Auditions in acting can be opaque due to studio secrecy, with fake or alternate scripts being bandied around to prevent leaks and limited details on the character or setting. Patricia Summersett, the voice of the eponymous princess in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, had no clue who she was actually trying for, and she considers that a blessing.
"Looking back, I'm grateful I didn't know what role I was auditioning for," she tells Nintendo Everything. "If I'd realized that mysterious script-without any real clues about the game - held the keys to the castle - I might have overthought it or made different choices instead of trusting my gut."
Honestly, fair enough. As useful as more information would be on its face, knowing you're stepping up to an iconic role in a monumental franchise is enough to make anyone sweat, and potentially overthink their time in the spotlight.
"I had just moved to LA, so the stakes already felt high and I needed things to work," she adds. "Any role in any game would have felt like a win. Honestly, I still tend to feel that way about landing a role."
Acting for a decade at that point, Summersett's roles were typically smaller, doing walk on TV parts and providing the voice of the narrator in 2010's Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and the like. It wasn't until she'd actually agreed to a part and showed up for work that it was revealed she'd be part of a Nintendo benchmark.
"After landing 'a role' in the game, I showed up for the first recording session, signed an NDA, and was then informed that the role was Princess Zelda," she reveals. "The adrenaline rush was unreal. I only kept my composure because - I don't know how. Acting. And there was a recording session I had to nail!"
Talk about pressure. But then, with a bit of power, wisdom and courage, she nailed it, and Breath of the Wild became a modern classic. Sometimes taking a leap of faith is exactly what you need to be doing.
