Meet the New Faces of Zelda and Link

After two years of rumours, Photoshop fan casts, and Twitter threads that read like fever dreams, Nintendo has officially announced the leads for its live-action Legend of Zelda movie. And against all odds, they’ve done something rare in the current IP-obsessed landscape: cast two actors no one was really expecting, and somehow made the right call.

Princess Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason, while Benjamin Evan Ainsworth takes on the silent warrior Link. You probably won’t know their names, and that’s exactly the point. Bragason, best known for low-key roles in Renegade Nell and BBC’s The Jetty, has this unforced regality — less Disney Princess, more moody historical drama. Ainsworth, just 16, is the kind of casting choice that feels deliberate: not brooding Marvel lead, not shiny popstar cameo, just…right.

Instead of fronting the film with instantly recognisable faces, Nintendo’s gone for something quieter, sharper — opting for rising talent that could genuinely bring depth to characters who, up until Breath of the Wild, have mostly communicated through grunts, nods, and text boxes.

A live-action Zelda movie has been whispered about since the Ocarina of Time era, but 2023’s official confirmation put things into gear. Directed by Maze Runner‘s Wes Ball, produced by Nintendo and Sony, the project was always going to sit in a weird cultural space: too beloved to mess up, too stylised to keep entirely serious.

The obvious move would have been star power — Hunter Schafer as Zelda, as was hoped by many fans, or the worse off route: that Chris Pratt manages to land the role of Link. That didn’t happen. And according to G.URL’s sources (re: looking at Reddit and fan Discords), people aren’t mad about it. If anything, there’s a sense of relief.

We’ve seen the mega-budget approach before — The Super Mario Bros. Movie went the full Chris Pratt route, and sure, it worked financially. But Zelda is different. The vibe’s moodier, less “let’s all go bowling,” more “you are the only one who can save us.” You can’t sell that with a novelty voice.

Wes Ball has already said he wants the film to feel “like a live-action Ghibli,” which is classic director-speak, but kind of makes sense. Casting relative unknowns feeds into that. You don’t want faces tied to Netflix thrillers or superhero fatigue — you want people who could believably exist in a world where horses have names and swords hold grudges.

What’s Actually Confirmed:

• Zelda: Bo Bragason, 21 years old, we’ve seen her in BBC dramas.
• Link: Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, 16, seen in Haunting of Bly Manor and as Pinocchio (yes, that one).
• Release Date: Pushed from March to May 7, 2027. Expect a slow-burn promo rollout—nothing viral, nothing camp.
• Vibe: Less popcorn blockbuster, more prestige fantasy with mainstream reach. Think early 2010s YA adaptations but in a good way.

If Nintendo pulls this off, Zelda could be the first post-Barbie, post-Mario video game movie that doesn’t rely on irony or stunt casting to connect. It’s not going to be another Ready Player One situation where everything’s cranked to eleven for memeability. Instead, we might get something closer to a serious cultural artefact — a Lord of the Rings moment for a generation raised on Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild.

Of course, there’s still plenty of time for things to get weird. We haven’t seen Ganondorf yet. No trailer. No costume reveals. And there’s always the risk that marketing will decide subtlety doesn’t sell. But as it stands, this casting feels like a small, smart move in a world obsessed with big, loud ones.

For now, it’s just two names. Two faces. And maybe — just maybe — the start of something that actually respects what Zelda means to the people who grew up on it.

Follow along with G.URL for more updates on The Legend of Zelda film.