Patricia Summersett has been the English voice of Princess Zelda since 2017’s “Breath of the Wild.” She created the now-iconic voice without initially knowing she was portraying the character, focusing on the script’s specifications and a higher vocal pitch.
Summersett revealed she crafted the voice organically, auditioning for multiple characters and prioritizing a strong audition due to a recent move. “One of the funny things about how that voice was created was that I based it on the specs in the script, but not knowing that it was Zelda because it was secret,” Summersett told Variety. “I had auditioned for multiple characters, so I went with the archetype that felt like it rested in my body the best at the time. And I knew that my regular voice was too low for a young princess character, so I sort of pitched it up. I found the place that it sat right on my vocal cords. And then I was like, I think she needs to be a little bit more classic English, that was part of the description as well as it could be anything, because it’s a fantasy world. Then I brought it in for the audition, and we worked around with it for a while. But of course, I still didn’t know what it was. So it happened organically, but I had very good reason to try very hard for the audition because, I just moved and I was really focused on doing some sort of good audition. So whatever that translated into, I can’t be sure, except that I’m glad I didn’t know what it was because that might have changed the outcome and I might have tried too hard on something.”
In addition to “Breath of the Wild,” Summersett has voiced Zelda in “Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity,” “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” and “Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.” Her involvement in the upcoming “Ocarina of Time” remake, set to release in November, and the live-action “Zelda” movie slated for April 2027 remains unconfirmed.
Summersett described the experience of voicing Zelda as physically comfortable and relaxing, noting the need to maintain a soft and relaxed vocal range even for thoughtful characters. “Yes, actually, it takes a little warming up for me to get into any range that it’s going to sit at, but I always feel a sense of deep relaxation after the recording sessions because it’s soft and you have to be kind of relaxed when you’re hitting that range,” Summersett said. “Even if she’s a thoughtful, heady character, the voice itself has to remain relaxed. So you get a sense of feeling very, very nice and warm afterward. Also, holding your center of energy at a sort of young, wide-eyed, youthful place that has a big heart is a pleasant feeling. Not all characters get to be like that.”
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