Did you catch that video game moment on the beach in Uncharted?
This isn’t really a spoiler since Sony Pictures revealed the surprise in an ad, but there’s a fun cameo that ties directly to PlayStation’s hit Uncharted series, which was the inspiration for the new Tom Holland-led action movie. Knowledgeable viewers no doubt spotted it themselves, but Nolan North, the acclaimed video game voice actor who has played Nathan Drake in every Uncharted game, makes an appearance.
It’s right after that big airplane escape/skydiving setpiece. After Holland’s Drake, along with Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali) manage to escape death against all odds, they find themselves on the beach of some tropical resort. As they trudge out of the water and up the beach, a man sitting in a beach chair flashes a smile their way.
“What the hell happened to you two?” the man asks of the two soaked and bedraggled stars. “Fell out of a car then fell out of a plane,” Holland-as-Drake replies matter-of-factly. “Huh,” the man replies, adding, “Something like that happened to me once.” He then wishes the two a friendly “Good luck!” as they walk away.
That man is North. Even if you don’t recognize him — he’s a prolific voice actor in video games, but not everyone knows his actual face! — the scene provides some assistance in the form of the game’s theme music. It’s playing in the background as the two Drake actors have their own kind of Spider-Man pointing meme moment.
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Even if Sony hadn’t spoiled the North surprise in an ad that ran before Uncharted hit theaters, it was never going to be a surprise for long. North himself has done some interviews on his Uncharted cameo, and he even sees a way to keep the good times rolling if he does return in a theoretical sequel.
North, who is adamant that he wouldn’t have been the right actor to play a live-action Drake at age 51, shared his thoughts on returning during an interview with Variety.
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“Maybe some day they find Drake’s long-lost father, I’d be old enough by [the time an Uncharted sequel is out],” he said. In the imagined redux cameo, he pictures Holland’s Drake having a moment of recognition where he’d shout: “You’re the guy from the beach!” North would then reply: “I’ve been watching you, kid. You’re doing great.”
It would be cute! The Uncharted cameo on its own is one of the new movie’s highlights. Holland shows in Uncharted that he’s got more range than fans of his turn as Spider-Man may recognize. He anchors this movie and makes it more of a fun time than you might expect. But Uncharted is also weighed down by some strange casting choices (Mark Wahlberg as Sully??) and a sadly underused cast of colorful villains and scoundrels.
Uncharted released in theaters on Feb. 18.
