Hunter Schafer Says Playing Zelda in Nintendo’s Live-Action Movie Would Be ‘So Cool’ Amid Fan Casting Buzz

Ellise Shafer

9 November 2023 at 2:19 pm·2-min read

As soon as it was announced on Tuesday that a live-action “Legend of Zelda” movie is in the works, fans started dream-casting the title role. At the top of many a list? “Euphoria” star Hunter Schafer. At the London premiere of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” on Thursday night, Schafer confirmed she’s seen the fan castings circulating on social media.

“That would be so cool,” Schafer said about playing Zelda in the live-action film. “I love the game, personally. I played it as a kid and I still play it now. Who knows! That would be pretty cool.”

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Schafer had previously expressed interest in playing Princess Zelda, saying in an interview with ET: “I mean yeah, that would be cool. I played that video game a bunch when I was a kid. That’s such a good game.”

The “Legend of Zelda” movie was announced by Nintendo game developer Shigeru Miyamoto, who wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “I have been working on the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda for many years now with Avi Arad-san, who has produced many mega hit films. I have asked Avi-san to produce this film with me, and we have now officially started the development of the film with Nintendo itself heavily involved in the production. It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it.”

“Maze Runner” director Wes Ball is helming the adaptation, with “Jurassic World” screenwriter Derek Connolly penning the screenplay. After the news broke of the live-action film, the Variety staff selected our picks of who should play hero Link, with guesses ranging from Jacob Tremblay to Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Schafer plays Tigris Snow in “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which premieres in theaters on Nov. 17. Rachel Zegler stars in the film as Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12 for the 10th annual Hunger Games, alongside Tom Blyth as a young Coriolanus Snow, who becomes infatuated with Lucy Gray after serving as her mentor. The film also stars Josh Andrés Rivera, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman and Viola Davis.

Since SAG-AFTRA reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP on Wednesday and the 118-day actors strike officially ended Thursday, the stars of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” were able to promote additional projects they have coming up. “Songbirds and Snakes” had previously landed an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA, since it is backed by non-AMPTP company Lionsgate.

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