The magic of the fantasy character is in large part thanks to actress Patricia Summersett, who has been voicing the English-dub version of Princess Zelda since 2017’s “Breath of the Wild.” But Summersett says she crafted the now-iconic voice without knowing it was Zelda she was portraying. And I knew that my regular voice was too low for a young princess character, so I sort of pitched it up. I found the place that it sat right on my vocal cords.
And then I was like, I think she needs to be a little bit more classic English, that was part of the description as well as it could be anything, because it’s a fantasy world. Then I brought it in for the audition, and we worked around with it for a while. But of course, I still didn’t know what it was.
So it happened organically, but I had very good reason to try very hard for the audition because, I just moved and I was really focused on doing some sort of good audition. So whatever that translated into, I can’t be sure, except that I’m glad I didn’t know what it was because that might have changed the outcome and I might have tried too hard on something.” In addition to “Breath of the Wild,” Summersett has also voiced Zelda in “Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity,” “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and “Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment,” but can’t confirm one way or another yet if she’s involved in the upcoming “Ocarina of Time” remake set to release in November, or if she has anything to do with the live-action “Zelda” movie slated for April 2027. And though she has done additional video-game voice acting and on-screen roles, Summersett says playing Zelda is one of the most physically comfortable experiences in her career.
So you get a sense of feeling very, very nice and warm afterward. Also, holding your center of energy at a sort of young, wide-eyed, youthful place that has a big heart is a pleasant feeling. Not all characters get to be like that.” See below for more from Variety’s interview with Summersett about her career and the 40th anniversary of “The Legend of Zelda.” Absolutely.
I mean, particularly when fans and media and everything are drawing up the anniversary dates and asking all these questions about it, I, of course, by default, get asked these questions too and it gives me a good reason to reflect on everything. It being the 40th anniversary, it’s interesting to think about the fact that I have been part of the franchise for essentially a quarter of it and that is something I never could have predicted in my life. I’m finding I’m really appreciating the longevity of any project these days, as there’s so much change around in the world and technologies and to have any sort of consistency with these wonderful stories over a series of several years and these wonderful characters, is just a real gem.
I’m really happy about it, and I’m very happy for the “Zelda” fans right now with everything that they have coming and the way that it just keeps seeming to grow and expand and keep innovating. It’s just an awesome thing to be associated with in any way. It happened for me at such a fascinating time in my career where I had made this big leap.
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