Hunter Schafer, the waste of your elven features shall never be forgotten. Nintendo’s live-action The Legend of Zelda film will not star Euphoria actress Schafer, as the internet foretold. The two leads will be played by much younger performers, who were revealed on July 16 — cast as Princess Zelda is Bo Bragason, a 21-year-old best known for starring in the Disney+ series Operation Nell, and Link will be portrayed by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, a 16-year-old known for playing Miles in The Haunting of Bly Manor. “I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen,” Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto stated alongside a first look for the movie, which will be out on May 7, 2027. Despite Miyamoto’s excitement, it’s a sad moment for Schafer fans: Rumors and speculation had been swirling online for years that Schafer should star as Zelda in the film, given their resemblance. Schafer herself said it would be “so cool,” per Variety. “I love the game, personally,” she added back in 2023. “I played it as a kid and I still play it now. Who knows!” Well, now we know.
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Both actors are younger than the 26-year-old Schafer, perhaps indicating the movie will be based on 2003’s coming-of-age classic The Wind Waker, which begins with Link celebrating turning 16. It could also be based on the original Zelda game, Ocarina of Time, but Link ages seven years over the course of the game, and only Ainsworth has been announced to play him so far. Definitive ages are hard to come by in the original video games, but the duo appear to be in their 20s by the 2023 game Tears of the Kingdom. Plus, the potential film franchise will grow with them. Hopefully these two like each other, because it’s hard to see a future where they don’t star in these movies for the next ten years — it’s dangerous to go alone, take this!
