Legendary Nintendo developer Shigeru Miyamoto dropped a major announcement today on Nintendo’s social media platforms. The lead roles for the upcoming Legend Of Zelda movie have been cast. Fans had been gunning for Hunter Shafer to take on the role of Princess Zelda because she looks uncannily like her with her elven features, but Nintendo and Sony went a different route.

Both the lead roles for the Zelda movie will be played by British actors. Bo Bragason has been cast as Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link. Here they are in the photos Nintendo provided next to their respective characters from Breath Of The Wild.

Bo Bragason as Princess Zelda

Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link

I like that both actors are relatively unknown, though not newcomers. Ainsworth was in The Haunting Of Bly Manor and 2022’s Pinocchio. Bragason was in The Radleys and has a role in the upcoming King & Conqueror series about William I and the Norman Conquest. In any case, I’m a big fan of casting lesser known actors in roles like these. It’s more immersive. You don’t associate them with a million other roles.

There will be plenty more casting news in the future, of course. Lots of other roles to fill. The film itself is slated for a May 7th, 2027 release date so we have a long, long time to wait before we see Hyrule come to life on the big screen. So far, I’d say we’re off to a prety good start.