• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Nathan Fillion Finally Responds To Not Being Cast As Nathan Drake In Uncharted

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman

GAMINGbible recently sat down with Fillion ahead of the release of The Suicide Squad to ask if he had any regrets about not being cast as Nathan Drake. Take a look at what he had to say below:

"'My only regret is that we had to wait so very, very long for someone to do something so we could actually see some Uncharted stuff," Fillion explained. "Other than that, I think all my boxes have been checked. I'm pretty excited to see what they do with that. I love movies and those guys have never let us down; Tom Holland, come on, Mark Wahlberg. We're gonna have a great time."
 
What.

I'm sorry guys, but Nathan Fillion being casted for the role of Drake is although the best choice, but it is realistically impossible.

For that to happen, the original Uncharted needed to come out in 2004 and be a smashing hit by the time the sequel happens in 2006 or 2007.

Point in case:

1) Uncharted 1 came out in 2007.
This is Nathan Fillion in 2007:

jan-18-2007-hollywood-california-usa-actor-nathan-fillion-at-the-smokin-CFTMN6.jpg

The original Uncharted was nowhere near the huge franchise of a game with a pedigree behind it as it is today, so no movie would be made then - realistically speaking.

This is, the best, and only time, in which Nathan Fillion would have fit the role as in later years, he didn't age well for the role.

Moving on.

2) Uncharted 2 came out in 2009. This is Nathan Fillion in 2009:

0c6c9ca9c5a852b228341011ffd171f8.jpg

This is the turning point where the franchise truly broke new ground and acquired all the accolades that has now firmly placed ND into a respective studio. But, a second game in a franchise is almost ever hardly turned into a video game during a time where the trend of turning movies into video games were at it's peak.

At this rate, Nathan Fillion has aged just a little and we can see him slowly become less leaner. Not a big deal as any production with money can put their actors for training before a movie. Not ideal, but workable.

Moving on.

3) Uncharted 3 came out in 2011. This is Nathan Fillion in 2011:


mar-19-2011-los-angeles-california-us-nathan-fillion-attending-the-CDKGNJ.jpg

Uncharted 3 was probably where the franchise was at it's height in terms of brand and marketing power. This in itself is reflected by how ridiculously bombastic the third entry in the franchise is, which unfortunately tarnished the story end of things in the game. But, the popularity was definitely at it's peak and the time where a talk about a movie can be seriously had (but not really).

Unfortunately, Nathan Fillion at this time has become a far more relaxed man and it shows. Making this particular time and year to be the worst time to cast him as Nathan Drake as originally portrayed in the original trilogy.

TL/DR:


Not to say it wouldn't work, but his star power had waned by the time any serious talk of a film ever got off the ground after franchise gained huge success in later entries, and he wasn't at his prime at the time those talks started.

No one was going to do a Marvel and hire an actor with no huge star power for a video game movie with likely a huge budget at the time.

At least we got this fan film:

 
Last edited:
Should they ever adapt the 4th game, I do still see him working in the role as a Retired Drake going on one or even two more adventures. Prob won't happen though. it would be really nice at the very least that they could continue that fanfilm and end whatever it was that he was after in it.
 
Last edited:

GAMINGbible recently sat down with Fillion ahead of the release of The Suicide Squad to ask if he had any regrets about not being cast as Nathan Drake. Take a look at what he had to say below:

"'My only regret is that we had to wait so very, very long for someone to do something so we could actually see some Uncharted stuff," Fillion explained. "Other than that, I think all my boxes have been checked. I'm pretty excited to see what they do with that. I love movies and those guys have never let us down; Tom Holland, come on, Mark Wahlberg. We're gonna have a great time."

I actually read that in his Nathan Drake voice.


Celebrate Nathan Drake GIF by Naughty Dog
 

Airbus Jr

Banned
Hes a bit old now imo Liam Hemsworth should be Nathan Drake to replace tom holand young drake
 
Last edited:

Kenpachii

Member
No was talking about the country.

for actor i guess aston kutcher

official holland isn't a country.

aston kutcher i would say is also on the older side. tom holland is the best cast so far still. They can do tons of movies with him still over years to come if its a success.
 
Last edited:
i can't believe Sony hired a pasty skinny british 12 year old...to play nathan drake.

