E3 Interview: Charles Martinet
Interviewed by: Glen Bayer, David Hellman, Dean Bergmann
Transcribed by: Jeff Van Camp
At this years E3 (Electronics Entertainment Exposition 2003), N-Siders very own Glen Bayer, Dean Bergmann, and David Hellman had the good fortune to get a chance to sit down and chat with Charles Martinet who, among other things, is the voice of Mario and several other classic Nintendo characters.
Mr. Martinet was at Nintendo's booth this year where he provided the voice to an interactive 3D rendition of Mario and Wario on a large television screen. He interacted and chatted with Nintendo's booth babes and personnel and did trivia and such while people waited in line to play Mario Kart: Double Dash. He was also known to cheer on whoever was racing with his particular character at the moment and yell at anyone who got ahead of his character in the races. Mr. Martinet himself was behind a curtain where he and animators work to bring the character to life. It was quite an entertaining thing to witness.
David: Hello, Im David.
Charles: Hey David. Im Charles.
Glen: Im Glen, nice to meet you.
Charles: Hi Glen. Nice to meet you.
Glen: So were just wondering what voices you have done in Mario Kart? Such as Wario and Mario.
Charles: Mario, Wario, Luigi, Waluigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi. [laughs]
Glen: So which one was your favorite?
Charles: Oh, you know something, I love every single one of them. I have so much fun doing their voices. We set up these two days of recording and we went through all the characters. Im so happy with each one I do and, of course, I love to come up with a new idea like (baby voice) [Baby Luigi] "ebee weegie Ahh!" (end voice) you know just coming up with a new one. What I love, what Ive always loved, is when I first did Baby Mario, which is one of my favorite things [voices] to do (Baby Mario Voice) "Baby Mario say, I wonder why I don'ta get da bowl. Whack! Whack! Whack!" (end voice). [laughing by N-Sider staff] Theres something so fun about that [voice]. You know Mario is always one of my favorites [as well].
Glen: Are there any other games that you are involved in?
Charles: Well I think Im in Rogue Squadron III.
Glen: Oh really?
Charles: Yeah thats gonna be hot, and Wario World and Mario Kart: Double Dash are there [as well]. And soon Ill be recording another "one."
Glen: What voice(s) are you going to be doing for Rogue Squadron III?
Charles: Oh you know, a bunch of Star Wars-ey guys [chuckle]. Pilots and people that are fighters and [people] getting crashed and things like that. I actually did a lot of voices for that [game].
Dean: When are you starting on the "other one?"
Charles: Oh the other one, probably in a couple of weeks, the "other one." Yeah. Thatll be the "other one."
David: The mysterious "other one?"
Charles: [nods] The mysterious "other one."
David: Is that for Nintendo?
Charles: Yeah. [nods]
Dean: Well of course.
David: A mysterious Mario "one?"
Charles: It could be. It very well could be. Haha. You know they didnt say it [yes] to me, and they didnt say no to me. So Im like "hmm hm hmmm, hmm hm hmm" [looks up innocently with finger on mouth]. I dunno yet. Yes, soon there will be another "one."
Dean: Will you be doing any new voices for that "one?"
Charles: I dont know. You know, thats the sort of thing I often find out when I walk in the door. [Nintendo will be like] Okay heres the new character, lets put a voice to it. So theres like this whole creative part of having fun [to it].
Glen: So do they have a set voice that they want you to do or do you come up with your own?
Charles: They kind of give you a lot of freedom to come up with your own voice. Yeah it is fun. [In regard to] that whole voice of Mario thing, I went and I crashed this audition. They were putting the camera away and I said "oh let me just audition" and they said "okay, Plumber from Brooklyn. An Italian sort of sounding thing. Youre talking to kids all day." I sat there thinking, what do I wanna do, (Mafia Dude Voice) "Hey how ya doin!" (end voice) and I said "no no no that sounds too rough." I wanted something that would be fun for children and everybody of every age, you know. The guys a plumber in love with a princess. All the sudden they said "okay, camera, action!" and the only thing that came out of my mouth was (Mario voice) "Hello, Itsa me, Mario!" (end voice). Thats the voice that stuck.
David: You just have tremendous insight into the Mario character. Do you visualize the entire personal history of the character? You know, their relationships and everything?
Charles: You know it's interesting some of the stuff that comes from me. Ive done a ton of different videogames, some of them are shoot-em-up and blood-and-guts sort of things and, you know, thats always interesting to do because its a creative piece of process. What I love about Mario so much is that he's a personal character, [has] values, and is just sort of this sweet wonderful loving guy who loves his brother and loves his family. Hes a common guy who falls in love with a princess and spends his life rescuing and loving that princess. [He is] sort of like the perfect person to be.
Glen: So what do you think about Bowser? Dont like him?
Charles: [laughs] I say (Wario voice) "Hes a rotten guy! All rotten!" (end voice). [Points to TV monitor with Wario on it] There he is. [Chuckles] Oh yeah.
Dean: So how many game voices have you done or recorded in total? Do you have that you might remember?
Charles: Oh I dont know. You mean how many videogames am I in?
Dean: Yeah like how many different character voices have you ever done?
Charles: More than 100 games and and you never know what kind of [voices you will be doing]. You know, some of them are New York Taxi drivers and military people. I did one game many years ago and I went in and they started like, "there are 100 people that are being mowed down by the military." So I had to die for each [laughing from N-S staff], you know, person. They were like "This guy gets hit by a hand grenade, ok? This guy gets run over by the tank. This guy gets shot and right through the head. And this guy gets shot" and so on.
