Who Should Play Drake in the Uncharted Movie? Maybe Not Mark Wahlberg, Voice Actor Says
"There's still a lot of work and truthfully, I think it's got an uphill battle."
The Uncharted movie has been brewing for a long time now, though we still don't know who will play Nathan Drake or any of the other lead roles.
Now the man who plays the character in the games, Nolan North, has spoken up to say one of the names floated around, Mark Wahlberg, would not be his first choice.
"The last I heard Mark Wahlberg was still in the running, but I really don't see it," he told The Daily Star [link has quite a few NSFW thumbnail images].
Wahlberg's involvement in the Uncharted movie dates back to 2010. At the time, The Fighter's David O. Russell was attached to direct, with Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci, as well as Amy Adams and Scarlett Johansson, mentioned as potential actors. Russell has since dropped out, as has the next man to take the job, Limitless director Neil Burger.
As of November 2014, Horrible Bosses and Identity Thief director Seth Gordon is helming the Uncharted movie. Additionally, Mark Boal, who won an Oscar for The Hurt Locker, is working on the screenplay.
More recently, it was reported that Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World actor Chris Pratt turned down the opportunity to play Drake. That's too bad, North said.
"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."
North added that he would have liked to play Drake, but he thinks he's too old now. He also joked (perhaps correctly) that by the time the Uncharted movie gets made he might be old enough to play Sullivan, Drake's longtime treasure-hunting pal who is many years his elder.
"I wanted the part, back 10 years ago when I was 34/35 doing this kinda thing, but it's taken forever," he said. "Who knows, maybe by the time the producers get it together, I'll be old enough to play Sullivan."
No new details about the Uncharted movie have been announced in quite a while; the current state of the film, which at one time was expected to start filming in 2015, is unknown. North believes the movie has a lot of potential, but it also isn't in the best spot right now.
"People who've seen the script are comparing it to Indiana Jones and National Treasure, but there's still a lot of work and truthfully, I think it's got an uphill battle," he said.
Finally, North said the film's producers wanted him to have some kind of role in it, and he was personally jazzed about this for a time. However, he no longer feels that way.
"The business of Hollywood dictates that you need a big name on the billboard," he said. "I've told them that I really don't want to do a cameo."
In early 2015, a Sony hack revealed a number of new details regarding what was planned for the Uncharted movie, and offered a look at the 124-page script. For his part, North has said he believes fans aren't interested in seeing Hollywood's adaptation of the blockbuster video game series.
Whether or not North is ever in another piece of Uncharted media remains to be seen. Last month's Uncharted 4: A Thief's End was the final game in the series to star Nathan Drake.
Uncharted isn't the only movie based on a Naughty Dog game in the works right now. Sony is making a movie out of The Last of Us, though last we heard, it was stuck in development hell.
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