 In 2016, fans of The Legend of Zelda got their first chance to hear the newest version of the titular princess. This wasn't the first time that Zelda had been given a voice, but it was the most noteworthy game in the series to feature full English voice acting. The next year, gamers fell in love with this new incarnation of Princess Zelda, her earnest personality won over players, in large part thanks to the vocal performance delivered by actor, singer and dancer, Patricia Somerset. A woman of many talents, Patricia had a rocky road on her journey to finding her place as the voice of the Princess Zelda. She had to endure heartbreak and broken dreams, and her career changed direction very suddenly on more than one occasion. This is the story of how the Princess Zelda found her voice, and how Patricia Somerset was led to the biggest role of her career to date. Patricia Somerset did not originally intend to become a voice actor, instead, Patricia was enamoured with ice skating. She started figure skating competitively at 6 years old, and always dreamed of making big, bold strides in the ice world. As an adult, Patricia chased this dream across the United States and Canada, moving regularly in search of the perfect skating partner. Along the way, she picked up some accolades and awards, but she never quite achieved the success she'd been hoping for. Eventually, Patricia realised that her goal of ice dancing success probably wasn't right for her. Painful as it was, she decided to try pushing for a new dream, and set out to become an actor instead. Patricia chose to study theatre at Concordia University in Quebec, followed by a master's degree in classical acting at the Royal Central School in London. While she didn't know it at the time, one of Patricia's fellow students was another notable video game voice actor. She would later become friends with Victoria Atkin, the voice of Evie Frye in Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and the pair realised that they must have passed each other in the halls without realising. Patricia hoped that one day in the future, she'd be able to travel further. Her dream was to be able to use her career as an actor to see the sights all around the world, working in exotic locations and meeting interesting people. First, though, she'd have to find her niche as a performer. As she pursued her acting career, Patricia found herself being presented with the opportunity to provide vocal performances for video games. This wasn't something she actively sought out. She didn't even have an agent for vocal work, but her manager got her the chance to voice a video game character, and Patricia leapt at the chance. For her first job, Patricia was given a difficult task. Ubisoft was making a video game based on the computer-animated movie Beowulf, and many of the characters were modelled after famous actors that appeared in the film. Angelina Jolie, who played Beowulf's mother in the film, had chosen not to voice her character in the game, so Ubisoft needed someone who could sound suitably like the famous actor. Patricia was chosen for the role, and thus began her career as a voice actor in video games. As she picked up more of these jobs, Patricia began to really appreciate the opportunity to act in games, not just as a voice actor, but also as a motion capture artist. She really enjoyed the process of using her training as a dancer to add physicality to roles that she played, while covered in ping-pong balls, even if it was strange seeing her voice and movements taken and applied to a character that rarely looked anything like her. Patricia specialised in husky, deep female voices, and started to see a pattern emerge in the roles she was offered. She voiced Ash in Rainbow Six Siege, and Galina in Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Patricia felt that she was very well suited to tough, resourceful female characters who were good in a fight. So when, after moving to Los Angeles, Patricia got an audition for a series of voices in a mysterious new fantasy game, she figured she might do well as a gruff warrior woman. Patricia had only barely arrived in LA when the game popped up on her radar. As was often the case with these projects, everything about the game was shrouded in secret so that nothing could leak out about the content of the story. Patricia provided vocal auditions for several characters in the game. One character required a sweet, innocent voice with an English accent. While Patricia tried it out, she wasn't really expecting that she'd get this role. She'd never done anything like this before. To her surprise, Patricia got a callback for this character, and after several rounds of interviews and auditions, she was finally offered the role. Then, she was told what the game was and what character she'd be playing. She was to be the new voice of the legendary Princess Zelda. Patricia was stunned. This felt like a big deal. Nevertheless, she didn't allow herself to get too excited. It was always hard to tell how things would shake out in the game world, and Patricia could only guess at whether this new Zelda title would be a hit or not. Over the course of several recording sessions spread out over months, Patricia wasn't even sure that she'd make it into the game. It wasn't unheard of for developers to change voice actors entirely if they weren't happy with the performance, or if they felt that they needed to go in another direction. Every time a month or so went by without contact from Nintendo, Patricia began to suspect that she might be dropped entirely. Then, eventually, she'd be asked to return to record some more dialogue, and she would breathe a sigh of relief. When the 2016 E3 trailer for Breath of the Wild was revealed, Patricia was unbelievably excited. She really was going to be in the game. It was just a shame that she couldn't tell anyone. Fans debated the trailer endlessly, while Patricia bit her tongue, and did her best to stay silent. The buzz around this game was phenomenal, and she could only hope that fan expectations would be met. When the game finally released in March of 2017, many fans of the series eagerly declared that Breath of the Wild's Princess Zelda was the greatest version of the character ever created. She was well-rounded and full of personality and life, and this was in large part thanks to Patricia's work. But Patricia hasn't been resting on her laurels. She's still acting, both voice work and live action. What's more, thanks to the success of Breath of the Wild, Patricia has been able to travel the world, attending fan conventions and game expos, meeting fans and talking with people who played the game and loved her voice. The moral of the story is that sometimes life won't necessarily take us where we expect to go. Patricia didn't initially set out to become a voice actor. It was only after several false starts and dead ends that she found her place. Nevertheless, in looking back on her development as a dancer and an actor, Patricia feels that, unbeknownst to her, each and every passion she pursued led her towards her role as Zelda. Even though Patricia only gave a vocal performance as Zelda, her training as a figure skater provided her with the talent she needed to be able to provide excellent motion capture for her other working games. Also, Patricia's time studying in London helped her to learn a well-spoken English accent that was suitably believable to help her land her biggest role. Sometimes in life, we have to measure our expectations and change our own goals accordingly. You may find yourself stuck, failing to progress in the direction that you want to take. When this happens, sometimes it's worth taking stock of your own talents and skills and wondering if you need to start again. The skills you've learnt thus far probably won't be wasted. You never know how you may be able to use them again in the future. Just as Patricia's Somerset went through a lot of different career changes before finding her place as the voice of Princess Zelda, you may need to look further afield to find where you're really suited in life. Ultimately, when a new opportunity presents itself in front of you, all you need to do is open your eyes.