Zelda Rae Williams (born July 31, 1989) is an American actress, director, producer and writer. As a voice actress, she is best known for voicing Kuvira in the Nickelodeon series The Legend of Korra and Mona Lisa in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. She is the daughter of actor Robin Williams and film producer Marsha Garces Williams.
Early life
Williams was born in New York City to Robin and Marsha Garces Williams. Her father stated that he named her after Princess Zelda from The Legend of Zelda video game series. Her mother is of Filipino and Finnish descent. Zelda, the older of Williams' children by his second wife, has a younger brother and an older half-brother.
Career
Williams made her acting debut at age five. At 15, she acted in the 2004 film House of D opposite her father and actor Anton Yelchin as the latter's young first love, Melissa Loggia.
In June 2011, Zelda and Robin Williams were featured in a television commercial for the Nintendo 3DS game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. On October 25, 2011, she was the special guest host at the London Zelda Symphony Concert at the Hammersmith Apollo, marking the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda franchise. On November 17, 2011, subscribers to Nintendo emails received an email of her and her father playing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii console. She appears in an interview with Nintendo representatives in which she says that one of her favorite things to do in her free time is play Super Smash Bros. Melee with her friends, always playing as the character Sheik.
She appeared in People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People issue for 2007. She appears in the Wynter Gordon music video for "Buy My Love" and has a cameo in the Cobra Starship music video "You Make Me Feel", alongside her father.
In 2018, Williams wrote and directed the short film Shrimp, which she also starred in alongside Conor Leslie, Paulina Singer, Frances Fisher, and Jake Abel. The film depicts the lives of dominatrices in a Los Angeles BDSM den. Williams later entered into a deal with Gunpowder & Sky to develop the short film into a half-hour series.
She directed the 2024 film Lisa Frankenstein, her feature-length debut.
Personal life
Williams is bisexual.
She has stated that The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is her favorite game and voiced support of its rerelease on the Nintendo 3DS by supporting the fan campaign Operation Moonfall. From 2013 until 2016, Williams dated actor Jackson Heywood.
Williams has spoken out against AI-generated images after videos of her father flooded the internet following the release of OpenAI's Sora.
Acting credits
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Nine Months | Little Girl #3 in Ballet Class | ||
| 2004 | House of D | Melissa Loggia | ||
| 2008 | Were the World Mine | Frankie | ||
| 2009 | Don't Look Up | Matya | ||
| 2010 | Luster | Victor Curruthers | ||
| Detention | Sara | |||
| See You on the Other Side | Zoey Meola | Short film | ||
| Jezuz Loves Chaztity | Chaztity | |||
| 2011 | Stupid Questions | Lucy | ||
| 2012 | The Frankenstein Brothers | Kelly Martinson | Also known as A Beer Tale | |
| Noobz | Rickie | |||
| 2014 | Never | Nikki | ||
| Maddie Moonwater | Maddie | Short film | ||
| 2016 | Meet Cute | Andy | ||
| 2018 | Locating Silver Lake | Ella | ||
| Shrimp | Jess | Also director, producer and writer | ||
| A Patch of Desert | —N/a | Short film | ||
| 2020 | A Disagreement About Flies | Lydia | Short film | |
| 2022 | Julius Caesar Live! | Portia, Soothsayer | ||
| 2025 | Holo | Grey | Short film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | In Search of Dr. Seuss | Daughter | Television film | |
| 2012 | Checked Out | Marissa | Main role; 4 episodes | |
| 2013–2014 | Teen Wolf | Caitlin | Recurring role; Episodes "Fireflies" and "Illuminated" | |
| 2014 | Chaotic Awesome | Episode: #1.12 | ||
| The Legend of Korra | Kuvira | Recurring voice role; 11 episodes | ||
| 2015–2017 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Y'Gythgba / Mona Lisa | Recurring voice role; 5 episodes | |
| 2016 | Dead of Summer | Drew Reeves | Main role; 10 episodes | |
| Chelsea | Herself | Talk show | ||
| Girl in the Box | Janice Hooker | Television film | ||
| Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed | Herself | Documentary | ||
| 2017 | Stitchers | Zelda | Episode: "The Gremlin and the Fixer" | |
| Criminal Minds | Melissa Miller | Episode: "False Flag" | ||
| 2019 | Dark/Web | Cheshire | Episode: "Chapter Three"; also director, producer and writer | |
| Jane the Virgin | Leona | Episode: "Chapter Eighty-Seven" | ||
| 2019–2020 | Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Foot Recruit/Cassandra 'Casey' Jones | Recurring voice role | |
| 2024 | Transformers: EarthSpark | Spitfire | Recurring voice role; 6 episodes |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Artist | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "You Make Me Feel..." | Cobra Starship | ||
| 2013 | "I Believed In God" | Danko Jones | Woman | |
| 2014 | "Imagine" (UNICEF: World version) | Various | Herself |
Video games
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | King's Quest - Chapter III: Once Upon A Climb | Amaya Blackstone | |
| 2022 | The Last Worker | Emma |
Filmmaking credits
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Shrimp | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also actor |
| 2020 | Kappa Kappa Die | Yes | No | No | |
| 2024 | Lisa Frankenstein | Yes | No | No |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Artist | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | "Save My Soul" | JoJo | Director | |
| 2018 | "Invisible" | Anna Clendening | ||
| 2019 | "Dead End" | |||
| "Bend & Break" | ||||
| 2020 | "Lonely Hearts" | JoJo | ||
| "Think About You" |
