The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Who does Charles Martinet play in Chris Pratt's animated film?
The Super Mario Bros. movie which was released on April 5, 2023, stars Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, and Charles Martinet in major roles. While Pratt, Tayor-Joy, and Day appear as the lead character, Charles Martinet plays two important roles. His first role is an original creation character, Giuseppe, and the second one was Mario and Luigi's father.
Giuseppe looks very similar to the main protagonist Mario and appears very early on in the film. After Mario and Luigi watch their Super Mario Bros. Plumbing commercial on TV in Punch-Out!!! Pizzeria, they were skeptical if they went overboard with their Italian accents.
At the time, Giuseppe is standing next to them playing Jump Man on an arcade machine. He tells them that their accents are perfect and even mimes Mario's jump as he shouts "Wahoo!" to show him some support.
Apart from this, he also plays the role of Mario and Luigi's extended family members, including their grandfather as well.
Charles Martinet first appeared in a game as Mario in 1994
Born on September 12, 1967, Martinet's family moved to Barcelona when he was 12 years old, and later to Paris. After attending the American School of Paris and graduating in 1974, he attended the University of California, Berkeley. After his friend suggested he take acting classes to fight his fear of public speaking, he did a monolog from the Spoon River Anthology.
After earning an apprenticeship at the Berkeley Repertory Theater, Martinet went to London to attend the Drama Studio London. This is where he polished some of his other skills and discovered his talent for accents and dialects.
Charles Martinet began working for Nintendo in 1991. The voice actor began voicing Mario at video game trade shows. During these shows, attendees would walk up to a TV screen that displayed a 3-D Mario head that moved around the screen and spoke. The system was called Mario in Real-Time or MIRT.
Martinet's first appearance in a game as Mario was in the 1994 CD re-release of Mario Teaches Typing. However, most first listened to his voice in the monumental 1996 game Super Mario 64. Charles was also the person who came up with the idea that Mario dreamt of pasta during his sleep. In the last game, Mario says:
"Night nighty. Ahhh spaghetti, ahhh ravioli, ahhh mamma mia."
After Super Mario 64, he voiced Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Metal Mario, Shadow Mario, Mini-Mario Toys, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Baby Wario where most characters speak. He also voiced Mario's enemies Wart, Mouser, Tryclyde, and Clawgrip in Super Mario Advance.
Martinet provided voices for characters in games like Super Punch-Out!!, Dreamcast, Skies of Arcadia, Shadow of Destiny, Reader Rabbit, The ClueFinders, etc.
He voiced the dragon Paarthurnax in the 2011 video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and provided the voice of Magenta in the English dub of the 2022 anime film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
What is The Super Mario Bros. Movie about?
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. It follows the origin story of Mario and Luigi.
According to the film's synopsis, the Italian-American brothers, who work as plumbers and are transported to an alternate world. They get caught in an intense battle between the Mushroom Kingdom, led by Princess Peach, and the Koopas, led by Bowser. However, when the brothers are separated, Mario goes on a quest to find his brother Luigi.
The synopsis adds that Mario is assisted by the Mushroom Kingdom resident, Toad, and is trained by Princess Peach, who is the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. With all this at his disposal, Mario "taps into his own power."
The film stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Browser, and Keegan Micheal-Key as Toad. The film also has several other major stars in supporting and major roles.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is produced by Chris Meledandri and Shigeru Miyamoto, with music helmed by Brian Tyler and Koji Kondo. It is currently playing in theaters across the US.