Nolan North (born October 31, 1970) is an American actor best known for his voice acting roles. After his breakthrough role as Dr. Chris Ramsey on the ABC soap opera '' Port Charles'' in 1997, North moved into voice acting when the show ended in 2003 and has since become best known for his video game roles as Nathan Drake in the ''

Uncharted ''Uncharted'' is an action-adventure video game franchise published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog. Created by Amy Hennig, the ''Uncharted'' franchise follows a group of treasure hunters who travel across th ...

'' series, Desmond Miles in the ''

Assassin's Creed ''Assassin's Creed'' is an open-world, action-adventure, and stealth game franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil and its more advanced derivatives. Created by Patrice D ...

'' series, Merasmus in ''

Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video game), Quake'' and ...

'',

the Prince ''The Prince'' ( it, Il Principe ; la, De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of ''The ...

in Prince of Persia (2008), Dr. Edward Richtofen in the ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold War, futuristic ...

'' Zombies mode,

Deadpool Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadpo ...

in various

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

media, the

Penguin Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adap ...

in the '' Batman: Arkham'' franchise, Captain Martin Walker in '' Spec Ops: The Line'',

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

in ''

The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel (The Last of Us), Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie (The Last of Us), Ell ...

'', himself as one of the voices for the player character in ''

Saints Row IV ''Saints Row IV'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Volition and published by Deep Silver. It is the sequel to 2011's '' Saints Row: The Third'', the fourth installment of the '' Saints Row'' series, and the final main installment i ...

'', Tony Stark in '' Marvel's Avengers'', and Ghost in the ''Destiny'' video game series. In animation, North voices Smokescreen on '' Transformers: Prime'' and Superboy on '' Young Justice''.

Early life

North was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

. He was raised in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, southwest of Boston, Massach ...

, where he attended and played baseball at Bishop Hendricken High School. He majored in journalism with a baseball scholarship at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

, and spent the next year working as a reporter in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

before moving to New York City to pursue a career in stand-up comedy and acting.

Career

North eventually relocated to Los Angeles, where he was cast as Dr. Chris Ramsey in the ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...

'' spin-off series '' Port Charles'' in 1997. He worked as a voice actor on a few video games during this time, and began to focus on this career path following the cancellation of ''Port Charles'' in 2003. One of North's most notable voice roles came in 2007, when he voiced and performed

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...

for the protagonist Nathan Drake in the video game '' Uncharted: Drake's Fortune''. Since then, he has continued to portray the character in '' Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' (2009), '' Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'' (2011), and '' Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' (2016), as well as the

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international terri ...

exclusive '' Uncharted: Golden Abyss'' (2012). In an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', he said his time as Drake requires "a lot of imagination" because "motion capture is basically theatre in spandex; there's minimal props, and you need a willingness to make an ass of yourself". For his role as Drake, he has twice been nominated at the Spike Video Game Awards in the "Best Performance by a Human Male" category. North's other notable video game voice roles include the Prince in ''

Prince of Persia ''Prince of Persia'' is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is built around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia. The first two games i ...

'', Vossler in ''

Final Fantasy XII is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. The twelfth main installment of the '' Final Fantasy'' series, it was first released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. It introduced several innovations to the series: an open ...

'', Eradan in '' Lord of the Rings: War in the North'', the male Jedi Consular in '' Star Wars: The Old Republic'' and its following expansions,

in ''

'', Dr. Edward Richtofen in the "Zombies" mode of the ''

'' series, Brawl in '' Transformers: War for Cybertron'', and Ghost Rider in '' Marvel: Ultimate Alliance'', as well as Shadow Demon, Lycan, Lone Druid, Brewmaster, Gyrocopter, Ogre Magi, Meepo, Earth Spirit, Troll Warlord, and the Keeper of the Light in ''

Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to '' Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota ...

''. He voices various ''

'' characters such as the Engineer (partially), Merasmus, Redmond Mann, Blutarch Mann, Zepheniah Mann, and the Bombinomicon. He also replaced Peter Dinklage as the voice of the Ghost in '' Destiny: The Taken King'', and additionally re-recorded all of Dinklage's lines from the base game ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

''. He continues to voice the character in subsequent releases. Following the release of '' Destiny 2: Forsaken'', he portrayed not only Ghost but also took over the role of Cayde-6 from

Nathan Fillion Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on ''Firefly (TV series), Firefly'' and its film continuation ''Serenity (2005 film), Serenity'', ...

. In the 2013 film ''

Star Trek Into Darkness ''Star Trek Into Darkness'' is a 2013 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof. It is the 12th installment in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and the sequel to t ...

'', North made one of his few increasingly rare live-action appearances since becoming a voice actor. Director J. J. Abrams had cited North's performance as Drake in the decision to cast him as a starship helmsman, as he and his son are fans of the ''Uncharted'' series. In a May 2012 interview, North said, "

brams is Brams is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Steven Brams (born 1940), American game theorist and political scientist * Ingeborg Brams (1921–1989), Danish film, radio, television, and theatre actress See also * Brahms (surname ...

a huge fan of gaming and he was telling me how people just don't understand he mediumyet, 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 Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy F ...

