Ideally, the people involved with adapting a celebrated media franchise should be quite familiar with said franchise. But the actor bringing Link to life in the upcoming live-action The Legend of Zelda movie has a pretty good excuse for not experiencing a top-rated game of the series–at least when it launched.
Speaking to GamesRadar, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, 17, recalled when Breath of the Wild came out in 2017. Prefacing that his age would show, the Link actor admitted: “I remember being quite young at the time when it came out, and so I didn’t have a Switch at the time.” Ainsworth added that he was “watching gamers play it, and watching playthroughs, essentially.”
Being born in September 2008, Ainsworth would have been only eight years old when the Switch and Breath of the Wild both shipped in March 2017. Obviously, every parent operates differently when it comes to letting their children play video games, but age eight could be considered too young for owning a console.
Still, Ainsworth has had plenty of time to catch up with the series. While he doesn’t say if he’s played Breath of the Wild since then, he reflected on “going back and realizing the 40 years of legacy and history” of the series since gaining the role, citing “the varied tones, the varied stories, the varied renditions and vocal performances” of Link. Needless to say, Ainsworth is a fan.
Depending on how the Zelda movie, which hits theaters on April 30, 2027, handles the franchise’s timeline and mythology, Breath of the Wild may or may not be relevant to the film’s story. The movie will likely pull inspiration from several entries in the series and create something new, based on both leaked and official set photos.
In the meantime, viewers can watch Ainsworth in House of the Dragon, where he portrays Prince Daeron Targaryen. While this character might not have blond hair or pointy ears, he at least wears green and hangs out with a dragon in a high fantasy setting, so that’s close enough for now.
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