Glen: Okay, so you had to make different sounds for each of them?
Charles: Yeah, so like five minutes later. Oh I would say (Dying voice) "Oooh! Aah! Uuugh! Euuhuh!" (end voice) You know, I must have done every way of dying in the world.
Dean: Can you do any impressions of famous people in the world or anything?
Charles: I dont do many impressions. Oh I can do impersonations of Mario. [laughs]
Dean: Oh, psh.
David: Is there any reason why [you like] games? Its different from doing cartoons or something. Youre doing little sound bytes basically...
Charles: Yeah.
David: ..., which play when the player triggers them somehow. Rather than something that plays nonstop.
Charles: I do animations too. I love the animations. I love anything to do with the voice. Creativity when it comes out of the person is fun to me. I love doing television or film or corporate things, radio or TV advertising. [I will do] anything thats creative and fun to me. Anything thats creative is fun for me. My philosophy on life is do what you love, do what brings you joy and happiness and brings happiness to other people. You may not be rich and famous, but youll always be happy and youll always be doing what you love. So Im just saying, what is it, if you do what you love youll never work a day in your life. [laughs] I kind of live by that.
David: If you think about characters, of course, a player takes on that role, and you do.
Charles: Yeah. [nods]
David: Your playing Marios voice, but then when Im playing Super Mario Im also Mario.
Charles: Yeah.
David: So its different from, uh you know, Tom & Jerry or something like that.
Charles: Yeah, it is fun. Thats one reason why I like Mario the most, because it is sort of like he goes through any hurdle in life with a positive attitude about it, (Mario voice) "Whoo Hoo!" (end voice), and when he goes through [bad times], (Mario Voice) "Oh Ooh!" (end voice), you know he never does a (dying voice) "Uuugh! Euuhuh!" (end voice) dying sort of thing. Even though he dies hes like (Mario Voice) "Wah...ha ha ha haaah!" (end voice). Theres still fun in it. There is still a gentleness in it.
Dean: Have you ever done any cartoons like, not related to Nintendo obviously since Super Mario is something youve done but...?
Charles: Yeah, I think Ive done about 20 different cartoons of different things. International versions for Sony Wonderfilms, Tarzan, Noahs Ark, and all that sort of thing. So a lot of different things. Anything to do with voice I run for.
Glen: Have you had a chance to walk around the show floor or is there a game that [catches your eye]?
Charles: You know, I very seldom walk around the whole show floor. Ill do it like tomorrow and Ill do it towards the end of the day when things are starting to quiet down, because theres just...so many people and there is so much noise and I dont want to get in a conversation with somebody screaming because I have to preserve my voice for this [points at television monitor with Wario on it], you know. [laughs]
David: Youre out there and youre an attraction but you are in this nice and protected little area.
Charles: [looks around] Yeah and it really is pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, you know. [laughs]
Glen: Have you played any games from Nintendo though?
Charles: Yeah, I think it was yesterday I was playing Mario Kart: Double Dash, which I thought was awesome; I love that one. You know on the show floor its like 30 percent done so you dont get to see yet what the whole game is going to be like. Its going to be faster, have more tracks, more sounds, more options of switching characters around, so thats going to be fun. I love it, I love it. And I also think about Wario World which I think is hilariously fun. Yeah that was fun. [chuckles] And I played the Carrero Race Car game, which I was a total failure at.
Glen: Where is that?
Charles: Its way over on that track setup thing. Yeah and that thing goes like 780 miles per hour over a 12 inch track. And as soon as you turn corners, if you havent figured out how to slow down, its like Wham! and flies off into the crowd, you know. [laughs] I really sucked at that game.
David: What did you think of the, did you see the Mario live action movie?
Charles: Yes I did.
David: Were you actually for that?
Charles: I watched it.
Dean: Do you wish that you could have been him when you were younger? Put the real voice in there?
Charles: Oh yeah that would have been fun. I dont look anything like him though. Ill tell you what I would love to see, an animated series for Mario. I think that would be hilariously fun, and an animated movie.
Dean: If you think back. I mean that was the greatest thing in the 80s, the Mario Bros. Super Show. Nintendo needs another one of those.
Charles: Yeah
Dean: The new generation of gamers growing up with Nintendo need, even if its just 3D anime, some kind of Mario show or movie. Something that would make people go "oh like its just like the games." Even an animated movie would be awesome. A Mario movie that was true to the series.
Charles: [nods] Wouldnt that be great. I would love that. You know and thats the great thing, look at the system here, to have a 3D animation system that a guy can sit there and do it in real time and the animators can go in and fix it in the background.
Glen: So if Nintendo ever decides to do put a voice to Link, would you like to do that?
Charles: I would love to do every voice for Nintendo I possibly could. I love it. Its such a joy. Theyre the nicest people to work with. We have a great time. They have wonderful food at every session. Great sushi lunches, which I absolutely crave. As soon as I know Im going to work a session I go pablovian and go "oh, I cant wait to order sushi." [laughs] Its a rough life; its very involved. Its work work work work work. Yeah. [laughs]
N-Sider Crew: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us.
Charles: (Mario Voice) "Whoo Hoo! Thank you so much!" (end voice)
N-Sider would like to thank Mr. Martinet for taking the time to speak with us.