Exclusive: Interview with Cynthia Preston, voice of Zelda, from the Zelda TV series 30 years ago!

If you grew up watching the late 80s Legend of Zelda TV series, September 8th is quite a celebratory day. September 8, 2019 marks the show’s 30 year anniversary! Despite it’s short lifespan, just 13 episodes, we adore the animated series. It’s one of the few times our favorite video game characters appeared on television!

To mark the 30th anniversary, we had the pleasure of speaking with Cynthia Preston, the voice actor of Princess Zelda from the animated series! You’ll be happy to know it’s a role she’s really enjoyed!

Cynthia Preston voiced Princess Zelda in the Legend of Zelda cartoon adaptation from 1989.

Meeting the princess: Has it really been 30 years?

Alex Trevino (Zelda Universe): Thank you again, Cyndy, for meeting with us at Zelda Universe to talk about Princess Zelda [and the TV series]!

Cynthia Preston: It’s my pleasure.

ZU: We’re really excited to talk with you. It’s crazy, as of this Sunday (September 8th, 2019), it is the 30th anniversary of the original Legend of Zelda cartoon series.

Cynthia: Absolutely amazing.

ZU: How crazy is that?

Cynthia: It is completely insane, and I can’t believe it because it feels like it was a second ago.

ZU: How did you first land the role of “Princess Zelda”?

Cynthia: I auditioned for it like anything else, and I just got really lucky. The auditions come through your voice agent. I had been doing voice commercials, and I just got really lucky.

Cynthia: I had so much fun doing Zelda and working with these guys, especially with Jonathan Potts, who played Link. We [Jonathan & Cynthia] were both just shooting in the same small town, a couple of hours north of Toronto—we were on different projects and shooting in the same place, so we had dinner about two weeks ago. So we’re still good friends.

ZU: Did you know about the Zelda series before being cast on the show?

Cynthia: No, I didn’t. I didn’t know about it. Obviously, I’ve been aware of it ever since! I’m thrilled to be involved. For instance, I heard Robin Williams named his daughter Zelda after Princess Zelda. That is so exciting.

ZU: It definitely is.

Cynthia: I heard that they played the game, so I can only imagine that they might have watched the cartoon. I’m a real big fan of Robin Williams!

ZU: To be fair, there were only two Zelda games out when that cartoon premiered. So the show became part of the franchise before it continued to expand overtime.

Cynthia: Yeah, and it’s so popular. When I go to media festivals—I’ve been in the Canadian Rockies at the BANFF Media Festival—I’ll meet somebody and they’ll realize I was the voice of Zelda, and people freak out.

Cynthia: I had one really wonderful experience. So one of my dear friends from my General Hospital days, his name is Rick Hearst, and he and his wife Donna adopted me into their family, and they would have me at Christmas and Halloween parties. I was a big part of their family. I’ve known their sons since they were little boys, and it was just a couple of years ago at New Year’s. We were all together in Atlanta and it came up that I was the voice of Zelda. Both of these boys who are strapping, tall young men now, rolled up their sleeves and showed me tattoos of the Triforce of Wisdom. I’ve known these boys all these years, and it just hadn’t come up. That was really exciting.

ZU: While recording, did you happen to find any similar traits between you and Princess Zelda?

Cynthia: Oh for sure! Feisty, independent, athletic, funny… No I’m just kidding. [laughs] Feisty and independent for sure. She was no damsel in distress—Link is always trying to save her, and she doesn’t need saving. She was a partner. I thought she was a joy; an absolute joy. I had so much fun doing it. I don’t know why.

ZU: She gets stuff done, and I like that in a princess. [laughs]

Cynthia: Yes, I love it.

ZU: Looking back, did you have any favorite memories when working on the show?

Cynthia Preston (Zelda) has been good friends with co-star Jonathan Potts (Link) even after the end of the cartoon series. That’s 30 years of friendship!

