Recently, it has been announced that voice-acting veteran, Charles Martinet, will no longer be voicing Mario, Luigi, and other characters from the Super Mario franchise. This article is meant to be not only a love letter and tribute to Mr. Martinet but also a warm welcome to the not-yet-announced new voice for Mario and his friends. Without further ado, let’s-a-go!
Crashing into stardom
The year was 1990 and American actor Charles Martinet crashed an audition to voice act a video game character from Nintendo named Mario, a small stubby Italian plumber from Brooklyn. Martinet’s original idea for Mario’s voice was a scruffy middle-aged man with an Italian accent. Of course, this wouldn’t be the final voice as it didn’t sound particularly appealing to a wide audience.
In a 2009 interview with the Television channel, Channel Bee, Charles Martinet said, “If I’m going to be talking to people, I don’t want to do something gruff or mean to them.”
Unable to think of another voice, the auditioner shouts “ACTION!”. Charles quickly began speaking in a high-pitched Italian voice for 35 minutes before the auditioner said that there was no more tape. Charles Martinet quickly got the job and would voice Mario and Co. for nearly 30 years.
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He was interacting with the fans!
Charles has visited numerous conventions over the years such as GamesCom in Germany, GalaxyCon which varies but is in the U.S., and TooManyGames in Pennsylvania. He is constantly hosting meet and greets, taking videos with cosplaying fans, and filming his trips around the globe. All of his trips and visits can be found on his Instagram page, @charlesmartinetitsame.
Ending on a high note
Despite not being the voice of Mario or Luigi in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Charles Martinet had the role of two characters. One was “Giuseppe” who was a reference to “Jump-Man,” Mario’s original design. More importantly, the other was Mario and Luigi’s father. His last line in the movie was a proud “These are my boys!”, which is pretty sweet as one of the biggest reasons Mario and Luigi are so recognizable and beloved is due to the INCREDIBLE voice work done by Charles Martinet.
What’s next?
Since the curtains have closed on Charles Martinet’s Mario voice after a nearly 3-decade run, what’s next? Where does Mario go from here? Charles’s retirement was announced via a letter on all of Nintendo’s official Social media mentioning a peculiar new role for Charles Martinet, “Mario Ambassador”.
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
Not long after, a special video message was published on YouTube. As previously stated it featured both Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles Martinet going over the great times they’ve had the past years while also going more in-depth on what the new “Mario Ambassador” role was about. Charles explained the role, saying he would continue to meet fans around the world to spread the whimsical joy of Mario for years to come.
Just over a month later, the new voice for Mario and Luigi was revealed as Kevin Afghani, a Los Angeles voice actor who’s done previous work as a limited-time NPC (Non-Playable Character) called Arnold in the mobile game, Genshin Impact. The news was broken via a post on Kevin’s Twitter or “X” account.
Incredibly proud to have voiced Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Thanks to Nintendo for inviting me into the Flower Kingdom!
— Kevin Afghani (@KevinAfghani) October 13, 2023
Mario and Luigi’s new voice can already be heard through the many trailers and adverts for the upcoming game, Super Mario Bros. Wonder releasing this year on October 20th. Most Mario fans agree that Mario and Luigi’s new voices are amazing and a worthy successor to the original voice of the Mario brothers, Charles Martinet.
