The setup was obvious. The payoff was inevitable. Charlie Day, the voice of Luigi in the Super Mario Galaxy Movie, was asked a question designed to bait him into referencing one of the most controversial figures in recent American history. And he took the bait without hesitation.
During a promotional interview in Tokyo on the podcast Tintoria, Day found himself unable to resist jumping on the Luigi Mangione bandwagon.
Day was seated alongside co-stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Keegan-Michael Key when the interviewer posed a seemingly innocent question: “Who’s your favorite Luigi in recent American history?”
The room knew exactly where this was going. Key immediately burst into raucous laughter. Taylor-Joy hid her face with her hand, trying to suppress a smile. Day himself repeated the question with exaggerated disbelief, clearly aware of the subtext.
Then he played along. “Well, me, first of all. Number one,” Day said, promoting his own role. Then came the punchline: “Luigi Mangione, number two.”
The hosts praised Day for delivering “the answer of their dreams”.
The reference connects to Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk in December 2024. Mangione faces both state and federal charges, with his New York state murder trial now scheduled to begin in September.
Since his arrest, the internet has flooded with memes linking the accused killer to Nintendo’s beloved green-clad plumber simply because of their shared first name.
Nintendo has spent decades guarding its family-friendly image. A lead actor directly tying its franchise to an alleged murderer during a press tour is unlikely to go over well at company headquarters.
The Tintoria interview wasn’t all about Mangione. In the same conversation, Taylor-Joy was asked to give “three reasons why monarchy is better than democracy,” while Key fielded a question about whether Toad should “start a revolution” against Princess Peach.
But it’s Day’s answer that has traveled the farthest. For some, it’s a harmless joke between comedians. For others, it’s a reckless reference to a real-life tragedy during a family film’s promotional cycle.
Either way, Charlie Day made sure nobody forgot who voices Luigi.
