Hollywood and video games should have a much better relationship, but thanks to some very forgettable films based on popular video game franchises, that is sadly not the case. Lately, the trend has been heading in a more positive direction as the dreaded “video game curse” that normally dooms movies based on games seems to be becoming an afterthought. Uncharted, PlayStation Studios’ first foray into the world of cinema, hopes to continue the trend. We spoke with one of the film’s stars Tati Gabrielle about her involvement in the highly anticipated film.
In Uncharted, we follow a young Nathan Drake (Tom Holland), a young street-savvy thief who gets lured into the world of treasure hunting by Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg). Sully pulls on young Nathan’s heartstrings by mentioning he’s currently trying to recover the fortune lost by Ferdinand Magellan and was working with older brother Sam who is now missing, to find it. Now it wouldn’t be an Uncharted adventure without villains on the hunt for the same treasure, and that’s where Moncada (Antonio Banderas) comes in because he believes his family has a right to the legendary fortune. Moncada also enlists the help of the beautiful but equally dangerous Braddock to help him get the treasure before Drake, Sully, and Chloe (Sophia Ali), who later joins the duo.
Source: Sony Pictures / Uncharted Movie
Hip-Hop Wired had the opportunity to speak with Gabrielle about her character, playing villains, working alongside Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, her favorite action sequence, a video game character she would like to bring to the big screen, & more.
Step into the interview below.
Hip-Hop Wired: Tell us about your character in the film and what role she plays in the grand scheme of things in Uncharted.
Tati Gabrielle: So Braddock is a character from Sully’s past. They have this sort of mysterious, tensious past that you never really get to fully know about, but really see play out through the course of this film. Braddock is a psychopath, to say the least. She is calculating. She’s cunning. She is a woman that knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get it. She, I think, out of all of the characters is the most sort of gold crazy or gold-hungry, and just seriously on this search for power. And she’s Sully’s biggest foil.
Source: Sony Pictures / Uncharted Movie
HHW: I wouldn’t say she’s the only character that’s gold-hungry. Sully wants some gold too.
TG: No, I’m saying the one that is the most gold-hungry. Her and Moncada could go to that. When I say psychopath, I mean that in the realest sense of that word, that like she has zero empathy, she has zero care. She will literally stop at nothing, will give up her own life just to have this power.
HHW: That is true. She’s not only a psychopath. She’s all a badass too, which we loved about her every time she was on the screen. So how fun was it playing a villain in this movie? Do you enjoy playing villains, or would you want to play more villains in other films too?
TG: I feel like I’ve had my belt with villainry, to this point where I would want to take a break from villains for a while. But it was super fun being a villain in this and being able to like bounce off of such high-caliber vets and to do these scenes with Tom and with Mark. It was just fun being bad. Who just doesn’t like being bad. And a good challenge for me, I think too, in that way, because it’s very far from myself.
Source: Sony Pictures / Uncharted Movie
It’s my favorite game, but for some reason, the character’s name is evading my mind right now, but Ellen Page’s [Elliot Page] character [Jodie Holmes] in Beyond: Two Souls. I would really love to do that. It’s also my favorite video game, but yeah, just to play with the idea of what that entity would be like and what is communicating with it and living with these sort of abilities. Yeah. I think that that would just be really cool.
HHW: True. And you looked amazing doing it. So that’s the best part about it, man. Absolutely amazing. And you pretty much answered one of my questions, which was what was it like working alongside Mr. Billionaire Blockbuster, Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg and Antonio Banderas and Sophia Ali, who was also great in the film?
TG: Yeah, it was awesome. We had such a wonderful cast. I got really close with Mark during the course of this film. He became like an uncle to me, really took me under his wing, and started mentoring me, which I was so grateful for. Sophia became like my best friend. We were together all the time, every day. We live next to each other. And Tom is one of the biggest goofballs you’ll ever meet. He’s always joy to be around. And Antonio just has such infectious energy that you cannot be unhappy in that man’s presence. It’s literally impossible. Yeah. So really, really fun. Really great cast.
Source: Sony Pictures / Uncharted Movie
So I play video games. I can’t call myself a gamer because I travel so much and I’m not able to bring my PlayStation everywhere. But I did play Uncharted when we started filming. I was not aware of the games prior to but got super into them once we started filming. Was sitting after work, on the floor of my living room till 2:00, 3:00 AM, glued. So yeah, I am a really big fan of the games now.
HHW: That’s awesome. Now Uncharted has quite a few epic action sequences, one of them ripped straight from the video game. Which one was your favorite to be a part of?
TG: Definitely that final boat battle was, I think, my favorite because there was just so many parts of it and that to me was the true epic proportion. Yeah. And I really loved when I got to see it all put together. I was just really wowed. So yeah, the boat battle.
HHW: Now we have seen you pick up the sticks before and play video games. Ironically, it was Spider-Man for PlayStation 4.
TG: Right.
HHW: So we have to ask, do you play video games in your spare time, and have you played any of the Uncharted games before filming to get acclimated with the film?
TG: So I play video games. I can’t call myself a gamer because I travel so much and I’m not able to bring my PlayStation everywhere. But I did play Uncharted when we started filming. I was not aware of the games prior to but got super into them once we started filming. [I] Was sitting after work, on the floor of my living room till 2:00, 3:00 AM, glued. So yeah, I am a really big fan of the games now.
HHW: We can’t lie. That game is very addictive, and the story is so great that it just keeps you coming back. Each and every one of them always hit. They never miss. They all slap. Every single one of them slaps.
TG: That’s what I’m saying. It was fire. I was like, yeah, I’m with this.”
HHW: Now, if you can portray any video game character in a film, who would it be?
TG: That’s a good question. It’s my favorite game, but for some reason, the character’s name is evading my mind right now, but Ellen Page’s [Elliot Page] character [Jodie Holmes] in Beyond: Two Souls.
HHW: Ooh, that’s a good one.
TG: I would really love to do that. It’s also my favorite video game, but yeah, just to play with the idea of what that entity would be like and what is communicating with it and living with these sort of abilities. Yeah. I think that that would just be really cool.
HHW: That is a great answer. We really weren’t expecting that. Great answer.
TG: Thanks.
HHW: No problem. And finally, do you think there’s a chance that Braddock and Sully, and Nate can actually work together on a treasure hunt? Do you ever foresee that ever happening?
TG: That’s hard. It’s a hard question because I feel like Braddock is, on the one hand, a person that like, you cross me once, you will not have the opportunity to cross me again. So in that way, I feel like she would never work with Sully again. Would she give Nate a try? Well, after trying to kill her, probably not. So yeah, I’m going to just going to go ahead and say no. I don’t think that that would work out very well.
HHW: What about with Chloe? Would she work with Chloe?
TG: I think perhaps, yeah, because I think that she’d be able to see parts of herself in Chloe and that they would be able to just align over the goal, even though they may have different intentions and different ways about going about it. They both, in a nutshell, are willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want.
After numerous delays, Uncharted swings into theaters exclusively on February 18.
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Photo: Sony Pictures / Uncharted Movie
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