Nolan North wins part in Star Trek 2 off the back of Uncharted
J. J. Abrams is a big Nathan Drake fan.
Veteran video game voice actor Nolan North has won a role in big screen blockbuster Star Trek 2 off the back of his work on the Uncharted series.
North told Eurogamer that director J. J. Abrams asked him to appear in the forthcoming movie sequel as he was a big fan of PlayStation 3 hero Nathan Drake.
"I just worked on Star Trek 2 with J. J. Abrams," he revealed.
"The reason I did that movie - it's a very small role - but it's because he and his son are huge fans of Uncharted. I met him doing some work on Super 8 and he said 'We're doing Star Trek, you wanna do it?' And I said I'd love to.
"He's a huge fan of gaming and he was telling me how people just don't understand [the medium] yet, but they're going to catch up. They don't understand how amazing this technology is and it doesn't get the respect it deserves, but if it keeps making the money it makes you're going to see more and more people converted.
"I mean, Gary Oldman, one of the greatest actors on the planet, did Call of Duty. He wouldn't have done it 10 years ago. It's a new age dawning, and I'm just really proud to be part of it."
North also touched on how video game narratives and dialogue have improved immeasurably since he first got into the voice acting business nearly 10 years ago.
"Gaming is being held to a new standard," he insisted.
"I really think Naughty Dog and Uncharted have really set the bar - the cinematic quality and story quality.
"I think it's a very difficult thing to write for a game. You have to think of your story structure but also how that is incorporated into gameplay to make it a fun game. For instance, what [Naughty Dog creative director] Amy Hennig does - it's pretty amazing how she can so seamlessly have her story narrative lead into gameplay.
"Over the last decade gaming has just grown by leaps and bounds and I think it's still going up."
North's latest role is as Captain Martin Walker in 2K shooter Spec Ops: The Line, which is on shelves from 29th June. The Star Trek sequel is due in cinemas next May.