, one of the greatest actors on the planet, did ''

''. 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's animation roles include the voices of

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

in '' Wolverine and the X-Men'', Snow Job in '' G.I. Joe: Renegades'',

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

in '' TMNT'', both Superboy and

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...

in '' Young Justice'', and Smokescreen in '' Transformers: Prime''. He has also voiced Blaze in ''

Blaze and the Monster Machines ''Blaze and the Monster Machines'' is a computer-animated interactive children's television series with a focus on teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) that premiered on Nickelodeon on October 13, 2014. The series rev ...

'' since 2014. He was honored at a special event hosted by the

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

during the 2018 EA Expo, where he was given a special award for "outstanding contribution to performance in games". In April 2018, North began hosting ''Retro Replay'' with fellow voice actor and frequent co-star

Troy Baker Troy Baker (born April 1, 1976) is an American voice actor and musician. Baker is known for his video game roles, including Joel Miller in ''The Last of Us'' (2013) and its sequel (2020), Booker DeWitt in '' BioShock Infinite'' (2013), Samuel ...

. The show, which featured the two playing games in which they were involved while giving behind-the-scenes commentary on the making of the games, partnered with Rooster Teeth in April 2019. Baker left ''Retro Replay'' in April 2020, due to an apparent disagreement on the future direction of the show. The following month, North announced that the show was ending its partnership with Rooster Teeth. He had a brief cameo in the 2022 ''

'' film adaptation and also narrated the audiobook edition.

Personal life

North married his ''Port Charles'' co-star Jill Murray on June 4, 1999. They have two children together.

Filmography

Voice acting

Film

Animation

Video games

Live-action

Film

Television

Audiobooks

Accolades

Nolan North has received multiple awards and nominations for his work in the ''Uncharted'' series (2007–2016), as well as other video games including ''

'' (2013), ''

'' (2013), '' Assassin's Creed II'' (2009) and the television shows '' Young Justice'' (2010–present) and '' Transformers: Prime'' (2010–2013). ; The Game Awards {, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" , - ! scope="col" style="width:1em;", Year ! scope="col" style="width:25em;", Nominated work ! scope="col" style="width:40em;", Category ! scope="col" style="width:5em;", Result , - ! scope="row", 2016 , ''Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' , Best Performance , ; British Academy Games Awards {, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" , - ! scope="col" style="width:1em;", Year ! scope="col" style="width:25em;", Nominated work ! scope="col" style="width:40em;", Category ! scope="col" style="width:5em;", Result , - ! scope="row" , 2012 , ''Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'' , rowspan="3", Best Performer , , - ! scope="row" , 2013 , ''Uncharted: Golden Abyss'' , , - ! scope="row" , 2017 , ''Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' , , - ! scope="row" , 2018 , Nolan North , Special Award , ;

D.I.C.E. Awards The D.I.C.E. Awards (formerly the Interactive Achievement Awards) is an award show in the video game industry started in 1998 and commonly referred to in the industry as the "video games Oscar". The awards are arranged by the Academy of Interac ...

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" , - ! scope="col" style="width:1em;", Year ! scope="col" style="width:25em;", Nominated work ! scope="col" style="width:40em;", Category ! scope="col" style="width:5em;", Result , - ! scope="row" , 2010 , ''Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' , Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance , , - ! scope="row" , 2016 , ''Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' , Outstanding Achievement in Character , ; Spike Video Game Awards {, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" , - ! scope="col" style="width:1em;", Year ! scope="col" style="width:25em;", Nominated work ! scope="col" style="width:40em;", Category ! scope="col" style="width:5em;", Result , - ! scope="row" , 2009 , ''Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' , Best Voice , , - ! scope="row" , 2011 , ''Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'' , Best Performance by a Human Male , ;Behind the Voice Actors Awards {, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" , - ! scope="col" style="width:1em;", Year ! scope="col" style="width:25em;", Nominated work ! scope="col" style="width:40em;", Category ! scope="col" style="width:5em;", Result , - ! scope="row" rowspan="3", 2012 , rowspan="2", Nolan North , Voice Actor of the Year , , - , Voice Actor of the Year, People's Choice , , - , Best Male Vocal Performance in a Video Game , Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="3", 2013 , Nolan North , Voice Actor of the Year , , - , ''Young Justice'' , Best Male Lead Vocal Performance in a Television Series, Action/Drama , , - , ''Transformers: Prime'' , Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role, Action/Drama , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="4", 2014 , Nolan North , Voice Actor of the Year , , - , ''Deadpool'' , Best Male Lead Vocal Performance in a Video Game , , - , rowspan="2", ''The Last of Us'' , Best Male Vocal Performance in a Video Game in a Supporting Role , , - , Best Male Vocal Performance in a Video Game in a Supporting Role, People's Choice , , - ! scope="row", 2015 , rowspan="2", Nolan North , rowspan="2", Voice Actor of the Year , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="2", 2017 , , - , ''Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' , Best Male Lead Vocal Performance in a Video Game ,

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:North, Nolan Living people American male film actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors Bishop Hendricken High School alumni Comedy YouTubers Gaming YouTubers Male actors from Connecticut Male actors from New Haven, Connecticut North Carolina Tar Heels baseball players UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media alumni YouTube channels launched in 2018 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 1970 births The Game Awards winners