The Legend of Zelda CD-i games might not have had much going for them, but one thing that was arguably impressive was the voice acting. Bonnie Jean Wilbur was the original Princess Zelda in the series - providing the voice for the character in the 1993 Philips CD-i releases Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon.
In a recent interview with Samuel Clemens of GameReviews, the VA mentioned how she would be all for reprising her role as Princess Zelda. Recently, she's also agreed to return to the role - to work on a homage to the original CD-i series, not affiliated with Nintendo.
"I would (return to voice Zelda, if asked) I love doing theater, but voice acting is more lucrative. We were contacted by someone who is doing a homage to the CD-I series, and he asked us if we wanted to reprise our roles. It’s not affiliated with Nintendo. We agreed to it, so that should be interesting."
In the same interview, she mentioned how "beautiful" she found the recent Zelda game. While she's not a gamer herself and doesn't own a Nintendo console, she was able to spectate her niece playing the game on her own Nintendo Switch.
"I watched her play a recent Zelda game, and it was just beautiful. The advancements in technology are just amazing. I was impressed with the detail and colors of the graphics, and it peaked my interest."
Nowadays, Zelda is voiced by Patricia Summersett, who most recently reprised her role as the princess in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
[source gamesreviews.com, via gonintendo.com]
Comments 40
no. No. NO. NO! NO!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO--
Darth Link: NOOOOOOOoooo
honestly that's kind of sweet even if there's next to no chance
TL;DR - Actress wouldn't turn down job.
"You've GOT to be kidding!"
Given how these games kind of popped up on the internet one day and is seen as a collective fever dream, I kind of had to condition myself to believe that there were actual voice actors behind these characters.
Lucky sssshhhotttttt
G O L L Y
oHmYgOoDnEsStHiSiSaWfuL
S Q U A D E L L A H
iGoTaNeWjOb!
You dare bring light into my lair!!?!??!!!!?! You must DIE!!!!!
I may be old and ugly...
"I just saved you from Ganon!" "You did not!"
BiGgEsTcRaBiEvErCaUgHt
What are all those HEADS!??!!?!?!!!?
If I'm not back in a month...SEND LINK. (One Month Later...)
Ya, pretty good!
G E E , T H A N K S
Honestly, I wouldn't be against this.
@Not_Soos "Sorry Link, I can't give credit. Come back when you're a little, MMMMMMM RICHER!"
I would love to see her comeback, just for the laughs. But I'm sure Nintendo would think otherwise.
Even if they can’t play the main characters anymore, it’d be cool to give these people other characters to voice in the official games as a cameo/homage.
so there is a god
I mean, as infamously laughable as the CD-i games are, gotta admire her passion and enthusiasm for being Zelda. Even if not Zelda herself, would at least be neat if she was able to land a minor cameo role in Breath of the Wild's sequel or any future Zelda game.
"...piqued."
It PIQUED her interest.
It "peaked" her interest? What is she, a mountain?
JFC.
@CazSonOfCaz Chill, it's a common enough error, especially since spellcheck isn't going to catch it. It's not as egregious as, say, putting two spaces after a period.
A Zelda game with all versions of voiced Zelda please.
@calbeau Like a multiverse?
Come to think of it, a multiverse of the Legend of Zelda would explain a lot of things, even if people would think that they're ripping off Marvel.
The cutscenes were great for a laugh or two, but that's about it. No thanks.
@CazSonOfCaz She may have made a typo and her phone autocorrected it to peaked instead of piqued since both are actual words. I've had that happen numerous times in the past with various words.
I'm more put off by her going "I love theatre but there's more money in voice acting". She's clearly very passionate about Zelda...
Well, excuuuuuse me, Princess!
@Ursaking : At least she was honest, I guess. But very cynical indeed.
@ZZalapski They may not call it a multiverse, but that's been Legend of Zelda canon ever since Nintendo published the official chronology with three branching timelines in Hyrule Historia.
@Waka_the_Prophet Yeah no kidding. But it would be nice if they had respect for their trade rather than just seeing dollar bills. When you voice a popular character, you become that character. Considering this is Zelda we're talking about, some respect would be nice.
@HotGoomba
Agree with you !
What would be even more interesting is if Cynthia "Cyndy" Preston, the ORIGINAL original voice for Zelda (back from the 1989 Zelda cartoon series, part of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!), expressed an interest in returning to the role someday.
It's always nice to see voice actors who voiced characters a long time ago expressing interest in returning to the roles. Recently (as in, the last few months) the original voice for Krystal from Star Fox, Estelle Ellis, reprised the role for a Half Life 2 mod, which swapped Alyx for Krystal (although I am not particularly sold on the rig they used; I would have used the one by CakeInferno--formerly known as GreyFireFox--rather than the Warfaremachine rig).
You killed me!
shows heart
Good! smiles
You dare bring light to my liar you must die!
CDi Zelda's VA wants to return to VAing Zelda in a future Zelda game?!
I-
Say what you will about those games, but most of their German voice acting was legitimately good.
Ha just no, sorry we had a laugh at the poor animation and dialogue of those cut scenes, YouTube ran with it and it s an interesting story behind the non Nintendo zelda games and hotel mario game for the cdi but it's all just rubbish that should never darken the franchises door again.
Would just be a joke if she came back all people would want is to hear the same bad lines.
"It’s not affiliated with Nintendo" Well they kind of never were these games really
@Not_Soos How about a kiss, for luck?
(I'm not hitting on you)
Lol I don’t think she needs to hold her breath for an official return.
@ZZalapski Unlike writing "peaked" when you mean "piqued," there's nothing actually wrong with two spaces after a period. In fact, that was the way people were taught for generations. Only in the last two decades has it changed. Whereas "piqued" and "peaked" were always two different words.
I'm guessing you somehow think the Oxford comma is bad, too?
@CazSonOfCaz You guess wrong. I'm for the usage of the Oxford comma, although I know it's grammatically optional like double-spacing after a period.
The takeaway here is that particular substitution of homophones is less offensive to my sensibilities than double-spacing after a period. YMMV
@GrailUK Mah Boi, this is what all true actors strive for!
@SmaggTheSmug Indeed. Employment. It's like when actresses who become singers say 'I've always sang in the shower.' They are grateful of the work, but somehow trying to show that they deserve it despite not being a singer lol. Just say whatever gets you work And hey, if they are talented at their profession, then it really doesn't matter if they play Zelda or not.
Welcome to Walmart!
......you must die.
@Waka_the_Prophet I get where you're coming from, yes, I realise that artists need money too, but I don't think bringing this awful Zelda back as a desperate cash grab is the way to go. The CDi games are notoriously bad, Nintendo even disowned them, and bringing these godawful versions of classic characters back should be a labour of love for the few that enjoyed them. No one says you should work for free, but maybe don't be so obvious about how little you care about your role and your target audience.
@PtM Naturally, it's a video game character. With a massive and passionate fanbase. Not sure what point you're trying to make.
@PtM Nah. There are characters that have a cult following and you're privileged if you get to voice them. Lara Croft, Commander Shepard, Sonic or Zelda... don't matter which one it is, voice actors should at least pretend they don't have zero respect for themselves and their craft. There's a reason why Jennifer Hale or Roger Craig Smith get tonnes of voice work and this woman doesn't. They care, she don't, end of story.
@PtM Sure bro. Whatever you say.
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