Uncharted’s Tom Holland on Having “Free Rein” to Create His Version of Nathan Drake

Nathan Drake is a character who will go down in the PlayStation Hall of Fame with Naughty Dog’s version which is voiced by Nolan North in Uncharted video games. Now, Tom Holland has taken on the live-action version of the character in Sony’s Uncharted film. It’s an origin story of sorts for the character who has appeared in several video games, picking some of the key storylines and launching them into one cinematic franchise. According to Holland, he had “free rein” to make the live-action Nathan Drake his own version of the character while also honoring the character known from games which he is very much a fan of.

“When we were developing this character and this film, we were kind of trying to figure out how I would play him,” Holland told ComicBook.com. “And there was a discussion at one point where they wanted me to just mimic Nolan North, and I started doing a little bit of work into it and I think we all came to the conclusion that we needed to make this film unique.”

Holland added he wanted to, “pay respects to the games,” but also make sure it came across as a fresh character and story.  “It needed to have something new about it,” he said. “So, they then gave me free rein to kind of go away and develop this character in my own way.”

This does come with some differences. Nathan Drake in the games is a cocky son of a gun, something Holland brought to the films with his own touches of a sympathetic side, as well. However, one big difference Holland notes is also the age of the respective Nathan Drake characters. “Obviously, the differences are that he’s younger,” Holland said. “I think one of the traits that he has is he’s very trustworthy, which ultimately is something that he definitely shouldn’t be in the world of treasure hunting which isn’t something that he is necessarily very, he’s not very trustworthy in the games. But no, there are a lot of similarities but lots of differences.”

Are you excited to see Uncharted? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram! Watch ComicBook.com’s full Uncharted interview with Tom Holland on our official YouTube channel! For more Uncharted insights, check out this week’s Phase Zero podcast episode for an extended interview with Uncharted director Ruben Fleischer. Uncharted hits theaters this weekend.