The roles of Link and Zelda in the forthcoming Legend of Zelda live-action movie have been filled with two young British actors. Bo Bragason will play Zelda, and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth will play Link.
Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto made the announcement Wednesday via Nintendo’s X account. “I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen,” the great man said.
Miyamoto included photos of the pair in vaguely appropriate clothing and settings for a medieval fantasy film, but it’s not clear that they are in costume as their characters, as Variety guessed. If they are, Ainsworth’s dark hair will certainly cause a stir, as Link has always been portrayed as blond.
Bragason is 21 years old, and was last seen in the Disney Plus series Renegade Nell as the titular Nell’s sister. The 16-year-old Ainsworth played Miles in Mike Flanagan’s Netflix horror series The Haunting of Bly Manor and was the voice of Pinocchio in Robert Zemeckis’ unfortunate live-action remake of Pinocchio. You might also have seen him as Alex Burgess in The Sandman episode “Sleep of the Just.”
The Zelda movie, a co-production between Nintendo and Sony Pictures, will be released in theaters on May 7, 2027. It’s being directed by Wes Ball, who made The Maze Runner and last year’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
