Mario’s Voice Actor Reveals How Crashing Into the Audition Got Him the Iconic Role

Mario, the Italian plumber in Red and Blue clothing, comes to every Nintendo fans’ mind when thinking about the Japanese giants. He is the most significant Nintendo character and has appeared in over 200 games. Now, he is set to appear in the upcoming animated film, The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Recently, the trailer dropped for this movie, and fans witnessed the American actor Chris Pratt’s voice as Mario. It was a shock to fans as they were more accustomed to hearing Charles Martinet’s voice in that role since 1992. Martinet’s voice as that iconic Nintendo character has made a golden place in many hearts. So much so that fans even wonder how he becomes Mario’s voice.

How did Charles Martinet become the iconic Mario voice?

Martinet once appeared on a YouTube channel, A Great Big Story, where he shared about the incident behind him getting the role. The American voice-acting legend revealed that when he went for the Mario audition, the people taking it were leaving for the day. But he asked them to give him a chance.

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So, they briefed Charles about Mario’s character and asked him to come up with dialogues for the audition. But the voice actor was shocked to know it was a video game character. Suddenly, he was asked to say his lines for the audition. Out of the blue, Martinet randomly said in the iconic Mario voice, “Hello, I’m-a Mario. Let’s make a pizza pie together. You go get some-a sausage, I’m-a go get some spaghetti, We put spaghetti and-a sausage in the pizza.”

The American voice actor was then stopped as the tape couldn’t record further. So they asked him to leave but claimed to remain in contact. The American actor gave up on the role after being asked to leave. But while leaving, he heard someone on the phone saying, “I found a Mario. I got him.” Since then, it has been a 26-year-long journey with Mario.

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Martinet’s story of getting Mario’s role was fun. But it proved the uncertainty of life, as Charles would have never considered getting the voice acting role for the iconic video game character.

What do you think about this story? Were you aware of the beginning to one of the iconic voices in the history of gaming?