"I've played all the Super Mario games, from arcades to Kart": Interview with Claudio Santamaria, the voice of Mario in Super Mario Galaxy

When Claudio Santamaria says he played all the Super Mario games long before lending his voice to him in the first animated film, it's easy to believe him. Not only because of the way his eyes light up as he recalls the hundred-lira coins he fed into arcade cabinets, when as a boy he spent hours on the first platformers (still his favorite genre today), but also because of the almost technical enthusiasm with which he reacts to a question about Mario Kart: which one?, he immediately asks, before starting to discuss ideal game configurations and group dynamics.

In this context, his return as the vocal embodiment of the Plumber in Super Mario Galaxy, after the success of the first chapter in 2022, seems almost inevitable. Santamaria, after all, is someone who throughout his career has often encountered characters and franchises that have become cult, establishing a relationship with some of them that goes beyond work. Figures who, he says, end up accompanying him even off set or out of the dubbing studio, transforming into lasting passions.

Our conversation - about ten minutes - starts from the link between the film and Mario's video game legacy, and from what it means to confront a character whose identity is so strongly conveyed through voice, only to end up talking about James Bond, an icon Santamaria encountered closely after growing up watching and rewatching films with Sean Connery, up to his participation in Casino Royale, an experience he still defines as "a dream". And from there the conversation naturally drifts to other personal myths: Batman, whom he has already voiced, and especially his perfect counterpart, the Joker: a character who, if he can never play him in person, he would at least like to tackle in the dubbing studio, for the freedom and nuances he offers.

Claudio Santamaria, actor and gamer: from the arcade to the dubbing studio with Super Mario Galaxy  

What was it like to return to voice Super Mario? Did you have to "find it again" or did it come naturally?
Claudio Santamaria – At first you have to readjust a bit, it's inevitable. But I've learned over time not to worry too much about the first scenes: we do them anyway, but already knowing that we'll probably redo them at the end of the shift, or at the end of all the dubbing. I like to go back and review the beginning, because in the meantime you warm up, you find your voice again, you get into the character better. In fact, going back to the first scenes after dubbing the entire film, I realized that some things needed to be reviewed, and we redid them, improved them, made them better. This is a bit my way of working: I don't get stubborn right away, I move forward and slowly get back into this little guy with a mustache.

In the first film, you worked a lot on the iconic nature of the video game voice. Did you feel it was more yours this time?
Claudio Santamaria – No, this time I already felt it was mine, I really felt it inside. The biggest work was on the first film, when we had to figure out what this voice could be and set it up. We worked a lot on that at the beginning, especially to prevent the character from slipping into something too dramatic in the more emotionally low scenes, where an actor might naturally tend to go. The dubbing director, Carlo Cosolo, always reminded me that we are inside a cartoon: so, even when you're sad, you have to find a "cartoon voice", which can mean everything and nothing. It's a very fine line: it has to be real, but at the same time it's a truth that belongs to a fantasy world.

Did you work in the studio with the other voice actors or alone?
Claudio Santamaria – As is customary here, I was alone in the studio. I believe that dubbing, sometimes, is even more difficult than shooting a live scene, because you have many more technical constraints. You have to be real, find a truth in what you do, but it's a truth that has already been set by someone else. You have to breathe when he breathed, pause when the person who voices the character you're dubbing paused. Maybe you would have done it differently, but you have to adapt. This is one of the main difficulties of dubbing.

As a long-time Super Mario fan, have you also played Galaxy?
Claudio Santamaria – I've been playing Super Mario since I was a kid. Galaxy… wait, what year is it from?

2007. The one with the 3D planets.

Claudio Santamaria – Ah, yes! But I've really played them all. From the first video game in the arcade: I'd put in a hundred lire and play the very first Mario Bros, the one with the turtles and platforms, where you'd jump on enemies and then hit them from below to flip them over. I've always been a big video game enthusiast in general, but Super Mario is one of my great passions from when I was a boy, along with James Bond movies. 

Mario Kart or classic platformers?
Claudio Santamaria – Mario Kart is special especially because it's a communal game: you play with others, you have fun, you share the experience. However, personally, I prefer platformers. I like them more, especially when you can also play with two people, because that introduces an additional difficulty that I find very entertaining.

After voicing the character, how did it feel to replay Mario and hear him speak?
Claudio Santamaria – It was incredibly fun. When you have passions as a kid and then, as an adult, you get so close to that passion that you somehow become it, it's a very beautiful thing. It gives you great satisfaction.

You mentioned James Bond earlier, I want to give you the opportunity, as everyone does these days, to declare your interest. In case...
Claudio Santamaria – I did it, James Bond, I had a part in Casino Royale… I was a fan as a kid, I watched and rewatched the movies with Sean Connery dozens of times. When I had the chance to participate in Casino Royale, it was a dream for me. 

So if the call came...
Claudio Santamaria – I speak English very well… then I don't know, maybe I'd have to be actually English.

Speaking of dreams: you've voiced comedic characters, cartoons, but also very dramatic roles: is there a character you dream of voicing?
Claudio Santamaria – There would be many. In cartoons I'd say Homer Simpson, because he's incredibly funny to me. As for cinema, I'd say Joker: I've already voiced Batman, so Joker would be an incredibly fun character to tackle, with very different nuances. And then it would be nice to finally play a villain.