Mario Kart Actors React After Veteran Toad, Peach Voice Recast

The voice actors stepping into the roles of Toad and Princess Peach in Mario Kart World have spoken out for the first time after Samantha Kelly was unexpectedly replaced following an 18-year run.

Samantha Kelly discovered her 18-year tenure voicing Super Mario's Princess Peach and Toad had ended on Nintendo Switch 2’s launch day—the very day Mario Kart World released without her involvement. Since her debut in 2007's Mario Strikers Charged, she had voiced Peach and Toad across more than 70 titles for Nintendo DS, 3DS, Wii, Wii U, and Switch.

As reported by Eurogamer, Paul Castro Jr. and Courtney Lin—the new voices of Toad and Peach, respectively—have each confirmed their roles via their X/Twitter accounts.

"I can finally reveal my role in Mario Kart World... I voice the TOADs!" Castro shared. "All the male Toads you encounter throughout your journey in Mario Kart World are brought to life by me! I've been playing during my travels, and it's an absolute blast. Thank you, Nintendo, for helping me fulfill this childhood dream."

Lin posted: "It’s official… I’m the voice of Princess Peach and Baby Peach in Mario Kart World! I’m endlessly grateful to Nintendo for entrusting me with carrying on the legacy of such an iconic character."

"These characters are so much bigger than any one person. I feel deeply honored and still can’t quite believe it. I have tremendous respect for all the talented Peaches who came before me, especially the one I grew up watching. I’ll give my all in every performance and hope you’re all having as much fun playing the game as I had working on it. Wahooo!! Sweet."

Nintendo has grown increasingly strict about the early release of credit information from its games—so much so that it often withholds the names of developers prior to a game’s launch.

In related news, we recently learned that Takashi Nagasako, who voiced Donkey Kong for 21 years, is also no longer credited for the role in Mario Kart World. Kouji Takeda is now listed as the voice of Donkey Kong across all language versions of the game, including Bananza. Takeda previously voiced Donkey Kong in the Japanese dub of the Super Mario Bros. Movie and now appears to have taken over the character’s video game voice role as well.

These shifts in Nintendo’s previously steady voice cast follow the retirement of Charles Martinet, the long-time voice of Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi, after nearly three decades.