Every Actor Cast In The Legend Of Zelda Movie, & Which Game Character They're Playing

Nintendo is bringing The Legend of Zelda to the big screen in 2027 with a live-action movie, and it features a cast list filled with recognizable stars and video game characters. Link and Princess Zelda have been icons of Nintendo's video game library since the franchise was born in 1986. The action-adventure fantasy games feature a massive mythology that left fans yearning for movie adaptations for years.

After years of failed attempts to bring Hyrule to live-action, Sony struck a deal with Nintendo to make The Legend of Zelda in 2023. The news came on the back of Illumination and Universal's success bringing Mario to animation. Sony and Nintendo hired Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director Wes Ball to helm the movie, which has a script by Derek Connolly (Detective Pikachu).

Production began in November 2025 and wrapped in April 2026 ahead of The Legend of Zelda's April 30, 2027, release date. Official plot details are not yet confirmed, nor are the specific video games that inspired the live-action movie's story. But with the movie already done filming, the cast has already been found, even though some of their roles remain under wraps.

As expected, key characters in The Legend of Zelda's franchise, such as Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, and Impa, are confirmed to appear. Here are the actors who will play each, as well as some additional cast members with unconfirmed roles.

7 Benjamin Evan Ainsworth As Link

Actor: The English teenager Benjamin Evan Ainsworth is playing the lead role in The Legend of Zelda. He got his big break playing Miles Wingrave in The Haunting of Bly Manor. This led to him landing a role in Disney+'s Flora & Ulysses, voicing Pinocchio in Disney's 2022 live-action remake, and appearing in Netflix's The Sandman.

Ainsworth then joined the cast of House of the Dragon season 3 as Daeron Targaryen, giving him some fantasy experience before leading his first major Hollywood production with The Legend of Zelda.

Character: Benjamin Evan Ainsworth is set to play Link, the primary hero of the Legend of Zelda video games. The Hylian adventurer and wielder of the Master Sword has been featured in over 20 video games, making him one of Nintendo's most recognizable characters. Link will make his live-action movie debut with the film, giving Ainsworth an extra honor beyond playing the icon.

While Ainsworth's portrayal of Link remains most unknown, he does look the part. The first look at The Legend of Zelda showed him in a very game-accurate look, sporting blonde hair, blue eyes, and pointy ears. His costume is most similar to Link's redesign for 2006's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, as he's wearing a green tunic (with pants), but no hat.

6 Bo Bragason As Princess Zelda

Actor: Bo Bragason is a 22-year-old English actress who made her movie debut at just 3 years old. It wasn't until a decade later in 2017 that she started working more regularly, starting with BBC's miniseries Three Girls. She later snagged a main role in Disney+'s Renegade Nell and BBC's The Jetty and King & Conqueror.

Leading up to her role in The Legend of Zelda, Bragason can be seen in Prime Video's 2026 drama series Sterling Point​​​​​​. Sony's live-action Nintendo movie will be her most significant feature role to date, with 2024's The Radleys giving her a noteworthy part previously.

Character: Bragason steps into the video game movie to portray Princess Zelda. The Hylian princess is often kidnapped in the game stories, leaving Link to rescue her. However, she also developed a ninja warrior alter ego known as Sheik in Ocarina of Time, which has allowed her to avoid the damsel in distress archetype. In either form, Zelda is also a powerful magic user.

Bragason's version of Zelda looks most like the character in Breath of the Wild. Rather than sport the princess's traditional pink clothing, Zelda has a blue tunic, brownish pants, and boots on. She also sports a bow and arrow, a favorite weapon of hers in the games.

5 Uli Latukefu As Ganondorf

Actor: Australian actor Uli Katukefu is also part of The Legend of Zelda's cast. He started to gain recognition from his role in Netflix's Marco Polo, which led to him having a small role in Alien: Covenant. He got a bigger break with a role in Young Rock, where he plays a younger Dwayne Johnson. Latukefu reteamed with Johnson for a role in Black Adam, too.

The actor later gained a role in Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins, as well as MaXXXine. His most recent role before The Legend of Zelda was in Prime Video's crime series Countdown. And the 6'5 actor is now set to play one of the biggest characters in Nintendo's franchise.

Character: Katukefu is playing Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda. The big bad of the video game franchise, also known as Ganon, is a power-hungry leader of the Gerudo. Ganondorf is often motivated to take over Hyrule and gain the incredible abilities granted by the Triforce. This typically involves taking Zelda, only to be defeated by Link later on.

There has not been an official look at Katukefu's Ganondorf. It's presumed that he will physically embody the character completely, but some CGI component should also not be ruled out if The Legend of Zelda wants to make the villain even more intimidating.

4 Dichen Lachman As Impa

Actor: Dichen Lachman has joined The Legend of Zelda's cast to add to an impressive career. She has been in major TV shows like Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, The CW's The 100, Netflix's Altered Carbon, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, TNT's Animal Kingdom, Apple's Severance, Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

On the movie side, Lachman appeared in 2022's Jurassic World: Dominion. She then had a small role in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which is where she and The Legend of Zelda director Wes Ball first worked together. That experience, while brief, helped lead to her being cast in the Nintendo live-action movie in a bigger part.

Character: Lachman is reportedly playing Impa in The Legend of Zelda. She is a member of the Sheikah clan and a skilled fighter and mage. Impa often acts as a protector for Zelda and an ally for Link. She should serve a similar role in the movie.

While no official look at Lachman's Impa has been released, set photos have provided a tease of her appearance. Lachman was spotted on set with long white hair, pointy ears, and wearing a silver tunic. Her look seemingly most closely resembles her design for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.

3 Sam Neill

Actor: Prior to his passing, the late and great Sam Neill filmed a role for The Legend of Zelda. He is undisputedly best known for playing Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic franchise, but his career goes well beyond that. Some of his more notable appearances came in The Hunt for Red October, Event Horizon, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and his Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated role as Merlin.

The Legend of Zelda will be Sam Neill's final movie role, following his death in July 2026.

Character: It is currently unconfirmed who Neill is playing in The Legend of Zelda. He could wind up portraying the King of Hyrule and Zelda's father.

2 Yvonne Strahovski

Actor: Yvonne Strahovski is another member of The Legend of Zelda's cast. She made waves early on with roles in Chuck and Dexter, leading to her Emmy-nominated work in The Handmaid's Tale. Strahovski has blockbuster movie experience with The Predator and The Tomorrow War, as well.

Character: An exact identity for Strahovski's The Legend of Zelda character is unknown, but reports suggest she is playing some type of queen character. This could be anything from the Queen of Hyrule and Zelda's mother to the villainous spider-shaped Queen Gohma or the friendlier Fairy Queen.

1 Lydia Peckham

Actor: Another addition to The Legend of Zelda's cast is Lydia Peckham. She has had notable roles in Cowboy Bebop, Nuremberg, the Robin Hood TV show, and The Wrecking Crew. Peckham also worked with Ball before, playing Soona, one of the main apes, in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Character: There are no details about who Peckham is playing in The Legend of Zelda. She could be anyone from Link's childhood friend Saria to the Hyrule champion Urbosa. Given her experience with motion and performance capture for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, a CGI character could also be in the cards for The Legend of Zelda.