Nolan North

Nolan North’s Rise to Video Game Stardom

Before microphones and motion-capture suits, North spent a year filing crime reports in New Jersey after studying journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The reporter’s desk gave way to Hollywood in 1997, when he landed the role of Dr. Chris Ramsey on the ABC soap opera Port Charles. He picked up small voice gigs during the show’s run, then shifted his focus fully to voice work once Port Charles ended in 2003. Four years later, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune cast him as treasure hunter Nathan Drake, a role that carried him through four main entries and a spinoff, and made him one of gaming’s most familiar voices.

Desmond Miles and the Assassin’s Creed Series

North voiced modern-day protagonist Desmond Miles across the original Assassin’s Creed through Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, anchoring the franchise’s present-day storyline while other actors handled the historical Assassins players controlled in each era.

The Penguin and Doctor Richtofen

On the animated side of crime fiction, he gave voice to Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin, across the Batman: Arkham games. In the Call of Duty Zombies mode, he built a separate legacy as the unhinged Dr. Edward Richtofen, a character he carried from World at War through several Black Ops sequels.

Ghost, Cayde-6, and the Destiny Franchise

Bungie brought North in to replace Peter Dinklage as Ghost midway through the original Destiny, then had him re-record the character’s earlier lines entirely. He later added Cayde-6 to his roster following Destiny 2: Forsaken, and remains active in the series, voicing both characters in 2025 releases including Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate and the Renegades expansion.

Deadpool, Animation, and a BAFTA Honor

Marvel fans know him as the wisecracking Deadpool across cartoons, the 2013 Deadpool video game, and Marvel vs. Capcom titles. Younger audiences grew up with his work as Superboy and Superman on Young Justice and as the title character in Blaze and the Monster Machines. In 2018, BAFTA presented him with a Special Award for outstanding contribution to performance in games, and from 2018 to 2020 he co-hosted the retrospective gaming show Retro Replay alongside fellow actor Troy Baker.