Nolan North is a household name amongst most hardcore gamers, but most movie goers likely have no idea who he is. Well, the star of the Uncharted series gave his input on who could play Nathan in a big budget, movie rendition of Uncharted.
Gamespot is reporting that Nolan North, the performance actor for Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series, spoke to the Daily Star about who could possibly play the role he helped turn into a legendary icon in the world of video games.
According to North, Mark Wahlberg was not a good fit for Nathan Drake (and most gamers didn't think he fit the charismatic troublemaker either), but one person that a lot of people -- including North -- felt would have been a good fit for the character is Chris Pratt, saying...
I thought Chris Pratt would do it justice, but guess what he did it already in Guardians of the Galaxy--that was a Nathan Drake character. He's vulnerable, he's kinda funny, he's kinda that hero with a smirk, cocky and confident. That scene when he says 'I'm Starlord'--that's such a Drake moment.
Gamespot reports that Pratt turned down the role, which isn't too surprising given that the talks about an Uncharted movie have been kept in limbo for so long that it's likely never going to get made at this rate. Pratt being attached to something stuck in development hell would work against his current meteoric rise in Hollywood following smash hits like Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World.
Chris Pratt definitely has the charm and the bravado to pull off playing Nathan Drake, especially with his devil may care attitude and willingness to get physical.
Previously, North had denied making any sort of commitments on who could play the role of Nathan because he wanted to play the role himself. However, he joked in the interview that now that the movie has been kept so long in development hell that he would likely be old enough to play as Sullivan (Nate's older comrade and troublemaker in arms) by the time the movie would be ready for release, saying...
I wanted the part, back 10 years ago when I was 34/35 doing this kinda thing, but it's taken forever, [...] Who knows, maybe by the time the producers get it together, I'll be old enough to play Sullivan.
Many video game movies get jammed in development hell. A Gears of War film was supposed to be made at some point but it just never did. Max Payne managed to get a film that twisted, distorted and ruined so much of the material that it was impossible to think that it was supposed to be Max Payne. That movie starred Mark Wahlberg, by the way.
According to North, the studios offered him a cameo role in the Uncharted film but he turned it down. He wanted a more significant role in the movie based on the game he helped popularize thanks to his invested performance in the role of Nathan Drake.
In some ways I think it would probably be best if there never was an Uncharted film because it would be really tough for them to top the pace, set-piece designs and stories that Naughty Dog managed to craft across the four major games.
