Nolan North
An interview with the star voice of the Uncharted and Assassin’s Creed series, and one of the most ubiquitous everymen in gaming.
One major difference between voiceover and other branches of acting is that the industry itself cares nothing for actor branding or profile (outside of the odd cameo by an on-camera celebrity). Easily replaced by a more malleable sound-alike, the actor has no leverage for the divalike antics that can plague on-camera or theatrical projects. As one of the most prolific voice actors working in videogames today, Nolan North’s success depends on more than his natural gifts. Game voiceover requires intense focus and full flexibility, the delivery of lines and exclamations in a range of bespoke interpretations within a firm time window (usually an hour to four hours). North has a reputation for delivering top-notch work every second of his session—and for keeping everyone in stitches throughout.
Known by gamers for prominent lead characters like Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series, Desmond Miles in the Assassin’s Creed games, and the Prince in Prince of Persia (2008), he’s recognized by his trademark everydude sound—sometimes with a bit of a batshit twist, as in the case of Steven Heck in Alpha Protocol, or Deadpool in several Marvel Comics titles. However, North has an extensive repertory of character voices, and his range extends to professional impersonations: he stepped in to dub lines for John Travolta when the actor was unavailable on the 2009 film The Taking of Pelham 123.