Cynthia: It was so much fun to watch these classic voice actors like Len Carlson and Don Francks—Len was Ganon and Don was a bunch of different voices. Everybody was so nice, the people were so good. It was so much fun and I learned from watching them; we just had a ball.

Cynthia: We had different directors, but I remember this one story—Greg Morton was directing an episode, and I had to laugh as Zelda. I find it easier to cry naturally on cue than to laugh naturally on cue. Laughing can be tricky to make it natural, right? There’s this one time Zelda had to be laughing, and so our director, Greg Morton, mooned me from the booth! So hysterical; he got the laugh he was looking for. Just fun. We had so much fun doing that show. Fun fact, Greg Morton is on America’s Got Talent this season; he’s a comedian!

Cynthia: Overall, I enjoyed working with my co-stars, especially Jonathan Potts [voice of Link]. He and I have being such good friends all these years. That’s just been a lovely addition to my life, and we’re lucky that we were cast together.

ZU: If the show were to continue, would you still want to play Princess Zelda?

Cynthia: [laughs] Of course I would! Although, it was exhausting, I would do it with every ounce of energy, every fiber of my being, pouring out. I would do it as fast as I could, as energetic as I could, and the director would say “OK, once more with more energy.” And I would just fall on the floor laughing and say “How? How, you people are killing me!” [laughs] So it was so much fun; I can’t even explain why. Working on the mic and working with creative people like that… It’s just so delightful. It’s kind of like magic.

ZU: Yeah, there’s something really magical about voice acting in general.

Cynthia: Yeah! It is really magical. It doesn’t sound like it when I’m talking about it—that’s why I say I don’t know how to explain it. I’m trying to describe how wonderful it was, but I can’t even find the right words. There was something special about it and I don’t know why. There’s a certain magic to working on sets and doing movies and television; no doubt. The camaraderie, the circus of people that you get to play with, but there’s something about doing a cartoon and voice acting that is really magical.

ZU: Oh no, I believe it. [laughs] I think that once you actually get behind the mic and start to act, you begin to understand how it feels. [laughs]

Cynthia: Yeah, yeah. That’s weird. It’s an inexplicable thing.

ZU: What do you personally think about Link and Zelda’s relationship?

Cynthia: Well, I think that she loved him and she loved teasing him. I mean, there was a lot of teasing. She can be playing that she’s annoyed with him, but she’s really loving every minute of it, I think.

ZU: Mhmm. I actually think that in a later episode, she actually does admit that she has feelings for Link, but she won’t admit it because Link will take total advantage of that. [laughs]

Cynthia: Exactly! I mean what would Link do if she actually stopped teasing him and was sincere with him and just nice to him—what do you think Link would do?

It seems love is in the air with these two after all! Even Preston believes so; and she’s enjoying all the teasing Zelda gives Link!

ZU: Oh, I don’t know, actually. Because… There’s times when Link doesn’t deserve to be treated nicely by Zelda, because he does some pretty questionable things. [laughs] Like, in the second episode he sees Zelda lying on his bed and runs and yells “Oh yeah, smoochin’ time!” Like, woah boy, calm down; we’re only two episodes in! [laughs]

Cynthia: [laughs] It’s like any juvenile relationship—like a young teen relationship; you know what I mean? It’s like the characters are exploring; figuring it out. There’s no handbook, but there’s probably a lot of books written, and you don’t know what’s true. Everybody’s just sort of feeling their way in the dark trying to figure out all this stuff. So they’re a perfect example of that.

ZU: Do you have a favorite moment from the Zelda series?

Cynthia: Aside from the director mooning me, I just loved working with Jonathan Potts [voice of Link]. I loved the “Way to go, hero” with the “Excuuuuse me, Princess.” I loved that relationship. Jonathan was so much fun.

ZU: Are there any new shows or projects you’re involved with that you can share with us?

