Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario for almost 30 years, has clarified how he will perform in-character when meeting fans — and the reason why — after confusion sparked on social media following a recent convention appearance.
Now recognised by Nintendo as an official Mario Ambassador, Martinet is beloved for enthusiastically performing his Mario voices when greeting fans in-person. But a recent social media post by YouTuber Ricky Berwick prompted concern that Martinet had been restricted by Nintendo in what he could perform — until Martinet himself spoke up to offer clarification.
Following an appearance by Martinet earlier this month at the Phoenix Fan Fusion 2025 convention, held in Phoenix, Arizona, a social media post by Berwick — who has 6.25 million subscribers on YouTube and 14.1m subscribers on TikTok — claimed the voice acting legend “wasn’t even allowed to do the voice of Mario or any of his iconic character’s voices” while at the meetup. “It’s a f**king shame,” Berwick added.
The post caught the internet’s attention, as it came just hours after it was revealed that Martinet’s former Mushroom Kingdom colleague Samantha Kelly had been replaced as the voice of Princess Peach and Toad, with the actress told of the change by Nintendo on the day Nintendo Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World launched without her in it.
Nintendo officially retired Martinet back in 2022, though provided the actor with a notable send-off in the form of a farewell video featuring Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and the promise that Martinet would continue to work with Nintendo as Mario Ambassador going forward. Martinet himself later stated he wasn’t really sure what that title bestowed, but has maintained a busy schedule of convention appearances in the years since.
Now, in response to Berwick’s post, Martinet has responded to state that the issue in question here was that of him performing improvised dialogue as one of his former Nintendo characters (alongside Mario, Martinet also voiced Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi and others).
“Oh Ricky, I do the voice for every fan I meet,” Martinet wrote in response. “I just don’t improvise non-Mario phrases or dialogue.”
Martinet went on to state that this was his own decision, born out of his own desire not to have Nintendo’s character say things that weren’t already a part of the company’s games.
“That’s my choice to be sure,” Martinet continued. “I always maintain the integrity of the character. But come and visit me at any Comic Con or fan expo and you’ll hear super Mario for sure! #woohoo”
Mario’s voice is now provided by Kevin Afghani in all Nintendo video games — or Hollywood’s Chris Pratt in the Super Mario Bros. Movie, which next year will get a sequel.
Photo by Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
