Charles Martinet became the voice of Mario by crashing an audition he was not invited to.

In 1990, a friend told Charles Martinet about an audition for a trade show. The project used a system called Mario in Real-Time which allowed a digital character to talk to people. Martinet arrived late and asked the producers to let him audition before they packed up their gear.The producers told him to play an Italian plumber from Brooklyn. Other actors used deep, gruff voices for the character. Martinet chose a high-pitched, happy voice because he wanted the character to sound kind to children. He talked about pasta and jumping for several minutes until the videotape ended.The tape was sent to Nintendo creator Shigeru Miyamoto who chose Martinet immediately. His first major game role was in Super Mario 64 in 1996. This game was the first time Mario had many different vocal expressions in a 3D world.Martinet voiced Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi for 33 years. He stepped down from the role in 2023 to become a Mario Ambassador. His performance made Mario one of the most recognizable characters in the world.