You Probably Missed One Sneaky Easter Egg in Tom Holland’s ‘Uncharted’ Movie That’ll Have Every Gaming Fan Jump Out of Their Seats
Based on one of the critically acclaimed video game franchises developed by Naughty Boy, Uncharted is an action-adventure film directed by Ruben Fleischer. The movie starred Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg as Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan, respectively. The movie, just like the video game, followed Drake being recruited by Sullivan in a race against a corrupt billionaire and mercenary leader to locate the treasure of the Magellan expedition.
Upon its release, the movie received mixed reviews; however, it performed well at the box office and became the fifth-highest-grossing video game movie of all time. Ardent fans pointed out a one-minute yet significant cameo in the movie that got all the video game players thrilled.
Nolan North’s cameo in Tom Holland’s Uncharted got ardent fans excited
For a lot of people, Uncharted might relate to Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, but for ardent video game players, it’s going to actor Nolan North, who had voiced and performed motion capture for Nathan Drake for nearly a decade. According to reports by Variety, fans wanted Nolan North to play the character on-screen in the adaptation, which was later played by Holland.
North noted that he knows people wanted him to portray the character in the movie, but according to him, it shouldn’t be him because he’s 51 and the character is young. The game portrays Drake in his mid-30s with a couple of flashbacks showing him as a teen meeting his mentor, but in the movie, those flashbacks serve as the groundwork for the origin story, introducing the audience to Drake’s early adventure days with Sullivan.
But just for the fans, the actor made a cameo in the Uncharted movie, where Drake and Chloe Frazer, played by Sophia Ali, survive plummeting from a cargo plane.
The entire sequence was reportedly inspired by an action set in the video game Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. When the current to a beach town carries the two of them after they manage to float down into the water with the help of a parachute, a very familiar voice greets them, which says, ‘Whoa, what the hell happened to you?’ To which Holland’s Drake replies, ‘Fell out of a car, then fell out of the plane’, and this voice says,
Huh. You know, something like that happened to me once.
This familiar voice is no one else but Nolan North. The actor’s appearance in the movie was described as short and sweet, just the way he had hoped he’d contribute to the movie. North’s cameo made fans thrilled and satisfied, as for the longest time they had expected the actor to make an appearance as Nathan Drake on-screen, but if not the lead, they got to see him in a cameo that is a pretty memorable one.
Nolan North talks about his cameo in Uncharted
In his conversation with Variety, Nolan North explained that, according to him, cameos can be touchy, and he had told the makers that he doesn’t need to be in the movie just to be in the movie. He added,
I don’t like to be taken out of a movie. When I’m watching one, I’m focused on it. From what we did, it’s just enough of a nod that everyone goes, ‘Ah, that’s the guy!’ And then we’re right back into the film. I was adamant with them; I didn’t want it to be self-indulgent. It’s a quick little thing, and it works for the scheme of the film, and it’s fun. Like Stan Lee’s stuff in Marvel movies. They always were perfect.
Even though it was a cameo, the scene took about four days to film in Barcelona due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also mentioned that Tom Holland’s take on Nathan Drake impressed him, as he explained,
I was super impressed by Tom Holland—not only his talent but also the person he is—and watching him interact with the cast and crew. At the beach, there were so many extras and people who wanted to see him. There were crowds of young girls waiting to see him come off the set, and he waved, and they screamed. I waved, and they didn’t scream, but that’s ok. Some of their moms did.
North continued that voicing Drake changed his life as it went on to give him financial security as a working actor. He said he could travel more than he thought of, noting that Uncharted has been the 10 best years of his life and having with some of the most creative people he’s ever known.
Uncharted is streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
