'Become an actor, you can work on your voices on side'

Voice actor Nolan North is proud to make a living out of what got him in trouble at school

As Nathan Drake in PlayStation’s Uncharted series, Nolan North pioneered a new standard in video game performance while establishing himself as a leading voice actor in both games and animation. But the trick, he says, is not to compartmentalise yourself.

Is there a secret to becoming a voice actor?

There are always people who can do amazing voices, there are great impressionists all over Vegas. But the question is can they act with that voice? Can they sustain it over time, can they create a character? So the answer is — become an actor. You can work on your voices on the side.

What distinguishes a voice actor from an actor who occasionally does voice work?
It’s a choice. One of my friends and the greatest voice actors of all time is Frank Welker (Scooby-Doo, Transformers), whose IMDb page is too long to list. He has gotten to the point where voice is all he does, because it’s all he wants to do. But Stephen Root (King Of The Hill) is more of an on-camera actor who does some voice, and the same with Alan Tudyk (Frozen), who I’m working with on a Web series right now.

After Uncharted it seemed you were in every game, to the point where it became a joke online. Was there a downside to that success?
[Long, smiling pause] Uh, no! Was there a downside? No. The only downside is the idea that it might stop. That I might be found out, or there’ll be a knock at the door.

Did it not pigeonhole you as a voice actor, though? What kind of actor do you consider yourself to be?
A working actor, and in my opinion that’s the best kind. All of us tend to operate from a place of fear, because most of us have been broke. And I’m very proud that I have a wife and kids I’ve supported solely through my income as an actor, for over 20 years.

So how would you sum up your work?
I get paid to do what I got in trouble at school for.