Cynthia: There’s a lot going on. I just finished shooting a Hallmark movie. Acting is my bread and butter, but in my down time I do a lot of other things. For example, I’ve taken one of the scripts I’ve written to the BANFF media festival (which I highly recommend) to pitch to Hollywood executives. I have an author in Calgary, Delaine Moore – we’ve produced one of her books into a Lifetime movie, and I’m also working on creating a limited series from her other writing. I am also working on producing a limited series from a book series.

Cynthia: I have a partner writer/director, Cam Patterson, from Manitoba. He’s written a ton of scripts; there are five of them that I am focusing on right now that I’m trying to get produced. One of them is Peggy Taylor, and it’s about a real Canadian war hero, by the same name. There’s another one called Point Douglas, which is a historical feature series about Point Douglas, Manitoba. It’s about the “madams” on one side of town, the “upright citizens” on the other side of town. The “upright ladies” are trying to shut down the madams, but the upright men are actually keeping the madams in business. So I would be the lead “madam” on that one.

Cynthia: Recently… I guess the biggest thing I’ve done recently was the [Tom Clancy’s] Jack Ryan series, so I was thrilled to be involved—that series is amazing. I knew of Carlton Cuse—I didn’t know him personally, but when I was in BANFF pitching my script a few years ago, Carlton Cuse was giving a lecture, and I signed up right away and made sure I had a spot in that room and took notes the whole time. So this latest incarnation of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan was created by Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland. And I got to hang out with them and ask questions about creativity, about my script and about what they do in situations like such-and-such. I am so lucky.

Cynthia: In April, I did a Lifetime movie called “The Cheerleader Escort”, and it’s airing on September 14th as part of Lifetime’s “cheerleader month.” It’s a movie with a message. It’s about rich, powerful men preying on young women. This is a message of “Time’s up; this is not OK anymore.” This is a movie about empowerment. Things are changing.

Questions from Zelda fans to Princess Zelda

FierceDeity68 & OmegaX5000 ask: Have you ever ‘excused’ the voice actor for Link?

Cynthia: No, never! I’m never excusing him. Not a chance. [laughs] He’s just going to have to keep asking for it forever.

ZU: [laughs] Well, that’s good to know!

Cynthia: We’re really good friends. As I was saying, we just had dinner recently, and we see each other every once in a while. He is a darling guy.

BlueKnight85 asks: Did you ever think the cartoon would have the following it has now?

Cynthia: No, my gosh. I am stunned. I meet people all the time and I’m amazed and delighted by their enthusiasm.

Akia_SNB asks: Did you have a favorite line back then, and do you still find yourself quoting any today?

Cynthia: The “Way to go, hero!” is my absolute favorite. I love the sass about it; I love the sarcasm about it.

ZU: If there’s one thing I love about Zelda, it’s her sass. [laughs]

Cynthia: Yes! Absolutely. I agree 100 percent. She’s no damsel in distress.

ZU: I’m going to close this out with a question that I personally have. I want to know: can you still do the voice of Zelda?

Cynthia: Of course I can! I am Zelda and she is me. [laughs]

ZU: [laughs] Exactly.

Cynthia: If they want it done again I can do it again, absolutely. No question at all.

ZU: With that, I believe we are all good to go for now.

Cynthia: Thank you so much.

ZU: Thank you so much; I really appreciate you taking the time to speak with us.

Cynthia: It was no problem at all; my pleasure.

We want to thank Cynthia Preston for chatting with us about The Legend of Zelda TV series, her experience with the show and her future plans as an actor and producer. If you haven’t watched the Legend of Zelda cartoon series, we hope you’ll give it a watch after our interview with Cynthia. She’s shared a lot of fond and wonderful memories working on show. We hope the legacy and admiration of the Zelda cartoon will continue on after it’s 30th anniversary this year!

Be sure to follow Cynthia Preston on all her social media pages, so you can see what the princess is up to these days! You can find her on Facebook, Istagram and Twitter! Be sure to visit her official website as well for all her recent acting roles and upcoming projects.