Northern Exposure: Our Chat With Nolan North

Neat to see Nolan dropping some names of other VAs.

Mind my ignorance, but.. Re: the blind person requesting an audio version of the book, how did he play the game??

Nolan North NEEDS to be on the bombcast, it will be the best ever! =O

What a laid back and cool guy!

I totally agree with Nolan on the 5/10 thing that is absurd even with uncharted not being perfect.

This was an amazing video. North really does seem like a totally likable dude.

@Joey2683 said:

Patrick did fine. Ryan looked nervous and Nolan can't talk to himself for 38 minutes. Patrick did well with questions, keeping the conversation going. Those complaining about him staring at Nolan, what do you expect him to do? He is being polite by looking at him while he is talking, and Patrick is obviously interested. When someone talks to you, do you stare at the wall? Also, just in general cut the guy some damm slack. This is a big deal for Giantbomb, which is still a new site. If you were in the video entertainment business and you had breakthrough for someone to popular to be on your show, you wouldn't be slightest bit awkward? Giantbomb is very much a growing site, and it oppurtunities like these that help move into professional interviews.

THIS! A thousand times.

I can't even put words to how much I love this video. I sent an email in to the Bombcast a few weeks ago asking if Nolan North even knew about the Northies...but I guess this answers that!

To contrast, IGN's video thing with Nolan North about a week ago was a lot more awkward and stilted, like he was uncomfortable being there. The GB crew seems so much more chill to just chat with...

EDIT: Just ordered the collector's book from GameSpheres.com. SWEET!

This was great.

Man crush just multiplied by 10

Jesus, I really like Patrick, but boy, was this painful to watch at points. And hell, you could see that it's not just us if you look at North and Ryan.

Great interview, wondering if we are going to see more voice actor interviews here with some other notable people in the industry.

@wumbo3000 said:

Love the interview, that was great. Nolan North seems like a genuinely nice guy.

And Patrick, this is just a bit of advice. Please don't take this as Internet rage because it isn't. I love what you do and people who bag on you are assholes. But when you do interviews, try not to interrupt or run over the guy you're interviewing. The focus should be on the guy that's being interviewed so if you interrupt him then it looks and feels awkward.

Again, please don't think I'm some random Internet forum kid; I'm just trying to offer some constructive criticism.

Keep up the awesome work GiantBomb duders.

This

Also throw my hat in with the "We had to put him down" joke not getting enough props.

It's nice to see how Nolan North's interest in the development side of the games he's working on has growing and giving him the opportunity to actually be more of a part of that process as well. Reminds me of how invested Andy Serkis has been in his Ninja Theory projects.

This is absolutely fantastic. Please can we have more content like this on GiantBomb, interviews with interesting and influential people in gaming that is.

I knew he'd be a fan of Andy Serkis - awesome!

This made my day.

That was a pretty good video, He seems like a cool dude to hang out with.

Great interview, really really enjoyed it!

Great interview, looks like Nolan North is keeping himself busy touring the offices of IGN and Giant Bomb.

@Dots: I think the universe would collapse in on itself!

What a great and surprising interview! but Patrick what the hell man? "not for this asshole" really? ugh

Between Ryan sweating profusely and Patrick acting like a 7 year old this interview was pretty great.

That was a really cool interview, he seems like a really great guy. Also, good job on Sully averting a time paradox there, saving little Drake from big Drake.

Nolan North is the best person. I'm so glad you guys did this interview.

Dude Nolan North giving love to the Northie lol

Surprised Ryan didn't seem to know who Fred Tatasciore is, as he's done all kinds of voices - Baird in Gears of War, Saren in Mass Effect, Bane in Arkham Asylum and City, the brutes in the Halo games, Mario Audtore in the past two Assassin's Creed games, and like a hundred more random characters.

Anyway, this was a great interview. I don't get the bitching about Patrick - "please - adults are talking" was a great line, and Nolan saying "that happened" when Patrick called him an asshole, haha.

Nolan North just exudes confidence and charm in every interview I've seen with him. This was no different. And I love that as a voice actor, he was sincerely interested and respectful of the work that goes into the games he voices. Not many actors are like that.