I wanted the dude from Falling Skes or dude from Burn notice
 
my choice for drake was always breckin meyer

mark-paul-gosselaar-breckin-meyer-shirtless-shirtless-on-franklin-bash-set-15.jpg


and david belle would do the stunts

maxresdefault.jpg


nathan fillion is a goddamn giant at 6'2

drake is supposed to be a smaller more nimble circus acrobatic type

nathan fillion doing stuff like this would look so awkward, and it does as you can see in his fan film dude moves around like a tree trunk

 

Kenpachii

Member
47 is to old, no future.

The guy can be in his late 30's at its latest and even then i think they prefer somebody around the 30's if the series becomes another indiana jones situation.
 
He's just being polite, inside he is saying fuck that shitty fucking poorly cast movie. I don't care if he was 90, he should be in that movie.
This. Love NF but wish he'd have let a little more hard edged truth fly.

Side Note: Tom Holland has proven his acting chops outside Spiderman. But he's terrible casting for Drake.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
It'll be a tragedy that Nathan Fillion won't ever play Nathan Drake. But at least we got that fantastic fan-made film by him.

I feel if they ever make an older* Nathan Drake film, Chris Pratt would also be a perfect fit.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
my choice for drake was always breckin meyer

mark-paul-gosselaar-breckin-meyer-shirtless-shirtless-on-franklin-bash-set-15.jpg


and david belle would do the stunts

maxresdefault.jpg


nathan fillion is a goddamn giant at 6'2

drake is supposed to be a smaller more nimble circus acrobatic type

nathan fillion doing stuff like this would look so awkward, and it does as you can see in his fan film dude moves around like a tree trunk



Drake is neither small nor very acrobatic in any of the games. He's a pretty average dude (although pretty fit) who stumbles and falls through most situations.
 

Kuranghi

Member
Nathan Fillion aside, I have a bad feeling about the film, I think its going to be a big poo.

No offense to Tom Holland but he just doesn't have the same energy as Drake in the games, Tom is too ritalin-y. Drake was like that in only a handful of scenes across the games and its where a normal person would have their heart rate/worriment up because someone he loves is in danger, he's been caught squeezing the wrong arse or is about to die.

Spoilers for Uncharted:

This is just turning into me being annoyed about Uncharted 4's crap story elements, remember in 2 where he fucks Chloe off screen at the start but then thats laid to the side as a dalliance when they were separated and he gets back with Elena at the end.

In 4 its all this unnecessary drama bullshit, where he has settled down to normal life except he secretly yearns for adventure (subconsciously?) and his wife even wants him to be more adventurous (for him to be happy) but he thinks she doesn't want him to or wants to protect her or some crap (Even though they went through sooo much crazy shit together in 1-3 already) its like the scenario and actions of the characters are completely at odds with the dialogue and overarching story.

Bah, humbug!
 

MrS

Banned
Nobody is going to the cinema to see a nathan fillion film. the guy is box office cancer. casting him would have been a big mistake.
 

dEvAnGeL

Member
What.

I'm sorry guys, but Nathan Fillion being casted for the role of Drake is although the best choice, but it is realistically impossible.

For that to happen, the original Uncharted needed to come out in 2004 and be a smashing hit by the time the sequel happens in 2006 or 2007.

Point in case:

1) Uncharted 1 came out in 2007.
This is Nathan Fillion in 2007:

jan-18-2007-hollywood-california-usa-actor-nathan-fillion-at-the-smokin-CFTMN6.jpg

The original Uncharted was nowhere near the huge franchise of a game with a pedigree behind it as it is today, so no movie would be made then - realistically speaking.

This is, the best, and only time, in which Nathan Fillion would have fit the role as in later years, he didn't age well for the role.

Moving on.

2) Uncharted 2 came out in 2009. This is Nathan Fillion in 2009:

0c6c9ca9c5a852b228341011ffd171f8.jpg

This is the turning point where the franchise truly broke new ground and acquired all the accolades that has now firmly placed ND into a respective studio. But, a second game in a franchise is almost ever hardly turned into a video game during a time where the trend of turning movies into video games were at it's peak.

At this rate, Nathan Fillion has aged just a little and we can see him slowly become less leaner. Not a big deal as any production with money can put their actors for training before a movie. Not ideal, but workable.

Moving on.

