Who does Charles Martinet play in The Super Mario Bros. Movie?

Nintendo and Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. MovieMario now has a new actor Guardians of the GalaxyChris Pratt is series’ star. He subs in for the man who’s been voicing Mario for three decades: Charles Martinet, famous for his cheery “Wahoo!”, “Let’s a-go!”, and “It’s-a me, Mario!” delivery. But Martinet — who is also the video game voice of Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi — does make an appearance in Super Mario Bros. MovieIt plays a crucial role.

Martinet’s involvement in the Super Mario Bros. MovieIn 2021, Mario creator Shigeru Mikamoto revealed the film’s voice cast. In a Nintendo Direct presentation during which Miyamoto announced the film’s voice cast, he said Martinet was “also involved and will be appearing in surprise cameos in the movie.”

You can find out who Martinet plays in by clicking here Super Mario Bros. Movie, and you don’t feel like sticking around for the credits (even though you really should), here’s the answer.

[Ed. note: The following contains light spoilers for The Super Mario Bros. Movie.]

Martinet plays TwoThe movie has several important parts. Giuseppe is an original character who first appears in the film. This man looks almost exactly like Mario from another reality. Luigi and Mario watch Super Mario Bros. The Punch-Out! TV commercial for plumbing airs! Mario, Pizzeria wonders if Luigi and Mario may have had a little too much fun with their exaggerated Italian accents.

“What about the accents? Is it too much?” Mario says.

Playing next to a character Jump Man on an arcade machine (a clever stand-in for Nintendo’s Donkey Kong), chimes in to say that their accents are “perfect!” and does an enthusiastic Mario jump and shouts “Wahoo!” in support. That’s Giuseppe, voiced by Charles Martinet. This moment is a blessing to the voice actors. It’s delivered by Mario, the voice Nintendo fans are familiar with over the last 25 years. It’s meant as a hand-off — maybe even a tacit approval — from Martinet to Pratt.

We are soon introduced to the Others character Martinet voices in Super Mario Bros. Movie: Mario and Luigi’s dad. In a scene featuring Mario and Luigi’s extended family of aunts, uncles, nieces, and grandfather, we get to hear Martinet again.

Martinet doesn’t lean into his typical Mario voice as the father figure. Instead, he closely matches Pratt’s Mario and Charlie Day’s Luigi, with a slight Brooklyn Italian accent. What really seals the deal for Mario and Luigi’s dad is a line Martinet delivers near the end of the movie, when he excitedly refers to the duo “my boys.” It’s a piece of dialogue that lands, especially when you know Martinet is behind it as the voice who brought Mario and Luigi to life.

Super Mario Bros. Movie Premieres at theaters April 5.