Nintendo creators on who should play Link, Mario and Luigi in live-action movies

If Nintendo ever makes a live-action Legend of Zelda movie or television series, veteran game designer Takashi Tezuka thinks they should cast a woman to play Link, he said in an interview with MTV.

“This is just personally, [but] it would be very fun and awesome if Link was played by a female actress,” Tezuka said, “a boyish female actress.”

His Nintendo colleague, designer Shigeru Miyamoto, deferred the question about which actor should play Link in a live-action production, saying “I only know Japanese actors!” Though Miyamoto said they should cast an unknown actor to take on the role of Link.

Miyamoto did have some thoughts on who should play Mario and Luigi in a Super Mario Bros. cinematic reboot, however. In the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo played Nintendo’s adventurous plumbers, but those actors weren’t quite right for the job for a specific reason, Miyamoto explained.

“It would definitely be difficult to cast,” Miyamoto said. “But one thing we can say about the original film is that Luigi was very young and handsome in the original movie, but Mario and Luigi are supposed to be twins. So a new cast would definitely have to be twins.”

Tezuka agreed, saying that actors who are siblings or otherwise related would be crucial for the roles.

Will any of this actually happen? Miyamoto said in the video that Nintendo is open to the idea of turning its franchises into feature-length films. Earlier this year, a report from the Wall Street Journal said Nintendo was working with Netflix on a live-action series for the streaming service. Last year, a report based on leaked emails from Sony Pictures executives indicated a possible movie project based on Super Mario Bros.