Nolan North is the best addition to Giant Bomb all year.

This has made my day, my week, my month, or even my year.

Thank you Giant Bomb and thank you Nolan North!

@bcjohnnie said:

@MythDarK: I'm not saying that Patrick should just sit in the back all the time, I think he's good on the bombcast and in some quick looks, but this interview seemed like a pretty big deal for GB, and I personally think Patrick brings this video down by trying to steal the show away from the person being interviewed.

As much as I hate how entitled video game site commenters can be, I agree with this. Patrick is not the spotlight in this one, it's Nolan God Damn North. I wanted to hear him talk more.

@wolf_blitzer85 said:

I didn't think it was very professional to call your guest an asshole, even if it was in jest.

All three of them discussed Nolan's kid hiding behind the couch shitting himself. I think that makes this entire thing a fairly off-the-cuff interview.

You guys seriously think Nolan was offended by the asshole comment? He was doing similar jabs at the GB guys and they are all obviously capable of taking a joke.

This is great. Nolan North seems like a pretty cool guy.

I question the upbringing of anyone who doesn't have a problem with Patrick's behavior during this interview. Normally I like Patrick, but Mr. North deserves an apology for that shit.

Are you fuckin' people really turning this awesome video into an excuse to air your criticism of Patrick? Just find something better to do with your time, why don't you?

He is a friend with Yuri Lowenthal?!?!?

My mind is blown

Ah, I wanna leave work right now just for this.

Nicely done getting NN in, guys, and great video!

And see, even Nolan North doesn't want Patrick on the Bombcast.

This man is.

Oh god.

I forgot how often the GB crew interrupt each other/guests.

Great interview, Thanks!

@DjCmeP: He is doing the VO for the main character in The Last of Us.

@Scotto said:

Surprised Ryan didn't seem to know who Fred Tatasciore is, as he's done all kinds of voices - Baird in Gears of War, Saren in Mass Effect, Bane in Arkham Asylum and City, the brutes in the Halo games, Mario Audtore in the past two Assassin's Creed games, and like a hundred more random characters.

To be fair, Tatasciore's work is incredibly varied from one game to the next, and it's almost always a supporting secondary character, never the lead. And even then, he hangs his hat on the growling, inhuman voices he can do so well, and he also will do a lot of "vocal stuntdouble" work imitating other actors. I can usually detect a voice actor's fundamental vocal signature, but Tatasciore is really good at being unrecognizable.

All of this is to say that I can see how he might slip under someone's radar. But that's mostly because of his raw talent, not in spite of it.

Mr. North, very likeable gentleman.

@csl316 said:

Ah, I wanna leave work right now just for this.

It's not that great. Making money is better. :D

Christ, I'm getting to the point where I'm going to avoid Giant Bomb comments like I avoid YouTube comments. Patrick was fine. It's a 40 minutes interview and Nolan North talked most during it, as he should have. Patrick asked some great questions. The only thing I would have wanted was less talk about the book and more about tales and takes on the industry and voice acting, but I understand that this was mainly to promote the book so it's not like I'm holding that against anyone. It looks like all involved had a great time and I can't wait for more interviews like this to come. (Maybe with some Double Fine guys when their next project comes about?)

@Dark_Lord_Spam said:

Are you fuckin' people really turning this awesome video into an excuse to air your criticism of Patrick? Just find something better to do with your time, why don't you?

This is one of those rare times where even Patrick fans can agree he started acting kinda awkward towards the end there and the whole asshole comment was, much like Nolan said it "yah that just happened"

@buhssuht: Now I can imagine Drake screaming Haseooooooooooo!!!

Excellent interview, I want to have a game version of "Inside the Actor's Studio" and get guys like Tim Schaefer and Suda 51 to answer questions on making games. Or more "Building the Bastion" type features. Hell, pay Nolan North some money to appear in a Night Trap game made by twisted pixel and we're good for 2012.

Nolan North is the best character Nolan North plays.

Man, what a likable guy.

Patrick is awesome.

That was great, I was really nervous for the guys.