Voice acting is something that isn’t always appreciated by those who don’t listen to it on the regular. Often, people will just appreciate the stories of animated characters, whether in shows, movies, or video games and not fully care about who is voicing what and the effort put into it. But that’s honestly not fair, as some actors go to painstaking lengths to find out what a character’s “true voice” is or could be so that they can do their best in the role. An excellent example is Patricia Summersett, who has become the definitive voice of Princess Zelda over the last several years.
The Legend of Zelda franchise hasn’t had that much voice acting done over the years, and when it was done, it was in non-canon games and appearances. But once Breath of the Wild came around, the team knew they had to change things. While Link remains silent, many other characters get the chance to speak and help bring new life to Hyrule.
In an interview with Axios, Patricia Summersett talked about the origins of her version of Zelda. Many gamers weren’t expecting a British-style accent when they heard Zelda, and that can be attributed to Patricia saying that she took inspiration from characters in Game of Thrones and actresses like Mia Farrow, Emma Watson, and more. She picked some of them, like Mia Farrow, because of the characters she watched growing up.
She also picked certain actresses or roles to base Zelda’s voice on because of their personality or position, such as “women who are very strong, heady but also placed in a royal position, a zeal for education, that kind of sparky brain.”
That tracks with who Zelda is in this new timeline because she’s an incredibly intelligent woman who has a desire to learn more about history and isn’t afraid to try out new technologies to help expand what she knows about the world.
Summersett has now voiced Princess Zelda for three games, which includes the Age of Calamity Spinoff, which many people praised because of performances like the one Summersett gave in the “alternative history” title. But the reason we bring up her multiple titles is that the actress is now so confident in her “Zelda voice” that she feels the two are now one:
“I find the placement where it has sat in my body before, and I trust that it’s sitting there already.”
It’s unclear if she’ll get another chance to be Zelda, but it wouldn’t be bad if she does.
