Kate Higgins On Playing Pauline And Singing The Mario Odyssey Theme Song

GameInformer recently got to interview the American voice actress who plays Pauline in the newly-released Super Mario Odyssey. The publication got to find out some interesting things about her role, auditions and also her thoughts behind the odd but catchy lyrics. Higgins is also well-known for her role in Naruto where she plays Sakura. She is also Barbie in the show, Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse. She even played Miles “Tails” Prower in a number of Sonic games.

How did the role of singing “Jump Up Superstar” come about? Did you audition for something mysterious and learn what it was later? Or did you have a good idea what it was early on?

Well, I was asked by my friends at Cup of Tea studio, who were doing all the voice recording, if I was interested in singing a song for a Nintendo video game. They recommended me to the client in Japan, so Japan had me audition basically by sending them some samples of my voice. I don’t know if other women were in the running or not, but fortunately, they liked what I sent them so they said, “Yes! Let’s do it!”

I can’t remember when I learned the song was for Super Mario Odyssey. It may have been a few days before the actual recording session.

What did you think of the lyrics when you first saw them? “Odyssey, yes-see, odyssey, yes-see” – that’s kind of a weird lyric, right?

Well, there are a lot of lyrics, [laughs] so at first, I was like what? But then I discovered how clever and fun they were and how well written it is.

It’s actually, “Odyssey ya see.” That never struck me as strange, but you’re not the first person to mention that oddly enough.

She doesn’t do much speaking in the game, but do you play Pauline’s in-game voice as well?

Yes I do! Apparently, it’s a pretty big deal because she’s never spoken before. It’s really an honor, and exciting to give her a voice.

You can read the full interview here.

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