14 DAY TRIAL // Nolan North, probably one of the most active voice actors out there, has talked about his newfound popularity and said that he tries to do all sorts of voices for the variety of characters he brings to life, even though some may sound eerily familiar to players.
North is probably one of the most popular voice actors in the gaming industry, portraying characters like Nathan Drake, from the Uncharted series, Desmond Miles, from Assassin’s Creed, or, more recently, The Penguin, in Batman: Arkham City. He also had more minor roles in a variety of games, which didn’t exactly thrill some players who don’t really like his generic voice.
Speaking with Grantland, North revealed that he’s quite a versatile voice actor but, in recent years, lots of his projects appeared at the same time, leading to some people becoming a bit annoyed by his work.
Fortunately, some new games, like Batman: Arkham City, where he gave life to the Penguin in a remarkable Cockney accent, have allowed North to show off his range.
“I'm sure you've heard people say that I only do one voice,” said North. “Desmond Miles is my voice but a little darker. Nate is another little side of a personality. But they're not the same person. Penguin wasn't my way of saying, ‘See? I can do other things!’”
“I'm proud of the versatility I've had since I was in high school, getting in trouble for all these voices. What happened was that there were so many of these big heroes I played - in Dark Void, Assassin's Creed, Shadow Complex, Uncharted, and Prince of Persia - and they all showed up at about the same time. It got a little ridiculous. When Portal came out, and I was listed in the credits, people were asking me, "Were you really in that?" Yeah! I did three spheres and some turrets.”
If you still want to hear North in all his glory, quite a lot of games have appeared in the last couple of months with North in major roles, from Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, to Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, or the aforementioned Batman: Arkham City.