Bo Bragason & The Legend of Zelda Live-Action Movie: Everything You Need To Know
Ever since Nintendo began developing its cinematic slate around its iconic game franchises, everyone’s been waiting for The Legend of Zelda to come to the big screen. Rich with lore, action, and fantasy grandeur, this acclaimed game series continually remains popular to this day thanks to its recent instalment, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
When the movie was first announced back in 2023 by Nintendo and Sony Pictures, every fan began anticipating more news. Previously, the Wes Ball-directed feature remained silent as fans started to have their own fancastings for Link and Zelda. These fancastings, which included the likes of Tom Holland, Hunter Schafer, and more, spurred the fandom for a while.
Fortunately, franchise creator Shigeru Miyamoto finally announced who will be playing Link and Zelda respectively. This official casting includes Bo Bragason as Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link with another confirmation of the May 2027 release date.
Particularly, some fans might recognize Bo Bragason from her previous work. The British actress was previously featured in 2024’s The Radleys, a comedy horror flick centering around a family of vampires who try to control their need for blood.
However, the live-action The Legend of Zelda movie is not the first time Bragason has been involved with a movie based on a video game. In fact, she previously did motion capture for 2016’s Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. That movie was based on the events of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XV, which, like the world of Zelda, sees some powerful magic at odds with its modern, dystopian reality.
In the realm of television, Bragason has also been featured in several series, including the British anthology series Moving On and Creeped Out. More prominently, Bragason had a breakthrough role in Disney+’s Renegade Nell as Roxy, the younger sister to Louisa Harland’s Nell “Nelly” Jackson.
That series involved Bragason in a more complex role, with Roxy being a supportive sister to Nell and helping her with her own magical powers. Much like Zelda, Roxy and her empathetic personality has much in common with the Princess of Hyrule, making Bragason a solid choice to play Zelda.
Throughout the games, Zelda takes on both a supportive and lead role in helping Link throughout his quest to stop series antagonist Ganon. While she’s mainly the protector of the Triforce, an ancient power used to keep Ganon at bay, players got a chance to play as her previously in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. However, there is some canonicity as to whether she’s also another character, Sheik, given her choice in the Super Smash Bros games.
Due to so much fan anticipation behind the live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, there’s a great amount of pressure on Bragason and Ainsworth to play these characters. Ball, director of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, made it clear in prior remarks to Variety that handling the expectations of fans was “hugely important.”
Given these castings, it’s likely that Ball, Nintendo, and Sony Pictures will be moving ahead with production on the film soon. Although there’s no full synopsis or clues to what the plot could be, Zelda fans can have hope that the film will live up to the hype that everyone’s been holding in for so long.
The Legend of Zelda will release in theaters on May 7, 2027.
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Christopher Gallardo is a freelance entertainment writer and critic. While not running The Reel Roller, Chris can be found writing reviews and breakdowns on all things films and TV. Outside of entertainment writing, he’s currently taking classes for a Bachelor’s of Science with a minor in Digital Media & Journalism. Plus, he loves Percy Jackson, animated films and shows, and Fallout! Follow Christopher on Instagram & X.