Charles Martinet Wants To Continue Voicing Mario For As Long As He Can

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman

In a recent Q&A session with fans at FAN EXPO Canada: Limited Edition, Martinet spoke about his experiences in how he auditioned to be the voice of Mario, as well as how the character got his iconic voice. One thing that did stick out, however, was that ever since he got the role, he wanted to continue playing him for as long as he could. Martinet even retorted to one fan asking how long he'd be able to continue voicing Mario with the statement "I want to voice Mario until I drop dead."

While this might be a sigh of relief to fans, Martinet did address the possibility that he wouldn't be able to continue voicing the icon in the future. "If someday I think I am no longer capable of doing it, I will tell Nintendo to look into finding someone else," he said. In regards to a successor, he said that he'd be touched that someone would want to fill his shoes, but doesn't think he'll be done as the voice of Mario just yet, thanks to the millions of audio files available and frequent recording sessions.

The rest of the Q&A had fans asking about Martinet's experience and his favorite parts of the Mario franchise. Some enlightening answers were given, such as his favorite game being Super Mario Sunshine, due to its happy nature and message of cleaning up the island. He also wants Waluigi to get his own game, since he'd love to voice him more often.
 

In a recent interview with Retro Gamer, Charles Martinet spoke about many aspects of his time playing Mario in the Super Mario franchise. Among the details learned in the discussion, it was revealed that he has a deep connection to the character. Interestingly, this connection went far beyond work as he even stated that he often dreams as Mario. "These characters for me are always there," he noted. According to Martinet, these dreams often see him flying over lakes and oceans and have a "Galaxy-Esque" feel to them. Furthermore, he revealed that some of these dreams are even in 2D.

In addition to speaking about his love for Mario, Martinet talked about the varied approach to playing the character. In the interview, he revealed that each time working for Nintendo is different. According to the voice actor, sometimes his dialogue is recorded only a couple of weeks before a game releases, while other times, it could be years before the launch of a title. In addition, he noted that the amount of time spent recording lines varied significantly depending on the project. "I've recorded an hour, and I've recorded 20 hours," he said. In addition, he stated that one of his favorite projects to work on was Super Mario Odyssey for the Nintendo Switch due to how "the characters change and switch."
 
Rh8nJ93.gif
 
I don't like the new voice of Luigi. He sounds off. Also, Rosalina no longer has that special sound to her voice. Not sure what Nintendo was thinking with that one.
 
Last edited:
I don't like the new voice of Luigi. He sounds off. Also, Rosalina no longer has that special sound to her voice. Not sure what Nintendo was thinking with that one.
I actually really like Afgani's Luigi voice, but Rosalina has had a big downgrade over the years.
 
Last edited:
You're gonna get replaced with AI real soon, buddy.
I really hope this is not about money considering how much Charles has helped make for Nintendo.

Nintendo would replace Miyamoto with AI if they thought it wouldn't affect the bottom line.

Bummer though. The guy's like 70 and probably thought he could voice the character pretty much forever - I'm not aware of people saying his voice has changed. It's hard to imagine how much it's worth to him though - it'd be AT MOST couple of days in the studio saying "Let's a go!" and "Mama Mia" maybe a couple of times a year, so he must have been getting royalties to make it something worth getting excited about. I wonder if his role as some sort of brand ambassador is the thing here, Nintendo has definitely used him for PR and appearances (which is how people know about him), maybe they don't want that anymore and the actual voice performance isn't worth that much to them.

I hope he saved a good chunk of his money for retirement.
 
Last edited:
But wasn't doing Mario et al destroying Charles's voice? I know they specifically reused his library from Smash Brawl for later Smash Bros, even some in Ultimate.
 
But wasn't doing Mario et al destroying Charles's voice? I know they specifically reused his library from Smash Brawl for later Smash Bros, even some in Ultimate.

Why would it be? Even if it was strenuous it's not like he would have been doing an 8 hour shift 5 days a week.
 
I just exchanged a few emails with Charles last month. He's been enjoying his retirement quite a bit, and still having fun playing Mario at conventions and the like. I'm happy for him.
 
Top Bottom