Charles Martinet: "I want to voice Mario until I drop dead"
"I'm not going anywhere for a long time!"
Charles Martinet, the one true voice of Mario, has said he wants to continue in the role until he drops dead.
Martinet, who is 66, has been the voice of Nintendo's legendary mascot since 1992. After almost 30 years, Martinet has portrayed the plumber in around 100 games.
But, controversially, Martinet will not play Mario in Nintendo's upcoming Super Mario movie - which seems likely to be the character's most verbose outing yet. Instead, Nintendo chose Hollywood hunk Chris Pratt for the job, and said Martinet will instead be included in cameo roles.
Speaking during a Q&A event held at Fan Expo Canada, Martinet was asked about his future as Mario (thanks, The Game Crator).
"I want to voice Mario until I drop dead," Martinet replied. "If someday I think I am no longer capable of doing it, I will tell Nintendo to look into finding someone else."
Martinet also voices the roles of Luigi, Wario and Waluigi.
Fans have wondered about the structure of the Super Mario movie - and the potential for the real Mario to still be voiced by Martinet, before Nintendo's mascot is somehow inhabited by Chris Pratt.
Queen's Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy will join Pratt to play Princess Peach, while Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Day will be Luigi. Jack Black will voice Bowser. Keegan-Michael Key will play Toad. Seth Rogen will voice Donkey Kong.
Nintendo is yet to reveal any plot details for its film, which is set to be released in cinemas during December 2022.
Even after Martinet does drop dead, the voice actor says there's potential for him to still inhabit the character.
"I hope there will still be Mario after I am gone," Martinet concluded. "Anyways, there are over five million audio files of me voicing Mario. I go into the studio and record 45 takes of every sound I can think of, so I'm not going anywhere for a long time!"