<em>The Legend of Zelda</em> Movie Cast the Right People for Link and Zelda

Some movies based on IP beg for the presence of famous people. Robert Downey Jr. didn't just resemble Tony Stark in Marvel's comics, but himself lived the highs and lows of being in the public eye when he signed on for Iron Man. Virtually all the men who've ever played Batman on the big screen were once tabloid fixtures, not unlike a certain orphaned billionaire playboy named Bruce Wayne. Sometimes, famous people just make sense.

But other franchises that get the inevitable movie adaptation sometimes need actors that make you go, "Who?!" Such is the case for the upcoming live-action Legend of Zelda, based on the iconic Nintendo video games. On July 16, Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto logged into the official Nintendo X (formerly Twitter) account to announce the actors set to play Link and Zelda in Wes Ball's Legend of Zelda, scheduled for wide release on May 7, 2027.

"This is Miyamoto," began a post that translates Miyamoto's original Japanese tweet in English, "I am pleased to announce that for the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda, Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason-san, and Link by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth-san. I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen."

If the names "Benjamin Evan Ainsworth" and "Bo Bragason" don't exactly ring a bell, you're not alone. Both are young English actors with sparse credits. Ainsworth had a role in Mike Flanagan's The Haunting of Bly Manor and voiced Pinocchio in Disney's 2022 remake of Pinocchio, while Bragason starred in the Disney+ series Renegade Nell and the British drama The Jetty. Bragason also did motion capture work for Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV in 2016, which will make Legend of Zelda her second movie based on a video game.

It's honestly for the best that Link and Zelda aren't played by, I don't know, Tom Holland and Zendaya. The world of Hyrule is a strange one, a fantasy realm that is decidedly nothing like Middle-earth or Westeros or Arrakis. A-listers might get casual audiences interested in seeing another Nintendo movie—it worked for the star-studded The Super Mario Bros. Movie—but to make Hyrule convincing in live-action, it might be easier for the immersion if it weren't populated by spokespeople for Dior.

On top of that, Link is famously mute, never mind his grating appearance in the 1989 animated series. Assuming Wes Ball is sticking to that aspect of the games, Link requires an expressive physical actor who can communicate with his face and body than his voice. Trust us: You don't want to hear Link talk.