Who Has Played Mario from Super Mario Bros.?

With the premiere of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, now is the perfect time to look through the history of the classic Nintendo character himself. Below, we’ll explore the actors who have played the role of Mario through the years. LET’S a-go!

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Charles Martinet

Video Game

Charles Martinet is the most well-known voice of Mario. In fact, he’s also provided the voice of Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and plenty of other characters in Mario’s world. He first got the role of Mario’s voice actor in 1991. He was hired specifically for video game trade shows, where he would voice the character live behind a screen so that people could interact with Mario live. The motion capture technology copied his mouth movements, and he’d respond to fans in real time.

He’s been voicing the character ever since. While he was the voice of Mario for some years, his major debut arrived in 1996’s Super Mario 64. He’s been the voice of Mario in nearly every video game ever since. So if you’ve ever heard that iconic “Wahoo!” or “Here we go!” it’s all Charles Martinet. When he says, “It’s a-me, Mario,” he really means it!

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Marc Graue

Video Game

Marc Graue voiced the character in a one-off style video game released for the CD-i. The game was called Hotel Mario and saw Mario searching for Princess Peach in the many hotels owned by Bowser. King Koopa and his Koopalings hid her away, so Mario faced every challenge to save her.

Graue provided a voice in all the cut scenes with a distinct Brooklyn-inspired accent. Most interestingly, Mario broke the fourth wall multiple times throughout the project in order to interact with the audience. There are not many other instances where Mario references the audience so directly.

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Bob Hoskins

Live Action

Bob Hoskins played the role of Mario Mario in the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros. movie. John Leguizamo played his brother, Luigi Mario. They were an unstoppable duo! The two heroes worked together to save Princess Daisy from King Koopa, who kidnapped her and brought her through an interdimensional portal to the city of Dinohattan.

While it’s clearly inspired by the source material, it deviates in quite a few meaningful ways. The film goes between dark and completely zany. While Bob Hoskins is a spitting image of the often light-hearted character, he brings a certain depth to the role of Mario and becomes a hero who truly and deeply cares about the world around him.

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Lou Albano

Live Action

Lou Albano really packed a punch when he played the role of Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! This WWE heel turned hero played him in live-action and voiced him in the animated segments of the show. He famously rapped the classic theme song that was even used in recent marketing for the new animated movie.

If you’ve ever been “hooked on the brothers” or needed help with some lousy plumbing, Lou Albano’s Mario is the Mario for you! With fun guests like Rowdy Roddy Piper and charming animation, Lou brought an extra bit of physicality to the character.

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Peter Cullen

Animated

In 1983, on a show called Saturday Supercade, Peter Cullen voiced the character of Mario. Peter Cullen is most easily recognized as the voice of Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise from the ’80s to today. The show featured Mario with some regularity and portrayed him as the owner of his very own circus, alongside Pauline the animal trainer. When Donkey Kong escaped from the circus, Mario and Pauline followed after him in hopes of bringing him back home. Donkey Kong seemed to get roped into strange schemes in nearly every episode and yet, in the end, he foiled each nefarious plot.

Cullen brought a gentle touch to the character. His performance sounds like an authentic voice and deviates from the classic character voice by grounding Mario in reality.

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Walker Boone

Animated

Walker Boone voiced the titular character in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. The show saw Princess Peach, Toad, Luigi, and Mario in the Mushroom Kingdom. In this depiction, Mario was gruff and confrontational, but only in that classic cartoonish way. He was a go-getter, and he constantly had a plan to help out.

Boone was also the voice of Mario in Captain N and the New Super Mario World. The series showed Mario and friends dealing with King Koopa and his schemes. Many references to the characters and aspects of the video games popped up, tying the two closer together than before.

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Toru Furuya

Animated

Toru Furuya himself is known for his roles in Gundam and Sailor Moon. However, he voiced the characters in multiple projects, including Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! and Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros. It should be noted that the former was a Japan-only film released in 1986. That makes Furuya the very first actor to voice Mario in a movie adaptation.

In Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!, Mario was always ready to jump into action. He was happy to help his brother and eager to fight King Koopa (at the behest of a wizard, it seems) but despite his go-getter attitude, he wasn’t much for conversation. Luigi seemed to be the more talkative of the two, which left Mario’s best lines as fantastic reactions.

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Chris Pratt

Animated

On April 5, Chris Pratt will make his mark on the fan-favorite character by voicing Mario in the new feature film The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Pratt is known for his roles in the Jurassic World franchise, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy series, and TV shows like Parks and Recreation. This won’t be his only iconic voice acting role, however, since he’s also set to voice the orange cat Garfield in an upcoming project.

Pratt brings a new style to the voice of the character. While he leans gently toward a New England accent, he keeps the character grounded. Without the general flair and cartoonish silliness, we get to meet a character we can empathize with. That way, we can appreciate the Mushroom Kingdom through the eyes of Mario. It will be just as thrilling for him as it is for us!

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Which depicition of Mario is your favorite? Which depiction did you not know about? And are you ready to jump to the theaters and see the new film?

Share your thoughts with other Super Mario Bros. fans at side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!