Tears of the Kingdom: A Zelda Game Inspired by Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, stand out from the rest of the Zelda series in that they feature voice-acted dialogue instead of relying solely on text boxes. This presented a unique challenge for voice actors, who had to establish the vocal portrayal of their characters from scratch. For Patricia Summersett, the voice actress for Princess Zelda, staying true to the character's personality was paramount. In an interview with Game Rant, Summersett discussed how she studied the princess's past depictions in order to accurately voice her, and also spoke about the intriguing relationship between the voiced Zelda and the silent protagonist, Link.

Summersett Looked To Games Like Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time for Inspiration

To deliver the best performance, voice actors often dedicate time to researching the characters they are portraying. This was no exception for Summersett, who took on the role of Princess Zelda in the latest entries of the series. Given the limited voiced dialogue for Zelda in previous games, Summersett delved into the character's backstory and animations from past games to better understand how to voice the character. As part of her research, she revisited Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time.

By immersing herself in the world of the game through online gameplay and the Hyrule Historia, Summersett gained a foundational understanding of the franchise's animation. However, her portrayal of the character was ultimately shaped by the game's scriptwriters and other creative teams who had a specific vision for how the character should be expressed.

Talking to a Silent Protagonist Like Link Wasn't Too Challenging

Despite Link being a silent protagonist, Summersett found that voicing his character wasn't too challenging since voice acting often requires imagination. She explains that not all voice acting is done simultaneously and that she's used to cold-reading lines when necessary. As a skilled actress, it was just another day at the office for her. Additionally, even though Link doesn't speak, his facial expressions and body language still convey a lot of emotion and personality. Summersett believes that players are able to connect with his character in a unique way because of this.

Interacting with other actors can pose challenges, especially if their reactions are not realistic or intuitive. As an actor, I have dealt with this before, but I strive to not be a hindrance to my co-stars. However, when working on a character like Zelda who doesn't talk back, it allowed me to approach my lines with complete freedom without being thrown off by unexpected responses.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available on Nintendo Switch.