Why Princess Zelda Sounds So Familiar In Tears Of The Kingdom
"The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" is almost here, and fans are ready to see the next chapter in the story of Link and Zelda. Unlike most installments of the series, "Tears of the Kingdom" will be continuing the plot of the last game, "Breath of the Wild." Appropriately enough, Zelda will be voiced this time around by the same actress who voiced Zelda in the last game. In May 2023, Patricia Summersett took to Twitter to reveal her return to the series and her excitement at getting to be Zelda again. While many fans will likely be glad to hear the same voice in the game, they shouldn't be surprised if said voice already sounded familiar.
Playing Zelda may be one of her biggest roles to date, but Summersett has had a successful career that stretches back to the 2000s. Her work includes appearances in television, films, and video games with some major hits to her name. Gamers in particular should recognize her voice as a supporting character in several popular games from the past decade.
Patricia Summersett got her acting start with video games
Patricia Summersett actually began her acting career with video games, voicing Grendel's mother in "Beowulf: The Game" in 2007. This adaptation of the movie only received mixed reviews, but it was still a big start for the actress. Summersett got to take over for superstar Angelina Jolie who voiced the character in the film, which ranks among the best medieval movies of all time.
Summersett followed up this role with more video game work, playing multiple characters in the better-reviewed "Suikoden Tierkreis" in 2008 and voicing the narrator in 2010s "Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit." These solid roles kicked off her career, and she quickly found plenty more work from there.
While Summersett would subsequently break into TV and movies, including some major productions, she continues to return to video games, and this is where she arguably has had her biggest impact.
She's worked on the Assassin's Creed and Rainbow Six series
Summersett soon moved on to bigger, more popular series, beginning with "Assassin's Creed Rogue" in 2014. She took on the role of the assassin Hope Jensen who falls victim to the protagonist during the game. Just a year later, she got to return to the "Assassin's Creed" series, this time voicing Galina Voronina, who survives to the end of the game in "Assassin's Creed: Syndicate." Summersett got to study theater in Moscow early in her career and has said that this experience helped her performance of the Russian assassin.
The same year she voiced Voronina in "Syndicate," Summersett also joined the "Rainbow Six" series in "Rainbow Six: Siege." She plays Ash, an FBI agent and playable operator who specializes in rushing attacks. She would later reprise this role in "Rainbow Six Extraction" in 2022. Summersett finds that "Rainbow Six" gameplay is often too intense for her, preferring less fast-paced games, but she does love the community and the character she helped bring to life.
It's between her two "Rainbow Six" appearances, however, that Summersett would land the role that would bring her to the attention of Nintendo fans.
She became the voice of Zelda for Breath of the Wild
Arguably her biggest role so far has been playing Zelda in "Breath of the Wild" in 2017. Summersett told Collider that she tried to draw inspiration from past versions of the character and sought to blend what she saw as a "sophisticated princess" side and a "playful and hilarious" side in preparing for the role. Playing the titular princess was her first collaboration with Nintendo but not her first experience with Nintendo games. Summersett also explained to Collider that she played "Super Mario" with her sisters as a child, and she's since been exposed to multiple "Zelda" games in her work.
As with "Rainbow Six," Summersett has come to love the community associated with the "Zelda" series and, in particular, seems to appreciate the fan art that can be found online. She's even gotten her family into it and has shared a special painting by her mother that features Zelda bearing the likeness of Summersett herself.
Since "Breath of the Wild," she's reprised the role of Zelda in the game's DLC and in "Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity." It's her upcoming return for "Tears of the Kingdom," however, that seems to have her truly excited.
She joined the cast of mother! in 2017 and continued her work in games
Voice acting has undoubtedly been her specialization, but Summersett has also broken into major films. In 2017, the same year that "Breath of the Wild" released, she also appeared in Darren Aronofsky's critically acclaimed "mother!" Since then, she's picked up roles in numerous TV shows, several films, and, of course, lots more games.
As of 2017, she's performed in other big titles such as "The Outer Worlds," "Wasteland 3," and "Horizon Forbidden West." Her return to the "Zelda" series marks another big moment for her career — and one that she's been celebrating online. Fans have been eagerly awaiting the chance to get their hands on "Tears of the Kingdom," but it seems Summersett is just as excited to see its release. She's expressed gratitude to Nintendo for the opportunity and continues to reiterate how amazed she is to be a part of such a beloved series.