Mario’s voice, Charles Martinet, steps down

The man who has been the voice of Mario in the Nintendo game series for decades is stepping down.

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Charles Martinet has voiced the plumber for almost 30 years, making his video game debut in the CD-ROM instructional game “Mario Teaches Typing.”

Nintendo confirmed Martinet’s departure from voicing the character but said that he will still represent Mario as an ambassador and will be “sharing the joy of Mario” at events held around the world, CNN reported.

Martinet posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, saying, “My new Adventure begins!”

Mario’s voice is just as recognizable as his red hat and facial hair, according to CNN.

Martinet said he “crashed” an audition where they were casting the voices of Mario and his brother Luigi in the early 90s.

He said a friend told him about the audition, IGN reported.

He said that the casting director told him, “‘You’re an Italian plumber from Brooklyn for this company called Nintendo. The character’s name is Mario. Make up a voice.’”

Martinet said he repeated how to make a pizza in a falsetto Italian accent.

He was hired to do a tradeshow, voicing a 3D version of Mario that would interact with attendees, according to IGN.

He then voiced Mario in the typing game and eventually “Super Mario 64,″ where many fans first heard Mario speak.

Martinet branched out to other characters too, including Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Wario and Waluigi, BBC News reported.

No replacement has been announced.

Earlier this year, Chris Pratt starred as the voice of Mario in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” BBC News reported.

Martinet, however, did lend a voice to the hit film — that of Mario and Luigi’s father and Giuseppe.

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