Live-action Link actor was only eight when Breath of the Wild launched — he watched playthroughs instead

Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, the 17-year-old actor cast as Link in Nintendo and Sony's upcoming live-action Zelda film, has a pretty solid excuse for not having played Breath of the Wild at launch: he was eight years old in 2017 when the game debuted alongside the Switch.

In an interview with GamesRadar, Ainsworth explained that he didn't own a Switch at the time, so he followed the game the way a lot of kids did — watching playthroughs online. He was careful not to say much about the film itself, but opened up about diving into Zelda's history once he landed the role. "Going back and realizing the 40 years of legacy and history, and the varied tones, the varied stories, the varied renditions and vocal performances of this character," he told GamesRadar, calling himself a genuine fan and describing the shoot as "an awesome thing." Filming took place in New Zealand, though he kept further details close to his chest.

Ainsworth is best known for his role in House of the Dragon, and made his first onscreen appearance in the UK soap opera Emmerdale in 2018 — just a year after Breath of the Wild launched. The live-action Zelda movie is directed by Wes Anderson — no, the other one: Wes Ball, who helmed the Maze Runner trilogy and the recent Planet of the Apes reboot Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The film is currently targeting a 2027 release.

Whether Ainsworth has since gone back and actually played Breath of the Wild — or Tears of the Kingdom, for that matter — remains an open question. Either way, watching hours of playthroughs is arguably a legitimate form of Zelda research, even if it's not quite the same as personally burning Moblins in Hyrule's tall grass.