Charles Martinet Voices Mario Sans Improvisation

Charles Martinet, who voiced Mario for nearly three decades, has clarified how he will perform for fans during meet-and-greets—and the reasons behind it—after a recent convention appearance sparked online confusion.

Now officially recognized by Nintendo as a Mario Ambassador, Martinet is cherished for enthusiastically delivering his Mario voices when meeting fans in person. However, a recent social media post from YouTuber Ricky Berwick raised concerns that Nintendo had restricted what Martinet could perform—until Martinet himself stepped in to clear things up.

Following Martinet’s appearance earlier this month at Phoenix Fan Fusion 2025 in Arizona, a post by Berwick—who has 6.25 million YouTube subscribers and 14.1 million 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” at the event. “It’s a f**king shame,” Berwick added.

The post quickly drew attention online, arriving just hours after it was revealed that Martinet’s former colleague Samantha Kelly had been replaced as the voice of Princess Peach and Toad. Kelly was reportedly informed of the change on the same day the Nintendo Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World released without her involvement.

Nintendo officially retired Martinet from the role in 2022, though the company honored him with a farewell video featuring Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and the assurance that Martinet would continue collaborating with Nintendo as a Mario Ambassador. Martinet later admitted he wasn’t entirely sure what the title entailed but has remained active on the convention circuit in the years since.

Now, responding to Berwick’s claims, Martinet explained that the issue in question was not about performing voices, but about improvising dialogue as his former Nintendo characters—including Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and others.

“Oh Ricky, I do the voice for every fan I meet,” Martinet wrote in reply. “I just don’t improvise non-Mario phrases or dialogue.”

Martinet elaborated that this was his personal choice, stemming from his desire not to have Nintendo’s characters say anything outside the established context of the 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 in all Nintendo video games is now provided by Kevin Afghani—or by Hollywood’s Chris Pratt in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which is set to receive a sequel next year.