the only one. One of the most memorable is that of the dragon Paarthurnax in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Other video games featuring his voice include Skies of Arcadia (where he interprets Vigoro), C.el Damage, Star Wars Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast, Jet Set Radio Futura, Virtua Quest, Hellboy: The Science of Evil (adaptation of the film by Guillermo del Toro), Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time and the saga Bit.Trip presents Runner.
What many do not know is that Martinet has also acted in some movies, TV series and telefilmsmost between 1986 and the late 90s, when he was already more established as a voice actor.
Some of the most notable are Nine months (1995 romantic comedy with Hugh Grant and Julianne Moore) or The Game (one of the most unknown of David Fincher, in 1997). He also narrated the Netflix documentary series High Score.
More recently, Charles Martinet has voiced Magenta in the film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. And naturally, in the movie Super Mario Bros. He voiced the father of Mario and Luigi (including dubbing in Spanish and Catalan).
