Mario voice actor Charles Martinet plans to voice the iconic plumber for the rest of his life, or at least as long as it's physically possible for him to say 'wa-hoo!' and 'yipee!' convincingly.
Martinet has been voicing Mario for almost 30 years, officially starting with the Super Mario Bros. pinball machine in 1992. The 66-year-old actor says he's since recorded over 5 million audio files as Mario and doesn't plan on stopping any time soon. Speaking during a Q&A session at Fan Expo Canada attended by The Game Creator (via Eurogamer), Martinet said he plans to be the voice behind Mario for as long as he's alive.
"I want to voice Mario until I drop dead," Martinet said in response to a fan question. "If someday I think I am no longer capable of doing it, I will tell Nintendo to look into finding someone else."
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Martinet was also asked to touch on the internet's favorite Nintendo anti-hero, the underrepresented Waluigi, who Martinet also voices. And as it turns out, the actor has a genius idea for a game centered around Waluigi that turns the traditional video game structure on its head. "I want to voice Waluigi more," Martinet said. "I think he should get his own game where you have to cheat to win."
You heard the man, Nintendo. Let's make it happen.
Naturally, Martinet's famous voice appears in a number of entries from our extensive list of the best Switch games available now. He'll also appear in the upcoming Mario animated movie starring Chris Pratt.