3) Uncharted 3 came out in 2011. This is Nathan Fillion in 2011:


mar-19-2011-los-angeles-california-us-nathan-fillion-attending-the-CDKGNJ.jpg

Uncharted 3 was probably where the franchise was at it's height in terms of brand and marketing power. This in itself is reflected by how ridiculously bombastic the third entry in the franchise is, which unfortunately tarnished the story end of things in the game. But, the popularity was definitely at it's peak and the time where a talk about a movie can be seriously had (but not really).

Unfortunately, Nathan Fillion at this time has become a far more relaxed man and it shows. Making this particular time and year to be the worst time to cast him as Nathan Drake as originally portrayed in the original trilogy.

TL/DR:


Not to say it wouldn't work, but his star power had waned by the time any serious talk of a film ever got off the ground after franchise gained huge success in later entries, and he wasn't at his prime at the time those talks started.

No one was going to do a Marvel and hire an actor with no huge star power for a video game movie with likely a huge budget at the time.

At least we got this fan film:


I hope you are not involved in casting now or ever, or we will end up getting the Rugrats cast playing superheroes.
 
I hope you are not involved in casting now or ever, or we will end up getting the Rugrats cast playing superheroes.
Thankfully people do that for me these days, and I just sign off on it.

But at what point did I say was wrong? Is Nathan Fillion fit to play Drake even at the height of the game in 2011?

I fail to see at which point did my argument got wrong, could you explain to me at least?

If we're talking about Nathan Drake as an old man, sure. But nobody - and im telling you - nobody was going to invest a big blockbuster video game movie without a shiny star attached to it at that time. Look at Doom, look at Tomb Raider, and shesus fuck, look at Street Fighter. Only today do we find video game movies that don't utilize big star names like Mortal Kombat and Sonic (no, I don't consider the male lead as a big actor in 2020).

Edit: I'm sorry, if we're talking about dream casts, hands down Nathan Fillion. I'm literally speaking from a realistic point of view.
 
Last edited:

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
The guy is 50 now. So he's getting up there, but still totally doable as a Drake actor. He's still got the looks, acting experience and wittiness to pull off a Drake character.

However, Sony wants tv/movie Drake to use a younger actor so it skews to a younger audience, and perhaps a strategy for long term Drake media. So a young actor can last longer instead of using Fillion at 60 years old or swapping actor later.
 
Last edited:

GinSama

Member
that short video was provably one of the most epic things ever…. I was truly smiling all the way long, it was fantastic.
I’m so sorry for him…

heck give me more firefly if he cannot be Nathan drake.
 

Mossybrew

Member
I think he is on the borderline of too old. He could still pull it off, but it would take months of intense training to get into that kind of shape. Probably not something he would really want to do at this point, he's still got that cop show going right? I'm sure he's living comfortably.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
Nathan is too good for this world, and ruggedly handsome to boot.

Nobody is going to the cinema to see a nathan fillion film. the guy is box office cancer. casting him would have been a big mistake.

Hey, quick question: when you realised your cereal was full of piss, did you break down and cry immediately or wait until your mom was home?
 

MrS

Banned
Nathan is too good for this world, and ruggedly handsome to boot.



Hey, quick question: when you realised your cereal was full of piss, did you break down and cry immediately or wait until your mom was home?
I got your mom to make me a new bowl after I fucked her in the ass.
 

SirTerry-T

Member
Nathan's great. He can stand next to Dennis Quaid in the Dream Movie Cast queue.

Inner Space era Dennis Quaid would have made a fantastic Hal Jordan/Green Lantern.

Talking of which.....
 

Great Hair

Banned
Well who then?

Nobody.

They have the computational power to render movies now days. They should have kept the original voice actors, re-purpose them and use the video game assets for the movie incl. the characters. Same can be said with TLOU HBO or any video game franchise (cough MK).

Just fucking render the film, make a CGI. And we need to establish a WWE to Hollywood Acting School - Program asap! The Rock is getting older ...

Holland looks always out of place, no matter which role. He ain´t tough, he ain´t a womanizer, he is short and rather slim, weak ...
 

Paperboy

Member
The only reason Tom Holland was cast is because Sony think this will be a long lasting movie franchise spanning several decades. Nathan Drake is nowhere near Tom Holland's age in any of the games.
 
Top Bottom