The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom expanded the mainline series’ horizons and brought in plenty of new players, but the actor playing live-action Link missed the former – initially due to his age.
While official marketing for the upcoming epic fantasy movie hasn’t kicked off yet – it’s targeting a 30th April, 2027, release date – Benjamin Evan Ainsworth is playing a fairly big role in House of the Dragon Season 3 as Daeron Targaryen. GamesRadar recently had a quick chat with the young actor, and of course, he was asked about how The Legend of Zelda is coming along.
While the 17-year-old couldn’t say much, he revealed that he remembers when Breath of the Wild launched in 2017: “I remember being quite young at the time when it came out.” But he “didn’t have a Switch at the time”, so he watched playthroughs instead. When Breath of the Wild was released, Ainsworth was only eight.
Still, it sounds like he eventually absorbed a proper dose of The Legend of Zelda history by “going back and realizing the 40 years of legacy and history, and the varied tones, the varied stories, the varied renditions and vocal performances of this character as well”. No details on what he’s done with Link yet, but he noted “it was an awesome thing to shoot”.
Beyond Zelda and Link’s casting – plus the fact production has taken place almost entirely in New Zealand – we don’t know much about The Legend of Zelda. Wes Ball – of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Maze Runner fame – is directing.
While the live-action movie won’t arrive in time for the series’ 40th anniversary, Nintendo has recently announced a remake of Ocarina of Time for Switch 2 coming in 2026, so our return to Hyrule is very near.
