Mark Wahlberg reveals he was initially surprised when he was recast as Sully for the Uncharted movie adaptation after signing on to play Drake. In Naughty Dog’s video game franchise of the same name, Victor “Sully” Sullivan is the longtime partner of adventurer Nathan Drake and serves as his father figure after having taken him under his wing at a young age. Richard McGonagle provided the voice of Sully in all four Uncharted games, with his arc having more or less been concluded with Drake’s in 2016’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
Wahlberg brings Sully to life on screen alongside Tom Holland as Drake for the Uncharted film, which serves as a new origin story for the duo and prequel to the games. The story sees Drake recruited by Sully to help discover the location of Magellan’s lost gold before ruthless fortune hunter Santiago Moncada while also following a trail of clues that could lead the duo to Nathan’s long-lost brother Sam. Alongside Holland and Wahlberg, the cast for Uncharted includes Sophia Ali as love interest and fellow fortune hunter Chloe Frazer, Tati Gabrielle and Antonio Banderas.
In time for the film’s release, Mark Wahlberg caught up with The Wrap to discuss his work in the long-awaited Uncharted movie. When asked about his involvement in the extended development process and changing of roles, Wahlberg revealed he was surprised to learn he was recast as Sully for the film but why he believed it be a good decision after reading the script. See what Wahlberg shared below:
“I was onboard with David O. [Russell] and then we kind of moved on to another filmmaker and then another filmmaker and then I was just kind of like, it was all in limbo. So I was ready if they needed me, and then when I finally got the call they were like, ‘We’re ready to go,’ and I was like, ‘Cool, who’s the other guy?’ I thought are we gonna get Jack [Nicholson]? Tommy Lee Jones? And then all of a sudden they’re like, Tom Holland and I’m like, ‘For what?’ And they said, ‘For Nathan, you’re gonna be Sully,’ and I said, ‘What?’ Then I said, ‘You know what, actually it makes sense,’ and I read the script and I thought, ‘Wow he’s gotta go through absolute torture and hell physically and I get to stay in the helicopter in my tuxedo barking orders and telling him what to do.’”
The development process on the Uncharted movie adaptation proved to be one of the more infamous examples of a project languishing in development hell. Producer Avi Arad first began working with Sony Pictures, who owns the rights to the game franchise, in 2008 with a number of writers and directors coming and going over the subsequent decade, some of whom include David O. Russell, Neil Burger, Seth Gordon, Shawn Levy, Dan Trachtenberg and Travis Knight. As mentioned by Wahlberg, the Oscar-nominated Fighter filmmaker was the one who brought him on to play Drake early in the film’s development before he would ultimately depart.
Wahlberg wasn’t the only actor considered to play Drake for the Uncharted movie, with Chris Pratt being offered the part following Russell and Wahlberg’s initial departure before turning it down while Nathan Fillion frequently campaigned for the role and produce and star in an acclaimed short film. Though Holland has quickly risen through the ranks of Hollywood after becoming Spider-Man for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his casting as Drake for the film has been met with some hesitation from fans of the franchise. Audiences can decide for themselves how they feel about the casting switch as Uncharted is now in theaters.
Source: The Wrap
About The Author
