The recently released Uncharted brings the charismatic hero of the video games to life in the form of Tom Holland. While there is no denying that the young star does justice to the long-delayed project, it is Tati Gabrielle’s cold, calculating and charming villain Jo Braddock who steals the show. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she breaks down the twist she delivered towards the end of the film that no one saw coming.
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Uncharted. Please proceed with caution if you have yet to watch the film.
In the film, Braddock is hired by Antonio Banderas’ villainous Santiago Moncada who is after the treasure that was supposedly hidden by Ferdinand Magellan’s crew during their famous expedition. Throughout the course of the film, it looks like Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali) is her direct competitor and the two women will go head-to-head at some point.
But Braddock turns the plot on its head and serves a shocking twist by killing Moncada instead as she wants the treasure for herself. So, is her motivation to betray Moncada really just the treasure? Nope. As shared by Gabrielle in a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, her character was never focused on the gold as what matters to her is grabbing the ultimate seat of power.
“I believe that Braddock was driven only by power. That it, for her, wasn’t ever really about the gold because they have everything that they could possibly need — all of them. With the clothes that she wears, she has no need for this gold. So it’s purely for her a thing about power and about winning that power.”
Thus, when the time comes to take out her competition, instead of aiming for Chloe, Braddock goes for the biggest fish in the sea- Santiago Moncada.
“When it came to deciding who do I need to take out, she’s gonna go as far up as possible. She’s gonna go, in that way, for the gold. She goes for Santiago because she knows she can best Chloe. She’s already figured that out. She knows that Chloe is clever, but that Chloe is, differently than Braddock, more street savvy. She’s made due for herself. She doesn’t necessarily have formal training. She’s scrappy in that way, in the best way.
So Braddock knows if I had to match up with her, I could probably win that. Santiago has resources that I can’t match up to yet, but if I take him out, I take his resources. So for Braddock, the ultimate goal was to have everything that she could possibly need so that no one can come up against her.”
Unfortunately, even though Uncharted’s post-credit scenes tease a sequel, Tati Gabrielle’s badass villain won’t be getting another chance to face off against Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan. Uncharted is currently out in cinemas.